[General] Sorry to point out your mistake.

[Silverobama]

I met a young man named Chris in last night's speaking club. He said "Don't say impromptu speech because it's wrong. Native speakers don't say that".

Later I found that many native speakers do say "impromptu speech" so I wanted to him his mistake. Is it natural to start with "Sorry to point out your mistake"?

 

[Yankee]

I met a young man named Chris in last night's speaking club. He said "Don't say impromptu speech because it's wrong. Native speakers don't say that".

Later I found that many native speakers do say "impromptu speech" so I wanted to him (?) his mistake. Is it natural to start with "Sorry to point out your mistake"? It's OK.

Y.

 

[5jj]

He said "Don't say impromptu speech because it's wrong.

We do say it in some contexts, but not normally as an alternative to colloquial/everyday speech.

 

[Silverobama]

Sorry, it should be "....so I wanted to tell him his mistake".

 

[Silverobama]

We do say it in some contexts, but not normally as an alternative to colloquial/everyday speech.

Got it. How about in this context?

Let's say my friend and I are going to a speaking club and I haven't prepared anything to say while others are ready to give a speech. Then I decided to do it off the cuff, I said "I haven't prepared for this speech event so I'm going to give an impromptu speech".

Is it natural to say that?

 

[tzfujimino]

He said "Don't say impromptu speech because it's wrong. Native speakers don't say that".[/I]

Out of curiosity, what did he say native speakers would use instead?

 

[Tarheel]

I would say:

I wanted to tell him he was mistaken.

 

[Tarheel]

Got it. How about in this context?

Let's say my friend and I are going to a speaking club and I haven't prepared anything to say, while others are ready to give a speech. Then I decided to do it off the cuff, I said "I haven't prepared for this speech event, so I'm going to give an impromptu speech".

Is it natural to say that?

Yes.

 

[jutfrank]

So you're looking for a way to tell a native speaker that you think he was wrong? You should be careful to do it in such a way that he's not going to be offended. Your way might be a bit too direct. Perhaps just tell him where you read that impromptu speech is okay, and wait to see what he says.

 

[emsr2d2]

I've lost track of the number of times I've told you to say "... at English club".

 

[GoesStation]

I met a young man named Chris [STRIKE]in[/STRIKE] at last night's speaking club meeting.

A club is a group. It's not a meeting or a session. Please stop making this mistake.

 

[tedmc]

People do not like to be told they have made a mistake, more so if a native is being told he has made a mistake in his own language. I think it is not that you are not right but it is your approach that could have been more tactful.

 

[Silverobama]

I've lost track of the number of times I've told you to say "... at English club".

I'm very sorry about that, emsr2d2. I did write down your corrections of my sentences down but I didn't remember to use "at". I think it'll be better for me to write "at English club" 100 times on a paper if I make this mistake again.

So you're looking for a way to tell a native speaker that you think he was wrong? You should be careful to do it in such a way that he's not going to be offended. Your way might be a bit too direct. Perhaps just tell him where you read that impromptu speech is okay, and wait to see what he says.

No, not really, jutfrank. I'm deeply sorry for haven't made myself clear. Chris is not a native speaker of English. He's Chinese and he might have studied in the US for many years so people here believe that his English is good. It is. His spoken English is fluent and he can use many difficult and not-ordinary English words. I disagreed with him because I do think that "impromptu speech" is used as I've said in #5.

I'll never point out any mistakes made by native English speakers because it's silly. I'm not saying that they don't make any mistakes but it's not worth doing. I think they know if they've made a mistake and will correct themselves if they want.

Out of curiosity, what did he say native speakers would use instead?

He said "improvise". I think "improvise" is a verb. Perhaps he meant "improvised" but that sounds weird to me.

So, everyone. Would you please tell me if I can say "Sorry to point out your mistake" to someone (not necessarily Kris) if they've made a mistake in using a word or phrase or something similar?

And also Tarheel said that the following sentence is natural:

"I haven't prepared for this speech event, so I'm going to give an impromptu speech".

I always agree with him but I have question. Does it sound good if I use two “speeches” in this sentence? Is there a better alternative?

 

[5jj]

I Would you please tell me if I can say "Sorry to point out your mistake" to someone (not necessarily Kris) if they've made a mistake in using a word or phrase or something similar?

I wouldn't. If You respond immediately, 'I don't agree' is less confrontational than pointing out that they have made a mistake.

If you discover later that they have made a mistake, I see little point in mentioning it, unless it occurs again.

 

[Silverobama]

I wouldn't. If You respond immediately, 'I don't agree' is less confrontational than pointing out that they have made a mistake.

If you discover later that they have made a mistake, I see little point in mentioning it, unless it occurs again.

Much appreciated, 5jj. How about in the following context: I didn't mention it (I don't agree with him) at that time but later we established an online group and Chris is also in that group. If I want to disagree with him about the impromptu speech. What can I say? Is it natural to say "Chris, I hate to mention it but I think "impromptu speech" is actually used by native speakers" then I will continue to explain how.

And also Tarheel said that the following sentence is natural:

"I haven't prepared for this speech event, so I'm going to give an impromptu speech".

I always agree with him but I have question. Does it sound good if I use two “speeches” in this sentence? Is there a better alternative?

 

[jutfrank]

Chris is not a native speaker of English.

Okay, thanks for clarifying.

Would you please tell me if I can say "Sorry to point out your mistake" to someone (not necessarily Kris) if they've made a mistake in using a word or phrase or something similar?

No, that doesn't work at all. It's like you're trying to be polite and challenging at the same time.

The decision you need to make is how rude you're prepared to be. If you're very confident that you're right, and you're not worried about being polite, you could say:

No, that's not right.
That's just not true at all.
That simply isn't the case.
I'm afraid you're mistaken.
I think you'll find that's wrong.
I'm sorry but that's nonsense.

There are many other natural ways to say what you mean. It's hard to give suggestions because you've failed to give us the context we need in order to do so. By 'context', I mean the exact words that Chris has said immediately prior to the utterance you want to make. Your questions are going to be much improved if you can provide for us proper context in the form of a mini-dialogue.

 

[Tarheel]

Much appreciated, 5jj. How about in the following context: I didn't mention it (I don't agree with him) at that time but later we established an online group and Chris is also in that group. If I want to disagree with him about the impromptu speech. What can I say? Is it natural to say "Chris, I hate to mention it but I think "impromptu speech" is actually used by native speakers" then I will continue to explain how.

And also Tarheel said that the following sentence is natural: "I haven't prepared for this speech event, so I'm going to give an impromptu speech".

I always agree with him, but I have a question. Does it sound good if I use two “speeches” in this sentence? Is there a better alternative?

On those rare occasions when I disagree with Charlie I simply say I disagree. If I want to be super polite I could say I respectfully disagree. (I haven't done that. I'm not that polite. ;-))

If you wish to, you could say I haven't prepared anything, but I will make an impromptu speech

I wouldn't bring it up just to make a point, but if it comes up again you could say you disagree and then make your point.