situational answers

[vkhu]

From another test of mine:
"Would you mind giving a hand with this?"

A No, not at all
B Yes, I'll do it now
C Well, I'd love to

The answer is A but I don't think that's how people usually respond in that situation. Why isn't B nor C correct?

 

[5jj]

"Would you mind giving a hand with this?"

A No, not at all.....B Yes, I'll do it now.....C Well, I'd love to

The answer is A but I don't think that's how people usually respond in that situation. Why isn't B nor C correct?

A is the response I would give.

You will certainly hear B and, without the 'well', C

We do ask people to post different questions in separate threads. Confusion can result when people post responses to different questions in the same thread.

 

[Tdol]

B is OK, but people are more likely to use it when they do someone a favour and do the task without assistance from the person making the request IMO.

 

[emsr2d2]

From another test of mine:
"Would you mind giving a hand with this?"

A No, not at all
B Yes, I'll do it now
C Well, I'd love to

The answer is A but I don't think that's how people usually respond in that situation. Why isn't B nor C correct?

The reason that A is correct (in my opinion) is that you are looking for the answer to the question: "Would you mind ...?" If you are happy to help then your answer would be "No, I wouldn't mind ..." The only answer that includes that is A "No, I don't/wouldn't mind at all".

 

[5jj]

The reason that A is correct (in my opinion) is that you are looking for the answer to the question: "Would you mind ...?" If you are happy to help then your answer would be "No, I wouldn't mind ..." The only answer that includes that is A "No, I don't/wouldn't mind at all".

That's what we teach, and that's how I would respond. However, many native speakers seem to respond to the request, ('please help') rather than the words.

 

[emsr2d2]

That's what we teach, and that's how I would respond. However, many native speakers seem to respond to the rquest, ('please help') rather than the words.

Yes, I agree entirely. I'm quite certain that in normal conversational English you will hear:

Would you mind giving me a hand with this?
No, not at all.
Yes, of course.
Sure.
Why not?
Hmm, OK.
No, I guess I have time.
Yes, I guess I have time.
OK.
Help you with what?
I can't, sorry. I'm busy.

... and lots of other alternatives!

 

[Tdol]

These are very tricky questions to write for tests- it's easy to hear the right answer in your head and think the others are wrong.