Revision of the journal "Translation" (which I wrote yesterday)

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Jul 25, 2009 02:49 phrase-selection
(a) If I could speak English as well as he, I would try to study abroad.
(b) If I could speak English as well as he, I would try to find a way to study abroad.

I feel (b) makes sense, but (a) sounds strange.

The reason why I feel so is like this:

When someone "tries to do something", the person makes efforts to complete the action. In this situation, considering the writer actually doesn't have the enough command of English to go abroad for study, it's impossible to complete his studying abroad.


Are these understandings right?




Thank you in advance!!
Kuros
Jul 25, 2009 02:55

You have the "if" at the beginning of the sentence. So the author is saying that if he had the skills, he would make the effort. I cannot see any difference in meaning between either sentence, and I think a is more common.

Dead Rotting Squirrel
Jul 25, 2009 12:43

I agree, A sounds better to me as well. I feel like by saying 'try to find a way to study abroad' your going into too much detail. You 'finding a way' is implied by your 'trying'.

Jul 26, 2009 00:47

Expanding from "try" to "try to find a way", is increasing the emphasis on the difficulty of being able to study abroad. Both sentences work. (b) would more likely be used if the writer wanted the reader to more fully appreciate the difficulty.

M-K-G
Jul 30, 2009 08:55

I see!
"Try to find a way" seems to be a rather detailed explanation about the difficulty of being able to study abroad.

Thank you very much, you three =D

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(a) If I could speak English as well as he, I would try to study abroad. (b) If I could speak English as well as he, I would try to find a way to study abroad. I feel (b) makes sense, but (a) sounds strange. The reason why I feel so is like this: When someone "tries to do something", the pe


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