care

[Anonymous]

Are these sentences all correct:
1-I don't care THAT he smokes.
2-I don't care IF he smokes.
3-I don't care WHETHER he smokes.


Is there any difference between:
1-I don't care if he smokes.
and:
2-I don't care about his smoking.

Doesn't the second sentence imply that I know for a fact that he does smoke but it is of no importance to me, while the first sentence simply says I don't care if he smokes or not, without implying that he necessarily does smoke (may-be I don't know whether he smokes or not and I don't care).

 

[Red5]

1-I don't care THAT he smokes.
2-I don't care IF he smokes.
3-I don't care WHETHER he smokes.

Yes, they are all fine. ;-)

 

[Red5]

1-I don't care if he smokes.
and:
2-I don't care about his smoking.

Hmmm, that's a good question. I'll have to think about that. ;-)

 

[RonBee]

Is there any difference between:
1-I don't care if he smokes.
and:
2-I don't care about his smoking.

They seem to mean different things, but without any context it is hard to tell. In the case of the second sentence I think the speaker is definitely talking about someone who smokes. He is saying it doesn't bother him. Hm. Maybe they are the same after all.

:wink:

 

[FW]

The "guest" was me. Something went wrong when I logged in. I logged in again to post the other questions.
Thanks Red5 and RonBee.

 

[FW]

The "guest" was me. Something went wrong when I logged in. I logged in again to post the other questions.
Thanks Red5 and RonBee.

There is this Screamin' Jay Hawkins song, "I Put a Spell on You", which, by the way, I find fantastic. In it, he says: "I don't care if you don't love me. I love you anyhow." The sentence is definitely correct. The question is whether he is sure that the lady in question doesn't love her or whether he doesn't know if she loves him or not!!

 

[RonBee]

The "guest" was me. Something went wrong when I logged in. I logged in again to post the other questions.
Thanks Red5 and RonBee.

There is this Screamin' Jay Hawkins song, "I Put a Spell on You", which, by the way, I find fantastic. In it, he says: "I don't care if you don't love me. I love you anyhow." The sentence is definitely correct. The question is whether he is sure that the lady in question doesn't love her or whether he doesn't know if she loves him or not!!

It seems to me that she doesn't love him. That is why (I think) he sings, "I don't care if you don't love me. I love you anyhow." However, there is the possibility that he is just not sure. And he is saying that he loves her in any case. However, if he has put a spell on her it really shouldn't make any difference, should it? :wink:

I can't really be sure which it is, and perhaps that is the point. If he had said "I don't care that you don't love me" that would remove any ambiguity. However, I think the ambiguity is supposed to be there. What do you think?

 

[Casiopea]

• "I don't care if you don't love me. I love you anyhow."
  I Put a Spell on You -Screamin' Jay Hawkins

FW:

The question is whether he is sure that the lady in question doesn't love him or whether he doesn't know if she loves him or not!!

He knows she doesn't love him. That's why he puts a spell on her: to make her love him.

While she's under his spell, he sings, "I don't care if you don't love me (for real). I love you anyhow."

 

[Casiopea]

FW:

Is there any difference between:

1-I don't care if he smokes.

and:

2-I don't care about his smoking.

Yes. There's a difference. "care if he smokes" refers to the action of smoking, whereas 'care about his smoking' refers to an object: his habit. Furthermore, "care for his smoking" refers to both the action and the habit.

I don't care for his smoking.

 

[FW]

I think you have made a good point about the difference between "care about his smoking" and "care if he smokes". But I think "care FOR his smoking" means something else altogether. Doesn't it mean "I don't like his smoking"?

 

[Casiopea]

I think you have made a good point about the difference between "care about his smoking" and "care if he smokes". But I think "care FOR his smoking" means something else altogether. Doesn't it mean "I don't like his smoking"?

"I don't care for his smoking" (I don't like this act.)

care for = don't like
his smoking = this act

'his smoking' functions as a gerund, a verbal noun, which means to say that grammatically it acts as a noun, a thing, a habit, but semantically it denotes an act, 'smoking'. It is in that way that 'care for his smoking' refers to both the act and the habit.

 

[FW]

Got it (I think). But this brings up another question for me:
Would you say there is a difference between:

1-I don't like the children fighting.
2-I don't like the children's fighting.
3-I don't like the children to fight.

 

[RonBee]

Got it (I think). But this brings up another question for me:
Would you say there is a difference between:

1-I don't like the children fighting.
2-I don't like the children's fighting.
3-I don't like the children to fight.

They all mean the same to me. I do think the first and third are more likely to be used.

 

[Tdol]

Got it (I think). But this brings up another question for me:
Would you say there is a difference between:

1-I don't like the children fighting.
2-I don't like the children's fighting.
3-I don't like the children to fight.

1&2 are basically the same- the second is a more formal version. The third suggests a more restricted meaning to me. I'd use it if the children only fought occasionally or under certain conditions. ;-)

 

[Casiopea]

1-I don't like the children fighting. (don't like X doing this) gerund
2-I don't like the children's fighting. (don't like this) noun
3-I don't like the children to fight. (don't like X to do) verb