So what do we/you do when the demand is too high? We/You simply increase the price.

[Ashraful Haque]

So I was trying to make someone understand business studies. So I said:

So what do we do when the demand is too high? We simply increase the price.
So what do you do when the demand is too high? You simply increase the price.
So what do businesses do when the demand is too high? They simply increase the price.


Every time I use this structure, I get very confused about which version to use. Do native speakers even say it like this?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

So I was trying to make someone understand business studies. So I said:

So what do we do when the demand is too high? We simply increase the price.
So what do you do when the demand is too high? You simply increase the price.
So what do businesses do when the demand is too high? They simply increase the prices.


Every time I use this structure, I get very confused about which version to use. Do native speakers even say it like this?

Yes, we do. For your purpose, explaining business practices, all three are fine. The important things are consistency and parallelism.

On all of them, you could just say increase prices. Since most businesses have more than one price, that would make sense.

 

[Rover_KE]

Note that there's no grammatical, lexical or stylistic reason to begin every sentence with 'So'.:roll:

Just leave them all out.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

Yes, we do. For your purpose, explaining business practices, all three are fine. The important things are consistency and parallelism.

On all of them, you could just say increase prices. Since most businesses have more than one price, that would make sense.

Thank you very much. Here's another one I came across just yesterday.
In my country you have to fill out a form for internal transactions over $300 at once. So I was at the bank and asked the following as I was going to spend almost $400 to pay for an online course:

"Excuse me ma'am. Sorry to bother you but do I have to fill out any form for this transaction? Cause as far as I know you have to fill out a form for transactions over $300."


Is 'you' correct here? I'm pretty sure 'we' isn't correct here. This confuses me because it sounds to me like I'm saying that the banker lady has to do it. :-?
(Note- I had to say the last part because she didn't know about the form.)

 

[GoesStation]

"Excuse me ma'am. Sorry to bother you, but do I have to fill out [STRIKE]any[/STRIKE] a form for this transaction? 'Cause as far as I know, you have to fill out a form for transactions over $300."

Is 'you' correct here? I'm pretty sure 'we' isn't correct here. This confuses me because it sounds to me like I'm saying that the banker lady has to do it.

"You" is fine as a substitute for the impersonal subject pronoun "one", which used to be common but now sounds stuffy. "We" would work, too.

 

[Rover_KE]

In this context, you, we and I are all good.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Note that there's no grammatical, lexical or stylistic reason to begin every sentence with 'So'. . . .

AND IT'S ANNOYING!

Thanks, Rover. I should have said something.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

See post #3.

Sorry it's just something we South Asian people say a lot, specially where I come from. We mix up our languages with English a lot, even when speaking my own language approximately 10% or more of the words would be English. Probably because of the colonization. I'll try not to overuse it from now on.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

In this context, you, we and I are all good.

"....as far as I know I have to fill out a form for transactions over $300."
"...as far as I know we have to fill out a form for transactions over $300."

Don't know why these don't sound natural to me specially the first one. Maybe because I've heard 'you' mostly.

Is it possible to mix them up or are they always consistent like #2 says. For example:
"What do smart entrepreneurs do in this situation? We use capitalize on this loss."
I know the usual word would be 'they' but since the person is an entrepreneur himself, is it possible to 'we' as well?

 

[Ashraful Haque]

"You" is fine as a substitute for the impersonal subject pronoun "one", which used to be common but now sounds stuffy. "We" would work, too.

I've heard 'one' in fictional movies and games, but never in real life.

 

[GoesStation]

I've heard 'one' in fictional movies and games, but never in real life.

I have close friends who are the children of English immigrants to the United States. Their parents, who left England in 1956, spoke very careful British English. The oldest child was nine when the family arrived in Ohio, and all three siblings now speak American English. Their speech does have a trace of their mid-century English heritage, though: they all frequently use the pronoun one.

It's not entirely unknown in the speech of other Americans, but it's definitely rare.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

I have close friends who are the children of English immigrants to the United States. Their parents, who left England in 1956, spoke very careful British English. The oldest child was nine when the family arrived in Ohio, and all three siblings now speak American English. Their speech does have a trace of their mid-century English heritage, though: they all frequently use the pronoun one.

It's not entirely unknown in the speech of other Americans, but it's definitely rare.

"You" is fine as a substitute for the impersonal subject pronoun "one", which used to be common but now sounds stuffy. "We" would work, too.
Thanks a lot. I didn't properly read the highlighted part last time. The word 'impersonal' made it very easy for me to understand it. Cause at first I took 'you' for it's literal meaning in these contexts.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

"You" is fine as a substitute for the impersonal subject pronoun "one", which used to be common but now sounds stuffy. "We" would work, too.
Thanks a lot. I didn't properly read the highlighted part last time. The word 'impersonal' made it very easy for me to understand it. Cause at first I took 'you' for it's literal meaning in these contexts.

Also, to avoid exactly that confusion, sometimes instead of saying "you" or "one," you (and one!) can use a different word instead: "the writer," "a person," "anyone," "people," and so on.

 

[emsr2d2]

[STRIKE]Cause[/STRIKE] At first, I took 'you' for [STRIKE]it's[/STRIKE] its literal meaning in these contexts.

Note my corrections above. It is possible to start sentences with "Because" but not in your sentence. Note that "it's" is a contraction of "it is". Don't use it for the possessive.