Anyone Know…? 獨立問題句中常見的口語省略
最近,我看到某位香港朋友在一則社交媒體的帖子上寫到:
Anyone knows where I can find this product? ❌
有人知道在哪可以找到這產品嗎?
這情況下使用動詞字形「knows」是錯誤的。這種口語式問題句的正確寫法應該是:
Anyone know where I can find this product? ✅
這裡需要的其實是動詞「know」的infinitive基本字形,也就是「know」。
讓我們退一步來看看原因吧。
原本的問題句子應該是:
Does anyone know where I can find this product? ✅
那位朋友其實是想模仿口語的形式去表達,所以才省略掉獨立問題句開頭的輔助動詞 「does」。
說話時,我們經常會省略開頭的輔助動詞,尤其在話說得很快很流利的非正式情景中。引伸至在模仿口語的書寫中(像社交媒體帖子),我們也會經常省略掉輔助動詞。
這裡如果輔助動詞 「does」被省略,句子會變成:
Anyone know where I can find this product? ✅
省略開頭的輔助動詞本身並沒有錯,這在非正式的談話和書寫中都經常發生。會寫出錯誤的句子,問題出自作者並沒有完全理解原句的結構,以及被省略的部分是什麼。
如果你有上過我們的基礎課程,或者學過如何組成獨立的問題子句,應該會知道我們要組織獨立問題句,便要把限定動詞中的一部分移動至主語前面。
會被移前的部分正是輔助動詞。如果限定動詞本身是包含輔助動詞的,我們便會將它前置。
例如,某句子的限定動詞字形是「is helping」(現在進行式,主動語態),當中已包含了輔助動詞「is」。如果我們要組織一個「是非」問題句,便須要把現有的輔助動詞「is」移前:
Anyone is helping you.* → IS anyone helping you? ✅
在這基礎上,當我們在口語把開頭的輔助動詞省略後,句子便會是:
Anyone helping you? ✅
然而,如果限定動詞字形本身並不包含輔助動詞(因是單字的簡單現在式或過去式字形),我們便要先加入額外的輔助動詞「do」的相應時態字形。
例如,某句子的限定動詞字形是「knows」(簡單現在式,主動語態),當中沒有包含輔助動詞。如果我們要把它變成獨立問題句,便要添加額外的輔助動詞「do」的正確字形。由於這裡需要的是現在式字形,因此我們會用「does」:
Anyone knows this.* → Anyone DOES know this. → DOES anyone know this?
請注意,當我們添加額外的輔助動詞「do」的正確時態字形時,原本的主要動詞「know」會變回最基本的infinitive字形,不會再有原本的簡單現在式字尾「-s」。
因此,當我們把開頭的輔助動詞省略後,句子便會是:
Anyone know this? ✅
這也解釋了為何一開始的那個句子並不正確:
Anyone knows where I can find this product? ❌
有人知道在哪可以找到這產品嗎?
主要動詞的字形不再是「knows」,因為這是個獨立的問題句。額外的輔助動詞「do」配上現在式的字尾變成「does」,「know」也因此回復它的infinitive字形,也就是「know」。
即使開頭的「does」被省略(在口語和非正式書寫很常見),「know」也會維持infinitive字形:
(Does) Anyone know where I can find this product? ✅
就像其他所有文法重點一樣,以上所解釋的內容都是有系統的。希望大家在省略任何獨立問題句中的輔助動詞時,能好好應用這些知識,並在省略前,先回想一下句子的原貌是怎樣的。
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小練習:
以下問題句在省略輔助動詞後會變成怎麼?
Have you seen him this morning?
你今早有見過他嗎?
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答案:
You seen him this morning?
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Anyone Know…? Common Elision in Questions
I saw this wrong sentence imitating speech in a social media post by a Hong Kong friend:
Anyone knows where I can find this product? ❌
有人知道在哪可以找到這產品嗎?
The verb form “knows” is wrong here. The correct way of forming this “spoken” question is:
Anyone know where I can find this product? ✅
We actually need the infinitive form of the verb “know” -- as in, “know” -- here.
Let’s step back to look at why.
The original sentence is actually:
Does anyone know where I can find this product? ✅
Now, what my friend was trying to do in her post was to imitate speech and “elide” (that is, “omit”) the auxiliary verb that is at the beginning of an independent question -- as in, the “does.”
This “elision” of the auxiliary verb in front is quite common in speech, especially in informal contexts in which we are speaking fluently and quickly. By extension, we also often leave out this auxiliary verb in informal writing that imitates speech, like in social media posts.
If we elide the auxiliary “does” of this sentence, it would become:
Anyone know where I can find this product? ✅
So, there is no problem with dropping this auxiliary verb in front. This is very common both in speech and in informal writing. However, the problem with the original wrong sentence is that the writer did not understand fully what the actual sentence is, and which part is omitted.
If you have taken our foundational course or learned how to form independent question clauses elsewhere, you would know that, to form a sentence that is independently a question, we need to move part of the finite verb to the front of the subject.
The part of the finite verb that we move in front is the auxiliary verb. If the finite verb form already contains an auxiliary verb, we would move that.
For example, if the finite verb form of the sentence is “is helping” (present tense, progressive aspect, active voice), then there is already an auxiliary verb in the finite verb, “is.” To form a “yes/no” question, we just need to move this existing auxiliary verb “is” forward:
Anyone is helping you.* → IS anyone helping you? ✅
So, when we elide the auxiliary verb in front of this question, it would become:
Anyone helping you? ✅
However, if the finite verb form does not already contain an auxiliary verb -- because it is in the simple present or simple past forms, which are only one word with endings -- then we need to first add the extra auxiliary verb “do” in the corresponding tense form.
For example, if the finite verb form of the sentence is “knows” (present tense, simple aspect, active voice), then there is no existing auxiliary verb. In order to form an independent question, we need to first add in an extra auxiliary verb “do” with the correct form, which would be “does” in this case, because we need the present tense form:
Anyone knows this.* → Anyone DOES know this. → DOES anyone know this?
Remember that, when we add the extra auxiliary “do” in the correct tense form, the original main verb -- that is, “know” here -- returns to its infinitive form, without the original ending “-s.”
So, when we elide the “does” at the beginning, the sentence would become:
Anyone know this? ✅
This is why the sentence at the beginning is wrong:
Anyone knows where I can find this product? ❌
有人知道在哪可以找到這產品嗎?
The form of the main verb would not be “knows” here -- because this is an independent question. There is an additional auxiliary verb “do” that has taken the present tense ending to become “does,” and so the main “know” would return to its infinitive form, which is “know.”
Even if we elide the “does” at the beginning, which is common in speech and informal writing, the “know” would still be in infinitive form:
(Does) Anyone know where I can find this product? ✅
Just like everything else in grammar, what I explained above is systematic, and you need to apply this knowledge every time you try to elide the auxiliary verb in an independent question. You need to think about what the original sentence is first before the elision.
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Mini Exercise:
What would this question become if we “elide” the auxiliary verb in speech?
Have you seen him this morning?
你今早有見過他嗎?
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Answer:
You seen him this morning?
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