A Person's Character

PUBLIC_FLAG_#{@journal.pf_int} RSS feed of M-K-G's latest journal entries Feb 07th 2012 12:22 adverb-selection
(A) I don't think you can know a person's character unless you talk with them.
(B) I don't think you can know a person's character unless you actually talk with them.
(C) I don't think you can know a person's character unless you directly talk with them.


Are these sentences all correct?
I'd appreciate your opinions!
Feb 07th 2012 12:31 ジョサイア

Yes but C. sounds un-natural.
Feb 07th 2012 12:33 Alkalyne
Kind of...
But to say it like this:
"I don't think you can know a person's character unless you talk with them directly."
Is more natural, and gets the full meaning across.

Feb 07th 2012 12:50 tony
I agree with Alkalyne-san.
Feb 07th 2012 22:59 M-K-G
Thanks a lot, you three!
Feb 07th 2012 12:59 tony

Personally, I hate the use of "them" to refer to a single person, and I would completely rephrase all of the sentences to avoid having to do this.

There is no fixed rule concerning the best position of an adverb in a sentence. (In the preceding paragraph, for example, I could have said "rephrase all of the sentences completely" instead.) In some cases, it helps to have an adverb close to a verb to avoid any ambiguity as to which verb it is modifying. In many cases, several positions are possible, and which ones sound most natural may vary from one speaker to another. There are some adverbs which tend to go before a verb rather than after it, and some which tend to go after it rather than before it. "Actually" cannot possibly come after "talk" in this sentence. I agree with Alkalyne-san that "directly" sounds best at the end of the sentence in this case, but I can't tell you why. When several different positions of an adverb are possible, there are sometimes differences in nuance. I think if you consider examples of Japanese sentences, you will find the same to be true of the positions of adverbs in them. I certainly know examples where the adverb could come either at the beginning of the sentence, or just before the verb, or just after the topic of the sentence.
Feb 07th 2012 13:09 tony
There is a difference in nuance between "unless you actually talk to them" and "unless you talk to them directly". "Unless you actually talk to them" contrasts doing this with finding out about the person without talking to them; this could mean communicating with them in some other way, but it could also mean asking other people about the person, or getting information in some other way. "Unless you talk to them directly" contrasts doing this only with communicating with the person in some other way (talking to them indirectly, in effect).
Feb 07th 2012 13:18 M-K-G
Thank you for the detailed explanations!

I guess the reason "directly talk with them" is wrong is that it sounds "how to talk is direct."
Does this understanding seem right to you?
Feb 07th 2012 14:21 tony
No, for what you are thinking of-- talking to them in a direct manner or style of speech-- "talk directly to/with them" would be more likely than "directly talk with them". It would be ambiguous between the two meanings, though. I don't think "directly talk with them" would sound natural in this sentence no matter what the situation was. Again, I can't tell you why; that is just my intuition as a native speaker.
Feb 07th 2012 22:59 M-K-G
I see. Thank you so much!
Feb 07th 2012 17:03 Julian-K

  • (C) I don't think you can know a person's character unless you directly talk with them.
  • (C) I don't think you can know a person's character unless you talk with them directly.

 
I would say (B) is the best, but (C) would work if you edited it as above.
Feb 07th 2012 22:59 M-K-G
Thank you very much!

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