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Alternative Questions in English

(Functional-Pragmatic Analysis)

Choice as a philosophical category means freedomto act in accordance with one’s own interests and
purposes. People do not choose objective conditions for
their activity, but they are free in choosing aims for their
activity and finding means to realize them. Therefore the
freedom of choice is not abstract, it is relative to some
extent and is implemented by choosing a certain course of
action. To make a choice thus means to select one possi-
bility from two or more alternatives, a choice which best
suits one’s aims and expectations. Linguistically such
alternation is expressed by means of alternative questions.
It is these questions that will be discussed below in the
light of speech act theory, i.e. alternative questions will be
studied considering certain pragmatic and functional
aspects.

Questioning is a three-step speech act: locutive, illocutive
and perlocutive (Austin 1962). The locutive meaning of
questioning is to formulate the question with the intonation
and syntactic structure typical of an English interrogative
sentence. Its illocutionary force aims at asking for new
information. The aim of a real question is to get the hearer
react to it, and this is the perlocutive effect of questioning.
Questions have both direct and indirect pragmatic functions.
When the function of an interrogative sentence such as Have
you been to Egypt? is to question, it is described as a direct

speech act. But interrogative structures are often used to express other functions than to
question, i.e. requests, commands or statements. In this case they function as indirect
speech acts. 

For example, the interrogative form Can you translate this word into French? is nor-
mally understood as a request, though its literal/direct meaning is Are you able to trans-
late this word into French? In this case nothing more than the addressee’s knowledge of
French and his ability of translating is being questioned.  

Alternative questions imply a choice out of two or more possibilities represented
by general questions. They are of two types: 1) alternation refers to a part of the sen-
tence, 2) alternation is represented by separate clauses. The first part of the alterna-
tive question is usually pronounced with a rising intonation, the second - with falling
one. If the second part is uttered with a rising intonation, then the alternative ques-
tion should be perceived as a general question (Quirk and Greenbaum 1978:198-
199).

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Yelena Mkhitaryan

Sona Sargissyan



For example:
General question: Shall we go by bus or train?

No, let’s take the car.
Alternative question:   Shall we go by bus or train?

By bus.

Alternative questions are not usually followed by Yes and No responses as the speak-
er expects the addressee to choose one out of the two proposed possibilities, and this one
becomes the content of the response. Practically any general question can be transformed
into an alternative question by adding the negative particle not.

Are you coming?      
Are you coming or are you not coming?

As a rule, the second part of the alternative question undergoes different degrees of
ellipsis. The above sentence can be ellipted in the following way:

Are you coming or are you not?   
Are you coming or not?

Both parts of the alternative question may undergo maximum ellipsis, in which case
the structure preserves only those parts which make up the objects of alternation, in other
words, only the rhematic part of the utterance. This kind of ellipsis can be accounted for
by the speech situation - suggestion or advice-making.

Coffee or whiskey?
Coffee, please. (Sheldon 150)

When an alternative question is represented by separate clauses (with different sub-
jects and predicates), ellipsis normally does not occur.

Will you go up or shall we have tea?  
I’m not particular. (Houghton 32)

The first part of the alternative question may be expressed by a special or a wh-question.

a) Who do you work for, me or Kagle? (Heller 391)
b) It’s not how you play the game, it’s whether you win or not? (Sheldon 153)
c) What do you say? Go or stay?(Shaw 249)

As evident from example (c), the second part may be separated from the main part of
the sentence. This is especially usual with alternative questions made up of separate
clauses as can be seen below.

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But really , I think I am quite fit to be in the streets - now that I’ve put my
dress to rights. Or do you think I am not?  (Ibsen, 130) 
And there was nothing he could do about it. Or was there?  (Segal 235)

In the above two examples the first part of the alternative question is represented
by a declarative sentence. There are cases when both parts of the alternative questions
are expressed by a declarative question, i.e. declarative sentences are uttered as a
question.

So I can call you at the office to talk about my career plan? 
Or we could have a drink?
Absolutely. Er … good idea.  (Kinsella 388)

When the alternative clause is part of a complex sentence (as an object subordinate
clause), it cannot represent alternation as the general meaning of the whole sentence. In
this case alternation finds its reflection in the response. 

Why can’t I remember if I enjoyed it or not?
Because, baby, you were higher than a rocket ship. (Segal 219)

The response itself shows that the main meaning of the whole question is not alterna-
tion; the question is directed at finding out the reason for the action not being performed.
Hence we have the question Why… and the answer Because….

Of special interest are alternative questions in which the second constituent is
expressed by something, anything, what ant the like. This kind of questions are used
when the speaker is uncertain about the second alternative, or cannot exactly define it.

