• Directives

1. List as many directive formulas as you can.

2. Imperatives are known to be very seldom used in conversations. Give situations in which the following imperatives could be used:

   1. Add two teaspoons of salt.

   2. Have a good time.

   3. Have another drink.

   4. Take care.

   5. Come in.

   6. Take a shower.

   7. Take a towel.

   8. Take a look.

   9. See Appendix A.

   10. Fill out the card below and …

2. Examine the directives used in the literary text for your home reading. Are there any differences in directives of male and female characters?

2. Analyze how the following directives are mitigated (their syntactic form and politeness).

1. I'm not quite sure how long you've known the Fieldings (J Fowles).

2. "I'm dying to know what you did with all the lions you slauntered," said Susie Boyd (S.Maugham).

3. I'd like to know why she's gone off like this (J.Foles).

4. I'm sorry to have disturbed you, Madam… I only wondered whether you wished to see me (D. Du Maurier).

5. I only want to know the truth, if you will tell it to me (E. Voynich).

6. May I ask you where you are staying? (C. Snow).

7. Might I inquire if you are the owner? (L. Jones).

8. What are your main ideas so far, sir, if you don't mind my saking ? (K. Amis).

9. I should be very much obliged if you would tell me as exactly as possible how Mrs. Haddo died (S. Maugham).

10. Would it bother you, if I asked you a question about how you lost your job with Axminster? (D. Francis).

2. Do you agree with the following strength continuum? Why? Why not? Ask English-speaking instructors or students to rank these sentences.

1. Tell me, does she live alone?

2. Doesn't she live alone?

3. Does she live alone?

4. She lives alone, doesn't she?

5. I suppose she lives alone?

6. I wonder if she lives alone.

7. I'd like to know whether she lives alone.

8. Do you happen to know if she lives alone?

9. Could you tell me whether she lives alone?

10. I want to ask you if she lives alone.

11. May I ask you if she live alone?

12. I hope you don't mind my asking you, but I was wondering if you could tell me whether she lives alone.

• Commissives

1. Read and comment the following extract. Do you agree that having used the words “I swear”/ “I promise”, you can later claim that strictly speaking you did not make a promise or that you are not bound by a vow because you meant smth else?

“ I want to know, if you will tell me,” Montanelly went on; “whether you have found yourself by a vow, or – in any way”.

“ There is nothing to tell, dear Padre; I have not bound myself, but I am bound.”

“ I don’t understand – “

“ What is the use of vows? They are not what binds people. If you feel in a certain way about a thing, that binds you to it; if you don’t feel that way, nothing else can bind you “

(Voynich, Gadfly: 29)

2. On the TV show “Hawaii 5-0” there is the following conversation:

• I made a promise to someone; I promised to marry him.

• Okay, a promise, but not a vow. You have the right to change your mind.

Explain this distinction between a promise and a vow in terms of their respective felicity conditions.

3. It is often difficult to make a refusal. List as many refusal formulas (negative commissives) as you can.

4. In breaking a promise in nonbusiness situations, we offer explanations and excuses. Would a negative commissive in business transactions be accompanied by explanations and excuses. Why? Why not?

5. An instructor says to a student, “If you don’t hand in your paper on time I promise you I will give you a failing grade.” The utterance is obviously not a promise but a warning or a threat. Why is it possible to use the locution “I promise”?

• Representatives

1. Examine the representatives that writers produce in making claims in different types of texts.

2. When people do not want to be responsible for the truth of their claims, what range of hedges can they use?

3. List as many “uncertainty markers” as you can.

4. List as many “certainty markers” as you can.

• Declarations

1. In what circumstances would the utterances “You’re fired”, “Out”, “You’re on” be declaratives?

• Expressives

1. List five examples of expressives that show

   1. joy

   2. sorrow

   3. disapproval

and arrange them along your own strength continuum.