I have a question. I often hear phrases like 'How do I spell it?', 'How can I spell it?', and 'How do you spell it?' when asking about the spelling of a word, but I rarely hear 'How can you spell it?

Kevin

I have a question. I often hear phrases like 'How do I spell it?', 'How can I spell it?', and 'How do you spell it?' when asking about the spelling of a word, but I rarely hear 'How can you spell it?'. Does 'How can you spell it?' carry a slightly rude nuance? Thank you!

2024年4月9日 02:10

回答 · 5

‘Can’ isn’t rude but usually wouldn’t make sense and doesn’t have the meaning of your other suggestions: How is this (word) spelled? You can use ‘can’ to ask if a word has multiple spellings. Can ‘gray’ be spelled with either an ‘e’ or an ‘a’?

2024年4月9日

They have the same meaning. We often use 'you' to mean a generic 'you' or 'one.' Like: 'how could one spell this word.' Using 'one' sounds very formal, however, so we often just say 'you' in regular speech. For formal writing, it's best to use 'one' instead of 'you.'

2024年4月9日

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