Gee, you sure seem hungry? Got a family to support or something?
No, I’m a freshman at Harvard and need the dough for tuition. (Segal 22)
No morning sickness or anything like that?
No. (Maurier 185)
Isn’t she trying to stir up trouble, or what?
Young lady’s asking if you want a pound on demand. (O’Casey  362)
Are you deaf or what?
I’m a Protestant and a worshipper in this church. (O’Casey 347)

The pragmatic value of these structures as put by E. Hatch is “to weaken the criticism
given in the message” (Hatch 1992:311). We think that the structures containing or what
seem to sound somewhat less polite than those with something and anything. As for
responses, they all refer to the first part of the question, which is quite logical. 

Alternative questions often imply opposing statements. Here are some examples to
illustrate this.

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a) Is it love you feel or is it pity merely?
It is love, Robert. Love and only love. (Wilde 275)

b) Would you rather be poor and go to heaven or rich and - go to hell?
“Go to hell,” she tells me, picking up my cue. (Heller 439)

c) “Are you mad or glad?” I demand with a grin.
Oh, Daddy,” she answers. “Whenever you make one of us unhappy, you
always try to get out of it by behaving like a child.” (Heller 108)

We see from the examples (a, b, c) that the responses reflect the addressee’s concrete
choice out of the proposed alternatives. It must be noted here that this is not always the
case, as very often the response may show the addressee’s being uncertain (d), unre-
solved (e) or unscrupulous (f) as to the object of choice.

d) “Coffee or tea?” Angela asked.
“Whatever you’re having”, Calhoun said. (Cook 323)

e) Do you hate him too, or are you so devoted to him that you didn’t want to share
him?
It’s not like that at all. I used to love him once. (Christie 81)

f) Did you actually see this man talking to the District
Attorney, or was he just in the group around him?
I – I just don’t know. (Segal 47)

The addressee may have the choice of both the alternatives proposed.         

Do you want rice, Bob, or noodles?
Both. (CGOE) 

In some cases the addressee suggests another alternative as different (or making it
more specific) from those proposed in the question.

Is it a snow job or a hatchet job?
“I hope it’ll be an honest job,” the reporter replied. (Segal 501)

When an alternative question functions according to its direct communicative aim,
i.e. suggests an alternation, its function is considered to be direct. As for responses, they
are direct if they really show a choice of a concrete object from those proposed (a, b, g).
In cases the answers are evasive or uncertain, we have indirect responses (c, d, e, f).  Like
other types of interrogative sentences, this type of question also has a number of indirect
pragmatic uses. The second alternative may have the implications of 

advice:

So do I take it then you accept my offer, George? Or do you want to think
about? Maybe talk over with your faculty adviser?
All right. I’ll explain things to Zbig. (Segal 158)

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The above example is noteworthy in that the modal adverb maybe can be replaced
by another or, since their meanings are similar in this context (Or talk over with …?).

threat:

“Do you mind leaving the house?” said Max, “or do you want Crawley
and me to chuck you out?”
“Steady a moment, steady a moment,” said Favel.  (Maurier 338)

There is a hidden condition in the above example: If you mind leaving the house,
Crawley and I will chuck you out. The same implication of condition is observed in the
following example:

For the love of God, one of you tell me if the Reverend Clinton’s here or
have I to crawl a long way further?
He’s here; I’m here, my good woman. (O’Casey 342)

The meaning of the whole utterance may be understood as If you don’t tell me if the
Reverend Clinton’s here, I’ll have to crawl a long way further.

annoyance, anger:

Are you going to talk like a grown man or aren’t you?
Sit down, dear. Don’t be angry, what’s the matter? (Miller 404)

reproach:

Mother, are you quite sure that you wouldn’t advise me to try the Waterloo bar,
or marry a laborer, or even go into the factory?
Of course not. What sort of mother do you take me for! (Shaw 218)

uncertainty:

a) Miss Norma Restarik left Crosshedges on Sunday or was it Monday
morning?

She left there Sunday night but she has not arrived at Bordene mansions.
(Christie 37)

b) I rang up to ask you what is the girl’s address - somewhere in South
Ken, isn’t it? Or was it Knightsbridge? …I wrote down the address, but
of course I’ve lost it as usual. I can’t even remember her name: Is it
Thora or Norma?… Yes, I thought it was Norma.  (Christie 17)

c) The game’s up, you know, Mr.Restarik - or shall I call you Robert
Orwell? (Christie 182)

The use of the alternative questions in the above examples can be accounted for by
the failure of the speaker’s memory (a). In other cases (b, c) it may be conditioned by the
change of the circumstances entailing quite a new situation. In the last example as a result
of the cross-examination it was found out that Mr. Restarik’s real name was Robert
Orwell, therefore these two names are joined together by means of the conjunction or,
which obviously does not imply alternation.

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We will observe another example, in which the alternative question is used to show
the differences that the change of the situation has brought about and which the speaker
expects to be exactly perceived and truly appreciated by the addressee.

