Can you tell me for real? My English teacher said to me 'Can you tell me for real' is wrong and said use 'tell me sincerely or earnestly.' (He said 'Are you for real?' is OK cause it's more of an expr

Jang Joonggun

Can you tell me for real? My English teacher said to me 'Can you tell me for real' is wrong and said use 'tell me sincerely or earnestly.' (He said 'Are you for real?' is OK cause it's more of an expression.) I googled and found this line. "Can you tell me for real if this book has robots in it?" What do you think of this?

Oct 27, 2017 7:54 AM

Answers · 5

I think if your teacher is fine with "are you for real" there's no reason why "can you tell me for real" is unacceptable. But since "for real" is pretty casual, you can drop the "can you" so it sounds more natural and doesn't sound so formal. For example, "Come on! Stop messing with me. Tell me for real."

October 27, 2017