[General] Have you thought about letting me teach your daughter English?

[Silverobama]

My friend's daughter is six years old and my friend wants her to learn English. I asked my friend:

Have you thought about letting me teach your daughter English?

Is my question natural?

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes.

 

[canadalynx]

Yes.

Not a teacher.

I am interested in this thread.
What about ' Have you thought about letting your daughter learn English from me'?

Any nuance between the initial phrase and the phrase above?

Thanks.

 

[Rover_KE]

canadalynx, please read this extract from the forum's Posting Guidelines:

You are welcome to answer questions posted in the Ask a Teacher forum as long as your suggestions, help, and advice reflect a good understanding of the English language. If you are not a teacher, you will need to state that clearly in your post.

 

[Tarheel]

Not a teacher.

I am interested in this thread.

Yes.

What about ' Have you thought about letting your daughter learn English from me'?

That doesn't mean the same thing at all. Not even close!

Any nuance between the initial phrase and the phrase above?

You have turned the question around and made it mean something entirely different.

 

[canadalynx]

You have turned the question around and made it mean something entirely different.

My apologies Rover.

I am not a teacher.

I am not partial to the initial phrase. I think it is because of the verb - to let.

Do you teachers have a preference?

NB I don’t see any ‘Thank’ or ’Like’ button at the bottom of the posts. I will sort it out later since it is immaterial as long as I express my gratitude in advance at the end of each post.

Thanks

 

[Rover_KE]

Fair enough. After 17 posts you should no longer be in moderation, and I've reported your problem to the Support Area.

***
Please note that you have incorrectly used the word 'phrase' three times instead of 'sentence' or 'question'.

Silverobama's original question is fine – most of us prefer an active voice sentence rather than your less natural passive version.

 

[tzfujimino]

Well, I wouldn't say it's in the passive - it's just that the object of 'letting' (='me' in the original sentence) was switched to 'your daughter'.

 

[canadalynx]

Fair enough. After 17 posts you should no longer be in moderation, and I've reported your problem to the Support Area.

***
Please note that you have incorrectly used the word 'phrase' three times instead of 'sentence' or 'question'.

Silverobama's original question is fine – most of us prefer an active voice sentence rather than your less natural passive version.

Haha. You've been counting.
I'd still prefer my sentence.

 

[emsr2d2]

Haha. You've been counting.
I'd still prefer my sentence.

We don't need to count. Everyone's post count is displayed on the right-hand side of the box above each post. Your suggested revision is not as natural as the original, even if you prefer it.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Not a teacher.

I am interested in this thread.
What about ' Have you thought about letting your daughter learn English from me'?

Ow! That's painfully awkward.

Any nuance between the initial phrase and the sentence above?

Yes. I would let Silver teach my daughter English. Yours would have to improve first.

Thanks.

You're welcome!

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

. . . I'd still prefer my sentence.

You should live and be happy.

 

[canadalynx]

You're welcome!

Based on the answers that I have received, my sentence isn’t grammatically wrong although it might sound awkward to native speakers of English. Perhaps, there is more than one way to look at my sentence. Hence, my question on the ‘nuance’.

Charlie, you can let Silver teach your daughter English anytime. I don’t mind.
I am here to learn and improve.

I don’t think I have written anything to merit that sarcasm.

emsr2d2, I wasn’t referring to the number of posts.

Take a chill pill. I am not trying to confront anyone here. I mentioned earlier that I was interested in this thread.

 

[canadalynx]

You should live and be happy.

Yes, we all should.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

. . . I don’t think I have written anything to merit that sarcasm. . . .

No, indeed! My apologies. I was reacting your comment that seemed to disagree with the moderators on which form is preferable.

Yes, your grammar is fine.

To me, the nuance is about how it is said, not what it says. And really, I wish I had a kid for either one of you to teach!

 

[emsr2d2]

After 17 posts you should no longer be in moderation,

Haha. You've been counting.

I wasn’t referring to the number of posts.

Out of curiosity, then, what were you referring to?

 

[canadalynx]

***
Please note that you have incorrectly used the word 'phrase' three times instead of 'sentence' or 'question'.

This.

All is good.
Thank you.