Is This Sentence Correct?

PUBLIC_FLAG_#{@journal.pf_int} RSS feed of mirai's latest journal entries Feb 09th 2012 17:28



I found a sentence in an English study book, which I really don't understand the usage of the word "fly."

The dialogue that is spoken between two business people who live in Japan and in America:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- Hi John, could I talk to you about next month's schedule?

-Sure, what do you have on your mind?

-We'd like to fly you over here to talk about how to develop a marketing campaign for Japan.

-Are you kidding? That sounds like the ideal move.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isn't it a rude expression to say "I would like to fly you over here~"?

How about this?:"I would like you to fly over here"


Thank you in advance. (^^)
Feb 09th 2012 17:32 saunter

"I would like to fly you over here" is not rude. It's a pretty neutral sentence. Here, it means that the person saying the sentence will pay for the listener's airplane tickets. :)

P.S. Your two example sentences in the end are the same. Is it supposed to be like that?
Feb 09th 2012 17:36 mirai
saunter,

Oh, Thank you for your answer!!!

I thought that it means "あなたを飛ばす”, but now I know that I was wrong.

If I say "I would like you to fly over here", doesn't it imply that I pay for the air fare?

If so, "I would like to fly you over here" is more polite because I have an intention to pay for it, right?

Feb 09th 2012 17:40 saunter
Well, I don't know if it's more polite, but, yes, it does imply that you will pay for the fare. To me, it's just the meaning of the phrase, with nothing very polite or impolite about it.

(Also, you're welcome! ^^)
Feb 09th 2012 17:44 mirai

saunter,

Thanks again!!!

Feb 09th 2012 17:37 Vermilion

  • I found a sentence in a English study book, which I really don't understand the usage of the word "fly."
  • I found a sentence in an English study book, which I really don't understand the usage of the word "fly."

 
Hi, it's interesting. I'd like to see native people's opinion.

あなたをここに飛行機で運んできたい。と言う意味かなあ?
Feb 09th 2012 17:42 mirai

We'd like to fly you over here って、なんだか、ピンと来ないんです。

でも、正しい英語らしいです。しかも「料金はこっちで持ちます」って意味合いを込めての表現だって、今教わりました。

添削、ありがとうございます!

Feb 09th 2012 19:01 Vermilion
飛行機で空を飛ぶと言う意味と、飛行機で、~を運ぶと言う意味の違いだと思います。他動詞の方ですよね。いろいろな使い方があって面白いですね。
Feb 10th 2012 02:19 KORO
あなたを飛ばしてこっちに連れてきたいってことなので、「飛ばす」と言っている本人が料金を払うつもりだという示唆が含まれるんです(^_−)−☆ でも、I would like you to... でも料金を持ちますよっていう示唆が含まれるって上のかたがおっしゃってますね。私は旅費を誰が払うかの示唆は入ってないような印象を受けますが、ビジネスでの常識とかも絡んできそうですね。夫に聞いてみよっと。でも、分からんという答えが返ってきそうな。。。
Feb 10th 2012 07:03 mirai

Vermilion san

Koro san,

ありがとう。

この本の著者によると、we'd like to fly you は、「料金をこちらでもちます」という意味を含ませるためにこの表現にしたということなんです。

We'd like you to fly では、その意味がないので、って説明しています。

著者は米国にも長く滞在したことのある日本人なので信用したいのですが、なんか不安が残ったので、ここで質問しました。

いっしょに考えてくださって、ありがとう! (^^)


Feb 10th 2012 08:47 KORO
私もそう思います(後の方の文に料金を払うっていう意味が無い)。でもまあ、場合によっては支払うつもりで言う場合もあるのかなあ、、という程度で。ただ、支払うつもりはあってもそれはこの文には示唆されてませんよね~、と思うんだけど。

こちらこそ、いつも勉強させてもらってます~~
Feb 10th 2012 13:33 Vermilion
こんにちは。友達に話したら、すぐさま we'd like to fly you は料金を払うという意味が込められているという答えが返ってきました。もちろん、一般的に使われる言い回しだそうです。こんな勉強好きです。
Feb 09th 2012 19:08 Arisen

It's basically the difference between what comes first after the word "like."

If you say:

"I would like to clean my room."

In the above sentence, [to clean my room] is an infinitive phrase serving as a noun, which is simply the direct object of the transitive verb [to like].

But, if you say:

"I would like you to clean my room."

Now, the infinitive phrase [to clean my room] is still the direct object of the verb [to like]. [my room] is still the direct object of the action of the infinitive (clean what? clean my room). What has changed is that the word [you] is now the indirect object of the action in the infinite (room cleaned by whom? by you).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, looking at the flying example:

"We'd like to fly you over here."

In the above sentence, [to fly you over here] is an infinitive phrase acting as a single noun object of the verb [to like], so you should think of it as a single action, performed by the subject [We]. [you] is the direct object of the infinitive verb (fly who? fly you).

"We'd like you to fly over here."

Now, [you] is outside (before) the infinitive phrase, so it becomes the indirect object of the infinitive verb. In other words, by making [you] the indirect object, you are now saying that the subject [We] would like the indirect object to perform the action of the infinitive - as opposed to the previous sentence, where [you] was wrapped up inside the infinite phrase, and there was no indirect object.
Feb 10th 2012 07:10 mirai
Arisen,Hello!

