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

[jutfrank]

I meant that it's the language (the grammar of present simple Do you, and stating the options as A and B) that presents the situation as hypothetical. We just don't ask questions like that when the options are real.

 

[Alexey86]

I meant that it's the language (the grammar of present simple Do you, and stating the options as A and B) that presents the situation as hypothetical. We just don't ask questions like that when the options are real.

I didn't know that. Now, I do. Thank you! The problem is that since I've come across this usage for the first time, I just can't hear the hypotheticalness (sorry for the word).

 

[jutfrank]

The problem is that since I've come across this usage for the first time, I just can't hear the hypotheticalness (sorry for the word).

Yes.

Well, at least you're a lot more likely now to notice this specific usage next time you encounter it.

 

[emsr2d2]

(Accidentally posted in the wrong thread originally!)

In the 1980s, there was a board game called "Scruples". It consisted mainly of a stack of cards containing moral dilemmas and players had to try to guess what other players' decision would be in each case. The wording on each card followed the same pattern:


- A man walking in front of you in the street drops his wallet. You pick it up and see that there is £500 inside. The man is wearing an expensive suit, a gold watch and is heading towards an expensive-looking car. You are unemployed and really need the money. Do you ...

1. ... run after him and return the wallet with all the money still inside?
2. ... put the wallet in your pocket and head in the other direction as quickly as possible?
3. ... take £300, put it in your pocket, then run after him and return the wallet, saying it's exactly how you found it?

Each one is a hypothetical situation and, as you can see, the question starts with "Do you ...".