Attention to the Relationship Level
43
This conversation happened in the marriage consultant ‟s office. It was
Jane and John ‟s first time came to the office. When Dr. Wexler, their marriage
consultant asked them about how often both of them had sex, both of them were confused and Jane used the hedge „you know’ to express the feeling of
uncertainty. By using the hedges, it meant that she needed a clear explanation because she was not really sure with her own statement and aske
d Dr. Wexler‟s opinion about her statement.
Dialogue 8
Dr. Wexler : How honest are you with him?
Jane : Pretty honest. I mean... Its not like I lie to him or anything.
The conversation happened between Jane and Dr. Wexler. In this scene, Jane came to Dr. Wexler
‟s office alone because she had something she wanted to discuss about her husband. She used a hedge to express the feeling of uncertainty.
At first, she said „pretty honest’ with no doubt, but then she added the hedge „I mean’ that weakened her first statement. The following sentences also showed
that she actually hid something from her husband that meant she was not really honest.There were two expressions of tag question that were found in
Jane‟s utterances. The first question tag was found when Jane and John were talking on
the ballroom hotel where they first met. All of the tag questions found in the movie had the similarity in which two of them were
in the form of „tag‟ with no statements before the tags.
Dialogue 9
John : What do you care, if I was just a cover?
44
Jane : Well, who said you were just a cover?
John : Wasn‟t l?
Jane :
Wasn’t l?
This conversation happened in the ballroom hotel where John proposed to Jane. The situation here was John asked Jane to dance with him. He interrogated
Jane about their marriage and their jobs while they were dancing. He stated that Jane did not care about him because he was just a cover, but Jane argued that it
was wrong by asking John back. Later, John asked Jane by using „tag‟ only, but
the statement before the question tag was showed implicitly in Jane‟s statement.
The complete tag question of John‟s statement should be „I was a cover, wasn‟t
I?‟ and Jane‟s statement should be „I said so, wasn‟t I?‟ The reason both of them only use the „tag‟ when they talked to each other was because both of them
already know the statement before the tag . Jane‟s question tag in this dialogue was
considered as a statement that demanded an answer from her husband.
Dialogue 10
John : It‟s never gonna work, honey. It‟s never gonna work, because you
constantly underestimate me. Jane
: Do l?
The dialogue happened via phone when John was trapped inside the elevator. John thought that he had some hints where Jane was, but it turned out
that Jane already knew about it and made a trap. There were no sentences before the tag. Although from the second dialogue, the phrase before the tag was shown
implicitly from John‟s utterance. So, if there was a phrase before the tag, it would be “I don‟t underestimate you, do I?” Jane‟s utterance was a question tag and
45
included as the tentativeness because by saying those phrases, she demanded John to respond.