Question Why did you see him?

hirashin · 12 Dec 2020

I think (a) makes sense, but how about (b)? Does it also make sense?
(a) Why did you meet him?
(b) Why did you see him?

Michael2 · 13 Dec 2020

I would just add something like "go and see him" or "have to see him" to differentiate between the 2 possible meanings of "see" in the second sentence, and make it clearer that it means "meet"

Buntaro · 13 Dec 2020

Michael2 said:
I would just add something like "go and see him" or "have to see him" to differentiate between the 2 possible meanings of "see" in the second sentence, and make it clearer that it means "meet"

I would emphasize that Hirashin's (a) and (b) have different meanings.

mdchachi · 13 Dec 2020

hirashin said:
I think (a) makes sense, but how about (b)? Does it also make sense?
(a) Why did you meet him?
(b) Why did you see him?

(B) makes sense too but it's ambiguous. It may or may not mean the same as (A) depending on the context. "See" is also used to mean dating but "meet" is not.

Buntaro · 14 Dec 2020

mdchachi said:
(B) makes sense too but it's ambiguous. It may or may not mean the same as (A) depending on the context.

Interesting observations. But when we consider these two examples:

1. I'm going to go see him about this.

2. I'm going to go meet him about this.

we can usually see a difference in meaning.

mdchachi · 15 Dec 2020

Buntaro said:
Interesting observations. But when we consider these two examples:

1. I'm going to go see him about this.

2. I'm going to go meet him about this.

we can usually see a difference in meaning.

Are you saying there is a difference in these two examples? The meanings are basically identical imo.

Buntaro · 15 Dec 2020

mdchachi said:
Are you saying there is a difference in these two examples? The meanings are basically identical imo.

Yes, I am. I would say your use of the word "basically" refers to what I am saying. Also, it is possible that the difference in meaning is 'different' in your 'dialect' than my 'dialect' of English.

hirashin · 15 Dec 2020

Buntaro said:
1. I'm going to go see him about this.

2. I'm going to go meet him about this.

we can usually see a difference in meaning.

Thanks for the help, Buntaro. What's the difference between them?

mdchachi · 16 Dec 2020

hirashin said:
What's the difference between them?

Yes, don't leave us in suspense! I'm curious now.

Buntaro · 17 Dec 2020

mdchachi said:
Yes, don't leave us in suspense! I'm curious now.

(1) I'm going to go see Mary about this.

(2) I'm going to go meet with Mary about this.

The important question is this: Whose idea was it to have the meeting? In both examples, it is ambiguous as to who first thought of having the meeting. But example (1) is a little less ambiguous. In example (1) it is more likely the idea for the meeting is my idea, whereas in example (2) there is more of a chance it is Mary's idea.

Example (1) contains less ambiguity than example (2), but both examples contain a certain amount of ambiguity.

mdchachi · 17 Dec 2020

Buntaro said:
The important question is this: Whose idea was it to have the meeting?

For the purposes of this discussion (which is understanding English as a second language and teaching it to high schoolers) I don't see this distinction as important at all. In an actual sample of writing consisting of more than one sentence, this question would likely be settled by contextual information anyway.

hirashin · 17 Dec 2020

Buntaro said:
(1) I'm going to go see Mary about this.

(2) I'm going to go meet with Mary about this.

The important question is this: Whose idea was it to have the meeting? In both examples, it is ambiguous as to who first thought of having the meeting. But example (1) is a little less ambiguous. In example (1) it is more likely the idea for the meeting is my idea, whereas in example (2) there is more of a chance it is Mary's idea.

Example (1) contains less ambiguity than example (2), but both examples contain a certain amount of ambiguity.

Thank you for teaching me about the difference, Buntaro. That's a subtle difference, isn't it? It's really hard for non-native speakers of English to tell them apart.

Buntaro · 18 Dec 2020

hirashin said:
Thank you for teaching me about the difference, Buntaro. That's a subtle difference, isn't it? It's really hard for non-native speakers of English to tell them apart.

Yes, it is very subtle. It is an example of what I call Obscure English, things that the average student should never learn nor use. Another example of Obscure English that you brought up some time ago is "I study French now".

seaDonkey · 19 Dec 2020

'Are you seeing anybody at the moment?' or 'are you seeing him? ' means dating.

'Why did you see him?" is the same as "Why did you meet him (on a date)"

"did you see him?" and "can you see him?" are the normal verb 'to see'

Question Why did you see him?

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