We were taught differently.
I have watched one episode of the film in English with subtitles. The actors spoke very quickly so the subtitles were in English. One of the actors asked "You don't know?" in other episode the actor asked "You couldn't sleep either?" I'm confuced. We were told that the questions start with what, how, where, do and other auxiliary verbs. But in these questions start with a subject. Perhaps, it is mistake of translators.
Search from various English teachers...
Corrections · 5
1
We Were Taught Differently
I have watched one episode of a film series in English with subtitles. The actors spoke very quickly, so the subtitles were in English. One of the actor asked "You don't know?" In another episode, the actor asked "You couldn't sleep either?" I'm confused. We were told that questions start with what, how, where, do, and other auxiliary verbs. But these questions start with a subject. Perhaps the translators made a mistake.
No, the translators are correct! English has a lot of inconsistent rules, as I'm sure you know. Questions can start with what, how, where, etc. Example: "Where is your car parked?"
But questions can also start with a subject, especially when speaking casually. For example: "You're a doctor, right?"
Another example: Instead of asking "Do you know how to fly a plane?" someone could ask "You know how to fly a plane?" The second sentence feels much more casual than the first, but is still correct.
It's a bit hard to explain because our rules are inconsistent and often illogical.
0
'Do you know?' is a real question. The asker does not know the answer and wants the information. 'You don't know?' is not a real question. The asker has an idea that the person does not know already. The question is asked in this way to confirm that this idea is correct or to express surprise about it.
0
I think that translator committed an error...
Want to progress faster?
Join this learning community and try out free exercises!
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!
Start Learning Today
