Do you agree?

Seiichi MYOGA · Post by **Seiichi MYOGA** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 11:54 pm

I wonder if you use (1) and (2) to report the same situation.

(1) It's not surprising that you're annoyed.

(2) It's not surprising if you're annoyed. (Longman Dictionary of the English Language)

I think "that" refers to the situation that you are "now" in. On the other hand, "if" refers to the possibility of some situation occurring again and again in the future, and this means "you" may or may not be annoyed "now."

Do you think I'm right in my interpretation?

Thank you in advance
Seiichi MYOGA
P.S.
I know that we cannot somehow replace "if" with "when" in (2).

lolwhites · Post by **lolwhites** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 12:20 am

In (1), the addressee you is annoyed. In (2), he or she may be annoyed, and the speaker implies that the person probably has good reason. Without context, there's no way of knowing whether (2) refers to now or the future.

When would suggest that the addressee gets annoyed fairly regularly, but with good reason.

Seiichi MYOGA · Post by **Seiichi MYOGA** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 1:26 am

Dear lolwhites,

I appreciate your help and comments.

Can I ask a couple of follow-ups?

Question 1:

As for (1), are you saying that the speaker suggests nothing about whether the addressee has good reason to be annoyed or not?

Question 2:
The part "In (2), he or she may be annoyed" is a bit difficult for me to digest. Does this mean we cannot use (2) to refer to someone we are talking with?

Question 3:

Don't you think we need to put a comma in between "surprising" and "when" in written English, in order to show the "when" clause means "afterthought"?

(3) It's not surprising, when you're annoyed.

I'm sorry that I've made too many questions. Something about Q2 is the challenge for me, so I would appreciate it just as well if you could give us your opinions on Q2.

Seiichi MYOGA