"You mean the guy who sells fruit?" or "Do you mean the guy who sells fruit?"

Asked May 31 '18 at 18:51

Active May 31 '18 at 19:00

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In conversation, which is correct:

You mean the one with the guy who sells fruit? or
Do you mean the one with the guy who sells fruit?

My ESL student has asked me why we don't always include the auxiliary verb, "do," in instances like this. Why is it ok to say "You mean...?" as a question in conversation.

Why don't we need the auxiliary verb before "you"?

edited May 31 '18 at 19:00

Mari-Lou A

91,183

asked May 31 '18 at 18:51

Lora

1

"Ellipsis" we can skip auxiliaries when the meaning is clear. – Mari-Lou A May 31 '18 at 18:58
...especially when it is something more dramatic than selling fruit: "You mean this is our last chance?" – Weather Vane May 31 '18 at 19:03
1

Another case of Conversational Deletion. – John Lawler May 31 '18 at 19:38
This is a better place to look: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/66972/why-is-the-subject-omitted-in-sentences-like-thought-youd-never-ask/66994#66994 – KarlG May 31 '18 at 19:56
We can add question marks to any sentence we want ? – Nigel J May 31 '18 at 23:05

"You mean the guy who sells fruit?" or "Do you mean the guy who sells fruit?"

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