Thank you for your precise explanation!!!
I understood the difference.

I didn't know how to use "fly" as a transitive verb.

Thank you for taking time to teach me this!

ありがとう! (^^)
Feb 09th 2012 21:22 John Boy

I found a sentence in an English study book, which I really don't understand the usage of the word "fly."
_____

I hate to be nit-picky, but your sentence above kind of "clanks" in my mind. I'm having trouble with ", which" because I don't know if "which" relates to "book" or "sentence." Well, I mean, I know what you meant, but I think the statement would be clearer if we wrote:

"In an English study book I was reading, I came across [found] a sentence THAT I really don't understand, involving the use of the word 'fly.'" (OR you could just as easily leave out "that." But I added it to explain a point.)

"Comma which" sentences and "no-comma that" sentences are even difficult for most Americans, so don't feel alone! ;-) "Which" describes, while "that" defines (narrrows it down to one).

"This is the car that Mirai bought." vs. "This is Mirai's car, which won car-of-the-year honors recently." The ", which" phrase is not really necessary. It's additional information, whereas "the car that Mirai bought" narrows it down, defines, and the "that" phrase is totally necessary to make your point. I hope this helps!

;-)
Feb 10th 2012 07:18 mirai
It helps a lot!!!

JohnBoy,

The sentece that you pointed out was that I took time to construct, even though it was not a very difficult sentence.
I thought that it would confuse readers, but I dared to put "a sentence" and "which" seperately.

I really appreciate that you brought it up and taught me the correct way. I will not be puzzled by the same situation.

I learned a very important grammar today!

arigato gozaimasu! (^^)
Feb 13th 2012 20:57 Torrential
I found a sentence in an English study book, which I really don't understand the usage of the word "fly."

Part of the problem with this sentence is that the verb "understand" seems to have two direct objects, the sentence (represented by "which") and also "the usage".

You could say: I found a sentence in an English study book, which I really don't understand, involving the usage of the word "fly." Here, the object is "a sentence"/"which".

You could also say: I found a sentence in an English study book, in which I really don't understand the usage of the word "fly." Here, the object is "the usage". This is a bit awkward, though, because it has two "in"s.

By the way, this transitive usage of "fly" is idiomatic. It means "arrange and pay for you to fly".
Feb 13th 2012 21:26 mirai

Hi Torrential!

The transitive usage of "fly" was very new to me, and this new lesson gave me a pleasure to learn that it implies that you would arrange and pay for the air fare!

Thank you for teaching the way of "in which" too! This is one of the most difficult parts for me to study, though, again I'm happy to know the new thing!

Thank you so much for visiting here and commenting on it!!!

Feb 10th 2012 06:34 Joseph

"That sounds like the ideal move." -- Is that really in the conversation? It sounds unnatural to me.
Feb 10th 2012 07:23 mirai
Really? "ideal move" sounds unnatural?

The author of this book is a Japanese man who lived in the US for quite a long time. However, there are three other native English speakers who helped with the book. Were they too timid to point it out to the author? lol Maybe..
Feb 11th 2012 03:51 Joseph
In the context it does sounds kinda strange...

I can sort of see it being natural but I can sort of see it being unnatural too...
Feb 10th 2012 13:11 Ys#

これは「I'll drive you home.」の「drive」と似たような感覚でとらえればいいと思います。「drive you」が「あなたを転がす」のではなく「車で運んであげる」という意味になるのと同じように、「fly」の直訳も「あなたを飛ばしたい」ではなく、「あなたを飛行機で運んであげたい」が近いのではないでしょうか。そして、車の場合は「自分で運転して乗せて行ってあげる」という状況が自然に想起できるのに対し、飛行機で運んであげるというときに「操縦して乗せていく」というシチュエーションはなかなか起こりづらいため、言外の含みとして「料金を持つ」という発想になりやすいのだと思います。状況次第では、「自家用ジェットに乗せてあげたい」とか、もっと極端な場合だと「自分が空を飛んで背中に乗せていってあげたい」なんていうときにも、この「fly」は使えるはずです。
Feb 10th 2012 14:45 mirai
Ys#さん、

そうなんですね。 Ysさんの説明でよくわかりました!

こういう初めて見る英語の表現を増やすためにも 多読が必要なんですね。 

英語の本を読むより、しゃべっている方が好きなので、「なにがよくて多読、多読ってみんな、言うんだろう」って、理解できないでいたのですが 今、その大事さに気がついた気がします。

ありがとう!
Feb 14th 2012 05:47 cuavsfan

  • I found a sentence in an English study book, which I really don't understand the usage of the word "fly."
  • I found a sentence in an English study book, and I really don't understand the usage of the word "fly."

 

  • The dialogue that is spoken between two business people who live in Japan and in America:
  • The dialogue that is (spoken) between two business people who live in Japan and in America:

 
As others have said, "We'd like to fly you over here" implies that the speaker (or the speaker's company) will be paying for the tickets.

だから、聞き手が喜ぶでしょう ^^
Feb 14th 2012 06:47 mirai
cuavsfan,

ありがとう!

"I'd like to fly you over here!"って、だれかに言ってみたいね! How cool it is!

Thank you for correcting my entry and teaching this!!!

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