Rodolfo Rodrigues
If you have any doubts or questions Hello everyone, Recently I got an email of an English course and its details. Everything was well explained untill I saw the following sentence at the end: If you have any DOUBTS, just let me know. I learnt a while ago that the word "doubt" in English has to do with beliefs and not to somenthing you want an explanation for such as a meaning of a chunk or a word you don't know the meaning, in other words, a question. So, wouldn't it be "If you have any questions...? Doubts would suit just a sentence like that: I doubt he will get richer than Bill Gates. Fell free to correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks in advance for you help.
Oct 30, 2017 7:50 PM
Answers · 3
1
I think you are right, Rodolfo. The writer should have said "If you have any questions,.." or "If you have any queries..". I suspect that the writer was a native Portuguese or Spanish speaker, and that they were influenced by their first language. "Doubts" sounds like the wrong word to use in that context. In fact, if I were in your position, I would have some serious DOUBTS ( apreensões) about this language course. If you have doubts about something, this means that you're suspicious about it. If there are English language mistakes in the promotional material, I really wouldn't trust this course. In this case, you really should have 'doubts'..... but that isn't what the writer had in mind!
October 30, 2017
1
It's not wrong because the doubts could relate to the accuracy of the information in the letter. But it sounds unnecessarily negative and it would be more natural to use "queries" or "questions", in my opinion.
October 30, 2017
I agree with the other comments Doubts is very negative and a little strange
October 30, 2017
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