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"It's OK" and That's OK" - Sometimes I wonder which one to use.
"It's OK" and That's OK" . I believe there's a difference between them and you use then in different situations.
When someone makes a mistake and try to comfort her: I would say "It's OK" ??
When someone spills water on me, : I would say "That's OK" ??
Can you give me some examples with explanations?
Apr 18, 2011 6:11 AM
Answers · 4
You can use either expression in both expressions. The difference:
It's OK. = いいよ。
That's OK. = それ、いいよ。
Not a lot of difference, really.
April 18, 2011
Yes, you can use either.
If you really want to pick on the difference, "that" implies some distance between you and the object/situation."It's OK" is fairly neutral. "That's OK" is like saying, "it's 'over there', it doesn't affect me personally."
Importantly, this is NOT a physical distance; it's the perceived distance in your relationship to the object or situation.
If you really wanted to split hairs. ;)
April 18, 2011
You are right. Both expressions can be used in spoken English.
April 18, 2011
Honestly, you really can use one or the other, neither one needs to be used for a specific situation.
If someone bumps into me on the street and says they're sorry, I'd say "Oh, that's okay".
If someone can't go to a movie with me, I'd say "Oh, it's okay, don't worry about it."
But you could seriously use either one, I never really think about it.
April 18, 2011
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English, Japanese
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