Question

Megumigumi · 16 Mar 2020

Hello, I'm a beginner in English language. When I want to say, 誰に読んでもらいたいんだろう、what do I say?
Here is the example; I wrote an article, but I'm wondering who would read it and who I want as the reader...

It's the question form of "I want who/someone to read my article, but I don't know who."
If I say, "Who do I want to read it?", it sounds like I want to read something aloud to someone but I don't know to whom.

How do you say it?

Thank you in advance,

Majestic · 16 Mar 2020

Its slightly difficult to advise, because I can't really imagine the scenario in which this phrase would be used.
If you are the author, and somebody (a publisher, for example) is asking you who the intended audience is, and you do not have a clear picture of who the reader might be, you could say, "I myself don't know who the reader might be" or "I don't know who the intended audience is." (Or, more literally, "I don't know who I want to read it", although that feels slightly unnatural to me). It seems very unlikely that a native English speaker would say "I don't know who I want to read it". Not because its grammatically incorrect, but more because it seems too far of a leap of logic.
"

Buntaro · 16 Mar 2020

Hi Megumi,and welcome to the forum.

"I want someone to read my article" is correct.

"I want someone to read my article, but I don't know who" is also correct.

"I want who to read my article" is a mistake in grammar.

Look at these two examples:

a) "Who do I want to read it?" means I want someone else to read it. I do not want to read it.

b) "Who do I want to read it to?" means I want to read it aloud to someone.

In examples a) and b), the word "to" changes the entire meaning

In addition, these more-polite examples are very common:

c) "Who would I want to read it?"

d) "Who would I want to read it to?"

In addition, examples a) and c) mean reading it aloud or silently. Examples b) and d) mean reading it aloud only.

Also, let me help you with your mistake:

Wrong: I'm a beginner in English language.

e) Right: I'm a beginner of English.

f) Right: I'm a beginner of the English language.

g) Right: I'm a beginner in the English language.

Of these three example, e) and f) sound best. Example g) is okay but the other two examples are better. I like example e) best.

By the way, I am a speaker of American English. I am not sure how these grammar points are handled in British English. Megumi, which do you prefer, American English or British English? (Please do not mix the two, pick one and stick with it.)

mdchachi · 17 Mar 2020

The phrase you are looking for is "intended audience."
I'm not sure who is my intended audience or I'm not sure who my intended audience should be.

Megumigumi · 17 Mar 2020

Thank you so much for your response, Majestic, Buntaro and mdchachi.
"The intended audience/reader" is probably the word I should use, as suggested. Also thank you for correcting my grammatical mistakes. It's so helpful.

So it sounds like you don't say, "誰によんでもらいたいんだろう" or if you say this, it doesn't sound natural?

Let me give you another situation.
You are writing a story about your family. During your writing, you are suddenly not sure what you are doing. You feel you are just wasting your time, writing the junk which no one would read. You ask yourself what you really want. "Do I really want to write this? Why do I want this story? If I complete this story, who would I want to read?" Probably, you want your father to read the story most.

The last question above is my question.

Or when you ask yourself in your mind, "誰に食べてもらいたいんだろう" during your cooking, how do you say it? Probably you just say, "Who do I want to give this meal?" ?
There might be no exact translation for this expression...

As an English leaner, both American and British English are English for me. I would like to learn both.
Thank you.

SomeCallMeChris · 18 Mar 2020

Megumigumi said:
"Do I really want to write this? Why do I want this story? If I complete this story, who would I want to read?"

"Why do I want this story?" is not wrong exactly, but is a little odd. "Why do I want to write this story?" is better generally. The shorter, "Why do I want to?" works in the above scenario.

"If I complete this story, who would I want to read it?" would be correct with "it" added, with the meaning you want. It sounds reasonably natural, if a little stiff.

Megumigumi said:
"Who do I want to give this meal?"

"Who do I want to give this meal to?" would be correct, but sounds a little strange.

