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绑德sings
Hello dear native English speakers.
My three different sentences are trying to express the same meaning, but unfortunately as Chinese with poorer and lower degree of English, they are still question for me to very worry about. I really want: If only I were to a native English speaker now!
1. Couldn't we ask someone to do the work privately without anyone knowing?
2. Couldn't someone be asked to do the work privately without it being known by anyone ?
3. Couldn't someone be asked for the work to be done privately without being known by anyone ?
Question:
Which is grammatically correct?
Do they have the same meaning?
2025년 3월 12일 오전 3:02
답변 · 5
Both 1 and 2 are grammatically correct, but have slightly different meanings. 1 is how a native speaker would speak. 2 is written in the passive voice (you don't say 'who' is asking the worker, you say 'couldn't someone be asked...?' (without saying 'we' should ask) and so has a less understandable meaning in this context.
3 doesn't quite make sense, as you can't ask someone 'for' the work, they must 'do' the work. If you ask 'for' the work, it means you ask them to show you it/ give you it, and so doesn't make sense as you go on to say 'done....' (to do).
Hope this helps!
2025년 3월 12일
i think 1 is correct!
2025년 4월 10일
I cannot comment on the accuracy of AI: I’m a human teacher and native speaker from the UK, not a robot 🤖
2025년 3월 13일
The first sentence is the most grammatically correct. The second sentence still has the same meaning, but harder to understand while speaking. And the third sentence, while it has all the correct words to convey the meaning, is very hard to understand.
2025년 3월 12일
아직도 답을 찾지 못하셨나요?
질문을 남겨보세요. 원어민이 도움을 줄 수 있을 거예요!
绑德sings
언어 구사 능력
중국어(북경어), 영어
학습 언어
영어
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