I would like to find out whether it is possible to say "Don't watch the film when you don't like it" or "Don't eat my food when you don't like it"?
I mean the usage of "if" seems more natural here - "Don't watch the film if you don't like it", "Don't eat my food if you don't like it". But my question is - may I say it with "when" and if yes, does this "when" change anything concerning the emotional side of the phrase?
"when" instead of "if" is a mistake - clearly. I asked a few guys now - none of them would even understand it as a phrase with "if". It might be German influence on somebody's English.
Wow, thank you for the answer, to tell you the truth I didn't think it is not possible at all. I guess you are right about the Germanic influence as the person with whom I discussed this is Swedish.
Well, I meant German because "Germanic" includes English as well. In Swedish, they use the word "om" for "if" and the words "då, när" for "when". And they're not interchangeable... Meaning, you cannot say "då, när" instead of "om". In this case, "if you don't like it" can only be translated as "om du inte tycker om den"... So, his construction is based on anything but Swedish.
So I gather you know Swedish :) Now I know who may write the answers in the corresponding topics when I begin to learn this language. :)
Actually we started from Russian, the phrase "Попробуй другое пирожное, если/когда это тебе не нравится" and then tried this change in other langugaes. I said that in Russian you cannot use "когда" in such context. As for English I am not a native. And is this possible in German?
In German, the word "wenn" means "if" - that's why people who know German insert this word instead of "if" since there's a word that sounds similar in English - "when".
Yup, I do know Swedish. You can attend my classes (the school is currently offering them for free) here: www.edufire.com
If you're interested, I can tell you more about this school and how it works. I'm currently preparing my second public class in swedish. It's coming up
Thank you for the invitation, I see Vertaler is also there?
Цитата: Rezia от октября 26, 2008, 20:35
Thank you for the invitation, I see Vertaler is also there?
Not really :green: due the lack of time and problems with PP.
I'm currently giving lessons in Swedish in Russian for groups of students. You're welcome to participate, guys!
These lessons are now free for the students (however, the teachers are getting paid!!! 8) - for Vertaler ;) )
"Why would you watch the film when you don't like it?" would sound correct to me because it kind of implies watching the film and cringing at the same time as you're watching it ;)
iopq
I would disagree. It seems to me that in order to use "when" combined with "why" you need to have two mutually excludable conditions. Not liking a film does not really prevent you from seeing it, does it? ;) On the other hand, "Why would you stay at home when it's sunny outside?" would work, because staying at home does not allow you to enjoy the beautiful weather.
It doesn't have to be contradictory, only unexpected in my opinion.
iopq
Maybe unexpected is enough.
Still,
Цитата: iopq от октября 28, 2008, 10:13
"Why would you watch the film when you don't like it?"
just doesn't sound right to me. As we figured out in the other thread there, though, that doesn't necessarily make the sentence wrong ;)
I'm sure some people don't say this, but I know for a fact that some do. It's really hard to call a sentence wrong when it doesn't violate some native speakers' Sprachgefühl even if it makes others cringe.