"Who am I writing for?" and "Who am I cooking for?" are shorter, more natural versions for these situations.

bentenmusume · 18 Mar 2020

Megumigumi said:
If I say, "Who do I want to read it?", it sounds like I want to read something aloud to someone but I don't know to whom.

Everyone else has also given you good answers regarding your original question, but I just wanted to point out that your interpretation of this sentence isn't quite correct.

There's no way "Who do I want to read it?" could have that meaning you mention here. In that situation, you'd have to say "Who do I want to read it to?". You can't get the notion of "to" without the preposition.

(edited to add: It might also be worth pointing out that ending a sentence with a preposition is often considered by prescriptivists to be poor grammar, though it happens fairly often in casual conversation.)

烏天狗 · 18 Mar 2020

Megumigumi said:
Or when you ask yourself in your mind, "誰に食べてもらいたいんだろう" during your cooking, how do you say it? Probably you just say, "Who do I want to give this meal?" ?
There might be no exact translation for this expression..

Megumigumi,

As others have mentioned, "Who do I want to give this meal to?" is correct, but isn't the best choice for what you are trying to express.

In fact, the only situation that I can think of where "Who do I want to give this meal to?" would apply, is if the speaker had just prepared a meal and was trying to choose who to give the meal to (between a small group of people).

As Chris pointed out, in English we would probably say "Who am I cooking for?" because it expresses the same kind of inner dialogue one would have during a moment of reflection.

If you want to stick with something closer to your original sentence, "Who am I giving this meal to?" is also is correct and sounds natural, not as natural as "Who am I cooking for?" but it wouldn't be out of the ordinary.

Megumigumi · 18 Mar 2020

Thank you all so much for teaching me those expressions. So, "Who would I want to read it?" seems to be the answer I was looking for; the question form of "I want someone to read it but I don't know who the someone would be."

Also, I understood that you English speakers usually don't say it that way.

Because "I am cooking this for him" and "I want him to have this" are different, and when you ask yourself "Who am I cooking for?" often you know the answer and you are thinking about him, I wanted to know the closest translation of 誰に…してもらいたいんだろう

I found my answer because of your help. Thank you so much.

Buntaro · 19 Mar 2020

Megumigumi said:
As an English leaner, both American and British English are English for me. I would like to learn both.

Megumi,

Since you are a beginning student of English, I would suggest that you learn American English or British English only. Do not mix the two. Pick one and stick to it. Later, you can begin to learn the hundreds and hundreds of differences between American English and British English. (I used to teach a class on the differences between American English and British English.) In my opinion, mixing American English and British English sounds really bad.

Which do you prefer, American English or British English?

mdchachi · 19 Mar 2020

Megumigumi said:
Or when you ask yourself in your mind, "誰に食べてもらいたいんだろう" during your cooking, how do you say it? Probably you just say, "Who do I want to give this meal?" ?
There might be no exact translation for this expression...

I think the general translation would be "What am I doing this for?" or "who am I doing this for?"
Like "Who am I cooking this for?" or "Why am I cooking this?" or "What am I cooking for?"

Megumigumi · 20 Mar 2020

Buntaro,

I learn English by myself now. If I choose British English, would you still respond to my question here?

I see many American people have responded to my message for now. I do not want to lose them.

Probably they just live in the US currently and they know British English as well, but I would like to get information from both English speakers. If I say I would like to learn only American English for instance, I wouldn't get a response from British people.

I appreciate your advice. I didn't know there are so many differences between American and British English.
I might choose one later, but I have no preference now.
I read books written by the authors from different continent.

Thank you again for your advice.

Buntaro · 20 Mar 2020

Megumigumi said:
If I choose British English, would you still respond to my question here?

Of course! There are several native English speakers on this forum who are more than happy to help you with all of your questions.