Did she want to be friends with me at last? Or did she realize that it had
not been me at all who had told Maxim about Favel, and this was her way
of thanking me for my silence? (Maurier 207)

Alternative questions may sometimes occur in monologues, in which they have the
sounding of a rhetorical question. In the example given below the speaker (the mother)
describes to her daughter the situation that would have happened if she had not been
given the opportunities that mother had created for the latter. The mother expects her
daughter to understand her, to share her troubles, to show some kind of tolerance and
compassion towards her. 

Do you want to find that out, like other women, at forty, when you’ve
thrown yourself away and lost chances; or won’t you take it in good time
now from your own mother, that loves you and swears to you that it’s truth;
gospel truth? (Shaw 252)

The alternative question may also have the implication of comparison. Consider the
following example:

“Which is more important?” my wife makes the mistake of asking, “Your
own wife and daughter, or those other important things?”

Interestingly enough, structures with the conjunction or in certain contexts may lose
the meaning of alternation and acquire a new shade of meaning - that of the conjunction
and joining homogeneous  parts of the sentence.

What do the people know about people like me? When did they ever meet
me, or speak to me, or let anyone tell them about me? Would they ever have
done for you if I hadn’t paid them? (Shaw 252-253)
Mother, are you quite sure that you wouldn’t advise me to try the Waterloo
bar, or marry a laborer, or even go into the factory?
Of course not. What sort of mother do you take me for! (Shaw 218)

In the second and the third questions of the first example the conjunction or does
not convey the meaning of alternation, but serves to join the homogeneous parts of the
utterances, which can easily be substituted by the conjunction and (What do the peo-
ple that taught you know about life and people like me? When did they ever meet me
and speak to me…?) In the second example the speaker expresses her resentment
towards her mother by enumerating all kinds of humiliating jobs that her mother

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(according to the daughter’s opinion) could wish her to get into. The same is observed
in the following example:

Did you ever think what you were doing when you abandoned us? 
Did you ever even try to find out how father was? Or me? Or even Aniko?
He suddenly grew cold… he’d felt a piercing shame. (Segal 431)

In the above example there are two or-phrases which, when parcellated still more
strongly, emphasize the sister’s resentment against her brother’s callous, heartless atti-
tude towards his own family the members of which are presented separately by. So we
can say these or-phrases have no implication of alternation as they may be easily substi-
tuted by and-phrases. (Did you ever even try to find how father was and me and even
Aniko?) Therefore we can call this use of the alternative question inclusive (including all
the items) as compared with those uses discussed earlier and which may be called exclu-
sive when the addressee is expected to choose only one item to the exclusion of the oth-
ers.

It is worth mentioning that in English there is another type of clause with or which is
devoid of the meaning of alternation whatsoever. In the example below the conjunction
or implies approximation meaning with about (about five/six).

What about five or six eggs and bacon and toast? (Segal 106)  

Summing up, we can say that alternative questions like other types of questions in
English, function as direct and indirect speech acts, the latter manifesting a wide
scope of pragmatic meanings (advice, threat, reproach, anger, uncertainty). As for the
structural and semantic aspects, alternative questions present a wide variety of mean-
ing and structure. Some structures with or do not imply the meaning of alternation at
all. 

Examining the responses to the alternative questions functioning as indirect speech
acts, we come to the conclusion that they either are absent or have the meaning of indi-
rect (evasive) responses and only in some cases do we observe a direct response.

References:

1. Austin, J.L. (1962) How to Do Things with Words. Oxford: Claredon Press. 
2. Clark, H.H. (1991) Responding to Indirect Speech Acts. // Pragmatics. S.Davis

(Ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3. Hatch, E. (1992) Discourse and Language Education. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.
4. Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S. (1990) A University Grammar of English. London:

Longman.

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Sources of Data:

1. Christie, A.  (1970) Third Girl. London and Glasgow: Collins Clear-Type Press. 
2. Cook, R.  (1995) Fatal Cure. New York: Berkley Books. 
3. Francis, J.O.  (1966)  Birds of a Feather. 24 One-Act Plays. J.M. London: Dent

&Sons Ltd. 
4. Heller, J.  (1974) Something Happened. New York: Del Publishing Group, Inc. 
5. Ibsen, H.  (1967) The Master Builder. Six Great Modern Plays. New York: Dell

Publishing Co., Inc.
6. Mankowitz, W.  (1966) The Bespoke Overcoat. 24 One-Act Plays. New York: J.M.

Dent & Sons Ltd. 
7. Maurier, du D. (1978) Rebecca. London: Hunt Barnard Printing, Ltd.
8. Miller, A.  (1967) All My Sons. Six Great Modern Plays. New York: Dell Publishing

Co., Inc.
9. O’Casey, S.  (1966) A Pound on Demand. 24 One-Act Plays. New York: J.M. Dent

&Sons Ltd. 
10. Segal, E.  (1986) The Class. New York: Dewsbury International, Inc.
11. Shaw, B.  (1967) Mrs. Warren’s Profession.  Six Great Modern Plays. New York:

Dell  Publishing Co., Inc.
12. Sheldon, S.  (1980) Rage of Angels. London: William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 

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