Results 1 to 7 of 7
Like Tree15Likes
  • 2 Post By English4everyone
  • 3 Post By Tdol
  • 1 Post By English4everyone
  • 2 Post By Tdol
  • 1 Post By Hugo_Lin
  • 1 Post By bhaisahab
  • 5 Post By emsr2d2

Thread: Whose birthday is it today?

  1. 18-Nov-2012, 21:45 #1
    English4everyone
    English4everyone is offline Member
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • Student or Learner
      • Native Language:
      • Persian
      • Home Country:
      • Iran
      • Current Location:
      • Iran
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Posts
    373

    Default Whose birthday is it today?

    Are the following questions any different? (Is "any" used correctly here?)
    1. Whose birthday is it today?
    2. Whose birthday is today?
    Hugo_Lin and TheParser like this.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  2. 19-Nov-2012, 11:54 #2
    Tdol
    Tdol is offline Editor, UsingEnglish.com
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • English Teacher
      • Native Language:
      • British English
      • Home Country:
      • UK
      • Current Location:
      • Philippines
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    38,631

    Default Re: Whose birthday is it today?

    The first suggests that you know it's someone's birthday today. The second doesn't- it's an enquiry that may be answered in the negative for me.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  3. 20-Nov-2012, 14:24 #3
    English4everyone
    English4everyone is offline Member
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • Student or Learner
      • Native Language:
      • Persian
      • Home Country:
      • Iran
      • Current Location:
      • Iran
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Posts
    373

    Default Re: Whose birthday is it today?

    So apart from that, they are both fine and correct. Is it Ok?
    By the way, is this question correct? "Are the following questions any different?"
    Last edited by English4everyone; 20-Nov-2012 at 14:48.
    TheParser likes this.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  4. 20-Nov-2012, 15:23 #4
    Tdol
    Tdol is offline Editor, UsingEnglish.com
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • English Teacher
      • Native Language:
      • British English
      • Home Country:
      • UK
      • Current Location:
      • Philippines
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    38,631

    Default Re: Whose birthday is it today?

    1 In the correct contexts.
    2 I would use Is there any difference between the following questions?
    English4everyone and TheParser like this.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  5. 20-Nov-2012, 16:13 #5
    Hugo_Lin
    Hugo_Lin is offline Junior Member
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • Student or Learner
      • Native Language:
      • Chinese
      • Home Country:
      • China
      • Current Location:
      • China
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Posts
    69

    Default Re: Whose birthday is it today?

    Quote Originally Posted by Tdol View Post
    The first suggests that you know it's someone's birthday today. The second doesn't- it's an enquiry that may be answered in the negative for me.
    I have to admit I'm still confused about the first one.
    TheParser likes this.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  6. 20-Nov-2012, 18:57 #6
    bhaisahab's Avatar
    bhaisahab
    bhaisahab is offline Moderator
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • Retired English Teacher
      • Native Language:
      • British English
      • Home Country:
      • England
      • Current Location:
      • England
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    19,296

    Default Re: Whose birthday is it today?

    Quote Originally Posted by English4everyone View Post
    1. Whose birthday is it today?
    Quote Originally Posted by Hugo_Lin View Post
    I have to admit I'm still confused about the first one.
    What do you find confusing about it?
    TheParser likes this.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  7. 20-Nov-2012, 19:12 #7
    emsr2d2's Avatar
    emsr2d2
    emsr2d2 is offline Moderator
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • English Teacher
      • Native Language:
      • British English
      • Home Country:
      • UK
      • Current Location:
      • UK
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Posts
    15,537

    Default Re: Whose birthday is it today?

    The first "Whose birthday is it today?" suggests, as bhaisahab said, that you already know it is someone's birthday today but you're not sure whose. There may be 30 people in the room, earlier you heard someone say that someone has a birthday day but they didn't say which person. In order to find out, you ask "Whose birthday is it today?" You assume that at least one person will say "It's my birthday today!"

    If you didn't know there was a birthday today, but were just curious to see if anyone in the room had a birthday, you would ask "Is it anyone's birthday day?" or "Does anyone in the room have a birthday today?"
    TheParser, anhnha, Tdol and 2 others like this.
    Remember - correct capitalisation, punctuation and spacing make posts much easier to read.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

Similar Threads

  1. [General] birthday
    By maria1984333 in forum Ask a Teacher
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 24-Oct-2011, 11:22
  2. Birthday
    By Rajoo in forum Ask a Teacher
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 01-Oct-2007, 08:23
  3. get for your birthday
    By user_gary in forum Ask a Teacher
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 03-Aug-2007, 08:43
  4. Birthday
    By namsteven in forum Ask a Teacher
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 06-Nov-2006, 17:36

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Forum Rules

Hotchalk

Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.1