I made a mistake. I want to change what I said before. I think you should concentrate on doing your speaking and writing only in American or British English. (For example, it is quite okay for you to talk to an American and answer his/her questions in British English.) But you can also learn many of the differences as you go along. Here is a question for you. What is the difference in the following two examples:

a) I would suggest you to speak/write American English or British English only.

b) I would suggest that you speak/write American English or British English only.

Michael2 · 21 Mar 2020

Buntaro, I think you're picking way too many hairs, lol!

I'm not sure what point you were thinking of making above, but "suggest (someone) to" is wrong in my book, and here, Suggest - English Grammar Today - Cambridge Dictionary

Any differences in British and American English are a miniscule quibble for a beginner, an area of academic interest for an intermediate-upwards learner who doesn't live in an English-speaking country, and something that will easily be ironed out if they do live in one..

It's just not that important, if it were Americans and Brits wouldn't be able to communicate (joking aside!)

SomeCallMeChris · 21 Mar 2020

Buntaro said:
I would suggest you to

Michael2 said:
"suggest (someone) to"

"I would suggest to you to ... "
"I would suggest that you ... "
"I would suggest to you that you ..."

I'm don't think there is any American/British difference here. The last is needlessly wordy and so sounds a bit stuffy, but they all sound contemporary and natural to me as an American.

烏天狗 · 21 Mar 2020

Megumi,

Michael2 is quite correct in stating that the differences between British English and American English are not really worth worrying about until you are an advanced speaker.

The only trouble you may have is understanding the different idioms and slang between English dialects.

That all being said, in many ways, recognizing the differences between the two is not much different that understanding the differences between 東京式 and 京阪式 dialects.

Michael2 · 22 Mar 2020

Well "suggest" should be followed by a noun clause, so any infinitive after it would be wrong - only a clause or a gerund should follow.

Megumigumi · 23 Mar 2020

Thank you all for the suggestions.

I understand Buntaro's perspective that speaking in Osaka-ben and Tokyo-ben at a time must sound weird. Though I don't have any chance to speak English in my current life, I will try speaking/writing in the same style as much as possible in the future.

Also, I have learned that the word "suggest" doesn't work with "to".
Probably, Buntaro has heard British people saying it with infinitive and thought of the difference?

Infinitive and gerund are so tricky for me, so I appreciate your help.
And I'm glad that I have many teachers no matter which of American or British style I would take.
Thank you.

Buntaro · 23 Mar 2020

Megumigumi said:
…speaking in Osaka-ben and Tokyo-ben at a time must sound weird.

Right now I'm in Texas, so I hear Texas dialect often. Are you aware of any examples of Texas dialect?

Megumigumi said:
Probably, Buntaro has heard British people saying it with infinitive and thought of the difference?

Actually, my "suggest to" example has nothing do with the differences between American and British English. I brought it up because I assumed you did not know the difference between "suggest that" and "suggest to". (It seems I was right.) English students in Japan and China make this mistake often.

I brought up the subject of between American and British English because I find many English students have no idea of the differences between American and British English. I take advantage of every opportunity to teach English!

Megumigumi said:
I don't have any chance to speak English in my current life

Right now I don't have any chance to speak Japanese. We're in the same boat!

Megumi, tell us about yourself. Which city do you live in? What do you do? What do you do in your free time?

Megumigumi · 2 Apr 2020

Hello Buntaro and all,

I'm sorry about my late response. I haven't opened this forum for a while.

No, I can't tell Texas dialect. I have never been to the US nor talked with people from Texas.
I didn't know about the word "suggest", either, that in British English you don't use it with infinitive.

So, you have studied the Japanese language before.
I understand that learning the language on your own is very hard.

I currently live in Tokyo, but I might be moving to somewhere else, depending on my job.
Because of the Covid19, my tasks in the office are getting less.

Hope you guys are doing all right over there.

I would like to ask another English question later, probably with the new title, because this message thread is getting longer.

Thank you,

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