Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[klafterreith]

Are these ones okay?

How can I find out t h a t I`m dpressed or not.

or should it be:

How can I find out i f I`m depressed or not.

Please tell me if you consider the "that" version a serious mistake.


Would a native accept the following: " He attends a lot of sports"




Thank you!

[CP]

The best way to express the first idea is, "How can I find out whether I'm depressed?" The second best way is, "How can I find out if I'm depressed or not?" I don't think a native speaker would say it using "that."

As for the second idea, we don't attend sports, we attend games, matches, meets, competitions. We like sports, we play sports, we live for sports, we watch sports on TV, and we see the contests live by going to them / attending them.

Now excuse me, for I must go watch a swim meet to find out whether I'm depressed.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb