How do you answer the following question?: あなたはどんなことを聞きましたか。
That question can mean two different things depending on the context, right?
If it refers to what someone has heard then it means "what kind of things did you hear?", if it refers to what someone has asked then it means "what kind of things did you ask?".
I can answer a question asking "what kind of things did you ask" with the following:
1)日本について聞きました。◯/✗?
I asked about Japan.
What if I wanted to answer a question asking "what kind of things did you hear?"
Would
2)日本について聞きました。◯/✗?
I heard about Japan.
still be valid?
Answering those questions telling what exactly has been heard/ asked would be wrong, right?
あなたはどんなことを聞きましたか。
3)私は中田さんに日本語の試験はやさしかったか聞きました。I asked Nakada if the Japanese exam was easy. ◯/✗?
4)日本語の試験はやさしかったと聞きました。I heard that the Japanese examination was easy. ◯/✗?
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 6
1
「あなたはどんなことを聞きましたか」, yes, as you are saying the meaning of this question can be
translated differently into two. It is because of the verb「聞く」has translations in English as "to hear/
listen" and "to ask" depending on the context.
1) Aさん「あなたはどんなことを聞きましたか。」(what kind of things did you ask?)
Bさん「日本について聞きました。」(I asked about Japan)← ◯
This conversation can be valid on the condition when both Aさん and Bさん are aware whom
Bさん asked a question. Japanese language can omit proper nouns and personal prnouns when
those are unnecessary to mention but actually they are just unexpressed in the sentences like below.
Aさん「あなたは(Cさんに)どんなことを聞きましたか。」(what kind of things did you ask to Cさん?)
Bさん「(私はCさんに)日本について聞きました。」(I asked Cさん about Japan)
2) Aさん「あなたはどんなことを聞きましたか。」(what kind of things did you hear?)
Bさん「日本について聞きました。」(I heared about Japan)← △ (this sounds a bit unnatural)
Let's say Bさん told Aさん that he heard someone talking something on the phone, and Aさん got curious
about what he heard. If I were to answer Aさん's question, I would use the sentece like below to avoid any
semantic confusion of the verb「聞く」.
Aさん「あなたはどんなことを聞きましたか。」(what kind of things did you hear?)
Bさん「日本について ”話しているのを” 聞きました。」(I heard "someone talking" about Japan)
3) is ◯ because 「か」in the sentence 「私は中田さんに日本語の試験はやさしかった [か] 聞きました。」
is a question marker in the subordinate clause. 「〜かどうか」(whether or not)is grammatically correct
but colloquially you can drop「どうか」.
4) 「日本語の試験はやさしかった [と] 聞きました。」is also ◯ since 「と」works as a quotation marker
and quoting somebody's remark 「日本語の試験はやさしかった」which makes clear that「聞く」in this
sentence is "heard" not "asked".
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