To your face, with your face.

[Carolina1983]

Happen to, happen with

Hello all

is there a difference:

what did you do to your face?
what did you do with your face?


thanks!

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Happen to, happen with

Your thread title has nothing to do with your question.

Please remember that you must start every new sentence with a capital letter. Click "Edit Post" and make the relevant changes to your post.

 

[Carolina1983]

Re: Happen to, happen with

I know, I tried to change the title, but I couldn't edit it. On the other hand, there's something between the title and the question, namely, the use of the cited prepositions. I appreciate the help we get on this website, but, sometimes, a little more friendliness would not hurt.

 

[Carolina1983]

Hello again!

Is there a difference between the two sentences below:

1. What did you do to your face?
2. What did you do with your face?


?

Thank you!

 

[cereal_chick]

Re: Happen to, happen with

About the title, it is important to make your title as relevant to your question as possible; were you asking about the use of 'happen to' vs 'happen with', it would be quite different to your actual question, which is 'do to' vs 'do with'.

As for the two phrases, there is not much difference between them, but I at least see a subtle distinction: "what did you do to your face" is negative, suggesting that something bad has happened to the face; e.g. the make-up looks bad, or there is an injury visible on the face, and while "what did you do with your face" can mean the same thing, intonation would be needed to bring that meaning across – on its own, it would be neutral, more an question than an exclamation. I do have to say that this is merely my understanding of the subtle differences, others, including the teachers, might disagree with me. In fact, I asked a nearby (native English-speaking) friend, and he came up with a completely different interpretation. It rather depends on context and (in speech) intonation.

[Not a teacher]

 

[Carolina1983]

Re: Happen to, happen with

Thanks, Calis, that's what I came up with too. I tried to change the title once I realized my mistake, but I couldn't. Thanks again.

 

[Barb_D]

What did you mean for it to mean?

 

[Barb_D]

I have merged the two threads with identical questions.
Please do not post identical questions.

In the merging process, I used the one with the better title.

 

[Raymott]

Re: Happen to, happen with

what did you do to your face?
what did you do with your face?

Using the prepositions strictly:
If you do something to your face, you generally change it in some way. "I cut it with a razor."
If you do something with your face, you use your face to do something else. "I smiled; I kissed Mary."

In another context, say you got a tattoo, a person could ask you either question, and they would mean the same.

 

[Carolina1983]

I have merged the two threads with identical questions.
Please do not post identical questions.

In the merging process, I used the one with the better title.

Hello, yes, only reason I did it was because I couldn't edit the title and, sure enough, I'd made a mistake there. Thanks.