Do you (A) quarantine with your wife and child, or (B)...

[Alexey86]

Hello! Recently, a funny short video about the quarantine appeared on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5s433aTy98

The voice-over: "Because of the coronavirus, you are going to be quarantined, but you have a choice. Do you: (A) quarantine with your wife and child, or (B)..."


What puzzles me is the form of the question. I would expect something like:

- "Do you want: (A) to be quarantined with your wife and child, or (B)..."

- ...but you have a choice: (A) to be quarantined with your wife and child, or (B)..."

 

[GoesStation]

Your variants are fine, but the original is also natural. The expression to quarantine with may have originated with SARS-CoV-2; whether or not it existed before, it's already part of the language.

 

[Alexey86]

whether or not it existed before, it's already part of the language.

I see. But why just "Do you" instead of "Do you want"? The voice offers a choice, but the question sounds as if it asked about usual behavior.

 

[GoesStation]

I see. But why just "Do you" instead of "Do you want"? The voice offers a choice, but the question sounds as if it's asking [STRIKE]asked[/STRIKE] about usual behavior.

The question is prefaced with the statement "You have a choice". It's common to list options after such a statement.

 

[Alexey86]

as if it's asking

Here's an excerpt from Grammaring.com (https://www.grammaring.com/as-if-as-though):

The past subjunctive after as if / as though indicates an unreal situation in the present. However, if the situation is true, we use a real tense to express present time:

He looks as if he knew the answer. (he gives the impression that he knows the answer, but he (probably) doesn't know or we don't know whether he knows or not)
He looks as if he knows the answer. (he knows the answer)

I used "asked" because the form of the question just gives me the impression that it's about usual behavior.

 

[jutfrank]

This is very simple. The grammatical form Do you ...? is the natural way to phrase options in hypothetical scenarios like this, especially when options are listed as A, B, etc.

You will see/hear this form in such things as personality quizzes in magazines, 'choose your own adventure'-type fiction, and Dungeons & Dragons-style RPGs.

There's no need at all to use want, or a to-infinitive.

 

[GoesStation]

I used "asked" because the form of the question just gives me the impression that it's about usual behavior.

It doesn't work there.

 

[Alexey86]

This is very simple.

This is the first time I've come across such usage of "Do you".

The grammatical form Do you ...? is the natural way to phrase options in hypothetical scenarios like this, especially when options are listed as A, B, etc.

Will it also work in the following example: "Because of your new job, you'll have to move out of Chicago, but you have a choice. Do you: (A) live in Boston, or (B) in Seattle"?

 

[Alexey86]

It doesn't work there.

It's a different question, so I'll start a new thread.

 

[jutfrank]

Since you used will, that doesn't seem to be a hypothetical scenario. Did you mean it to be?

 

[Alexey86]

Since you used will, that doesn't seem to be a hypothetical scenario. Did you mean it to be?

Would you please explain why the original example is hypothetical? It says, "you are going to", which means that the quarantine is inevitable.

 

[Alexey86]

In such exercises, the setting of the scene is understood to be hypothetical.

But the sketch is about the present situation we are all living in.

 

[Tdol]

The more stuff you add to satisfy pedants grammatically, and often for little or no reason, the less funny this joke will be. It depends on getting the answer b) in fast. It's a joke, not an academic essay, and speed matters here. The question asked is perfectly correct, and adding words does not help and, actually, hinders, as it slows the progress to the punchline, which is the man's answer. Why do you think that Do you want quarantine/breakfast is less acceptable than to be quarantined/to have breakfast? Songs and jokes are not there to conform to the strictest rules of grammar, and I can't honestly think of any rule that affects the question here. Language has many functions and uses- it does not only have to follow the rules of grammar at all times.

 

[Alexey86]

Why do you think that Do you want quarantine/breakfast is less acceptable than to be quarantined/to have breakfast?

Jutfrank has already explained to me that "Do you" is acceptable. My question is whether it also works in "Because of your new job, you'll have to move out of Chicago, but you have a choice. Do you: (A) live in Boston, or (B) in Seattle" (not a joke).

 

[jutfrank]

But the sketch is about the present situation we are all living in.

It's framed as hypothetical.

 

[Alexey86]

It's framed as hypothetical.

Framed by what? By the fact that it's a joke? I still can't understand why it matters. If the situation were real, would it make "Do you" unacceptable?

 

[Alexey86]

I imagine that you are presenting that as a real-life situation.

To me, the sketch is also presented as a real-life situation, which makes it funnier.

 

[Alexey86]

Well, I think it's a fruitless discussion. Let's leave it at that.

 

[jutfrank]

I'm sorry to hear you think it has been pointless because I think it was a good question. Unfortunately, you don't seem to like the answer.

I understand that you think it's a real situation, but for the joke to work (giving options A and B) it has to be presented as a hypothetical choice.

 

[Alexey86]

I'm sorry to hear you think it has been pointless because I think it was a good question. Unfortunately, you don't seem to like the answer.

I don't consider all the answers pointless, of course! It's just the last part that reminds me one Monty Python's sketch.

I understand that you think it's a real situation, but for the joke to work (giving options A and B) it has to be presented as a hypothetical choice.

It's the opposite in every part: 1) of course, I understand that the video is not about the man's real situation, 2) but for the joke to work it is presented as a real choice. And one more thing: the sketch as a whole is about the real situation we are all living in now, which makes it funnier. I don't know how to put it clearer.