ellipted modal – alternative question – English Grammar Profiler

C1 English Grammar Profile point 30 in the category of QUESTIONS is defined as:

alternative questions with two clauses and ellipsis (of the modal) in the second clause, often as a hedging device.

*Both of the English Grammar Profile examples contain ‘maybe’ and do not invert as questions usually do. They both seem like weak suggestions.

It is quite impossible to find examples of the above grammar due to the length and complexity of the search string.

What if you could make the genetic changes to eliminate diabetes or Alzheimer’s or reduce the risk of cancer or eliminate stroke?

There is a limit on the length of queries on iWeb, so we can start with parts that are no longer than 5 tokens.

*Both the EGP examples begin with “Maybe”

. Maybe _P _VM _VVI

1 . MAYBE I ‘LL TRY 537 (I manually checked 100 and none are questions) 2 . MAYBE I ‘LL GET 386 3 . MAYBE YOU CAN GET 372 (there are questions, but no ‘or’) 4 . MAYBE I SHOULD TRY 370 5 . MAYBE YOU CAN HELP 368 6 . MAYBE YOU CAN FIND 336 7 . MAYBE I CAN GET 327 8 . MAYBE IT WILL HELP 293 9 . MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY 291 (there are questions, but no ‘or’) 10 . MAYBE WE CAN GET 287 11 . MAYBE YOU COULD TRY 274 12 . MAYBE YOU CAN TRY 252 13 . MAYBE I WILL TRY 249 14 . MAYBE YOU ‘D LIKE 237 15 . MAYBE YOU COULD GET 221 16 . MAYBE I SHOULD GET 218 17 . MAYBE I SHOULD GO 218 18 . MAYBE I SHOULD START 218 19 . MAYBE YOU ‘LL GET 195 20 . MAYBE YOU WOULD LIKE 188 21 . MAYBE I CAN FIND 181 22 . MAYBE YOU CAN USE 177 23 . MAYBE WE ‘LL SEE 173 24 . MAYBE WE ‘LL GET 170 25 . MAYBE YOU ‘LL FIND 169 26 . MAYBE YOU CAN MAKE 153 27 . MAYBE YOU COULD MAKE 152 28 . MAYBE I WILL GET 147 29 . MAYBE I ‘LL GO 145 30 . MAYBE WE WILL SEE 143 31 . MAYBE I ‘LL GIVE 136 32 . MAYBE I SHOULD MAKE 136 33 . MAYBE I SHOULD GIVE 135 34 . MAYBE I ‘LL SEE 134 35 . MAYBE IT WILL WORK 132 36 . MAYBE WE SHOULD START 132 37 . MAYBE I ‘LL MAKE 131 38 . MAYBE I SHOULD TAKE 130 39 . MAYBE YOU COULD USE 128 40 . MAYBE IT WOULD HELP 126 41 . MAYBE YOU COULD ADD 125 42 . MAYBE YOU SHOULD GO 125 43 . MAYBE YOU SHOULD CONSIDER 124 44 . MAYBE YOU WILL FIND 123 45 . MAYBE YOU CAN GIVE 121 46 . MAYBE YOU COULD FIND 116 47 . MAYBE YOU CAN TELL 114 48 . MAYBE I CAN HELP 110 49 . MAYBE I ‘LL START 109 50 . MAYBE YOU SHOULD TAKE 109 51 . MAYBE YOU SHOULD GET 103 52 . MAYBE I ‘LL TAKE 100 53 . MAYBE WE CAN HELP 100 54 . MAYBE IT WOULD WORK 99 55 . MAYBE WE COULD GET 99 56 . MAYBE YOU COULD HELP 97 57 . MAYBE I CAN MAKE 96 58 . MAYBE YOU CAN ASK 96 59 . MAYBE YOU SHOULD LOOK 96 60 . MAYBE YOU COULD WRITE 93 61 . MAYBE YOU SHOULD THINK 93 62 . MAYBE YOU COULD ASK 92 63 . MAYBE YOU SHOULD ASK 91 64 . MAYBE YOU COULD PUT 90 65 . MAYBE I ‘LL FIND 88 66 . MAYBE SOMEONE CAN HELP 87 67 . MAYBE YOU SHOULD START 87 68 . MAYBE YOU CAN WRITE 86 69 . MAYBE YOU COULD GIVE 86 70 . MAYBE IT WILL GET 85 71 . MAYBE YOU CAN TAKE 85 72 . MAYBE WE SHOULD GET 83 73 . MAYBE YOU CAN ADD 83 74 . MAYBE IT WILL TAKE 82 75 . MAYBE WE CAN FIND 82 76 . MAYBE I COULD GET 80 77 . MAYBE YOU SHOULD READ 78 78 . MAYBE I SHOULD LOOK 77 79 . MAYBE WE CAN MAKE 76 80 . MAYBE YOU CAN RELATE 76 81 . MAYBE YOU CAN SEE 76 82 . MAYBE YOU COULD START 76 83 . MAYBE YOU COULD TAKE 76 84 . MAYBE YOU WILL GET 75 85 . MAYBE I SHOULD ASK 74 86 . MAYBE YOU CAN START 73 87 . MAYBE I SHOULD CALL 72 88 . MAYBE I SHOULD PUT 72 89 . MAYBE WE SHOULD CALL 71 90 . MAYBE I WILL GIVE 70 91 . MAYBE YOU CAN PUT 69 92 . MAYBE YOU COULD GO 69 93 . MAYBE YOU SHOULD CHECK 68 94 . MAYBE IT WILL MAKE 67 95 . MAYBE WE WILL GET 66 96 . MAYBE THEY CAN HELP 65 97 . MAYBE I ‘LL PUT 64 98 . MAYBE YOU COULD LOOK 64 99 . MAYBE YOU CAN GO 63

100 . MAYBE IT WILL COME 62

or _VVI * * ?

1 OR CANCEL MY ORDER ? 80
(Some examples include: ‘Can I change or cancel my order?’ However, the EGP examples do not invert the subject-verb like typical questions)

2 OR CHANGE MY ORDER ? 45 3 OR CANCEL AN ORDER ? 30 4 OR DISAGREE ? WHY ? 28 5 OR CANCEL MY BOOKING ? 26 6 OR STAY THE SAME ? 18 7 OR CANCEL MY RESERVATION ? 18 8 OR EXCHANGE AN ITEM ? 18

9 OR OPPOSE THIS PLAN ? 17

10 OR DISLIKE ABOUT IT ? 17 11 OR DISAGREE WITH THIS ? 17 12 OR BUY A CAR ? 14

13 OR AMEND MY ORDER ? 14

14 OR OPPOSE THIS PROPOSAL? 14

*However, these are not preceded by a modal. All the examples checked are:

To what extent do you support or oppose this proposal?

A search in the Movie corpus for collates:

Maybe you could negotiate a deal, or take them by force, that tends to be your method. (no question mark) context
You know what? I can’t change that vote stuck here. Maybe you could, um, like… Like, blog or tweet or something? context