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+--- Thread: Asking question using でしょう, ですか and ですね confusion. (/thread-8300.html)
Asking question using でしょう, ですか and ですね confusion. - matrixofdynamism - 2012-02-23
I am confused between the difference in usage of でしょう, ですか and ですね when asking for >confirmation< or asking question. I am totally confused about this whole thing I must say.
e.g
水冷たいでしょう？ The water is cold right?
水冷たいですか？ Is the water cold?
水冷たいですね？ The water is cold isn't it?
As you can see I can translate the sentences but do not understand: WHEN to use WHICH one of them.
what is the difference in the usage of this words?
Asking question using でしょう, ですか and ですね confusion. - vix86 - 2012-02-23
でしょう/ですね Feel fairly close to me in usage.
For some reason ですね feels like it doesn't require a response, or at the very least its offering up the ability for someone to be "included" in something (not sure how to explain it). 「寒いですね？」「んん、寒いよね」
While でしょう might require a response depending on whether you add that interrogative pitch rise at the end. You could just as easily do the same thing about. 「さむいでしょう？」「ええ、寒いですね」
This is probably me, but ね usage always feels like someone is offering up a kind of friendly "group inclusion." Or attempting to set up a group based on something.
ですか is formal; something you might ask a stranger. But I feel its asking for a statement of fact and doesn't carry the same kind of "group inclusion" feeling that ですね has or the more relaxed question でしょう? If you are trying for small talk you don't use ですか.
Someone probably has a better explanation and more accurate answer than mine.
Asking question using でしょう, ですか and ですね confusion. - turvy - 2012-02-23
vix86, when you talk about setting up a group do you mean something like "creating rapport" between speaker and listener?
Asking question using でしょう, ですか and ですね confusion. - vix86 - 2012-02-23
turvy Wrote:vix86, when you talk about setting up a group do you mean something like "creating rapport" between speaker and listener?That's a better way to put it. Yes.
Asking question using でしょう, ですか and ですね confusion. - einahpets - 2012-02-23
Also, both でしょう and ですね include an expectation that the listener will agree with the speaker. When asking 寒いですか。you don't necessarily expect that the answer will be yes (although I guess this could depend on the situation.)
Asking question using でしょう, ですか and ですね confusion. - SomeCallMeChris - 2012-02-23
Maybe this will help, or not... I have trouble understanding what you don't understand when you can put an English equivalent correctly next to each one, but anyway:
When your friend tells you he's going swimming ... and it's a crisp Autumn day...
水冷たいでしょう？ The water is cold right?
When you're at the shore for a swim and your friend has gotten in first...
水冷たいですか？ Is the water cold?
When you and your friend are both swimming in chilly water...
水冷たいですね？ The water is cold isn't it?
Asking question using でしょう, ですか and ですね confusion. - matrixofdynamism - 2012-02-23
See dear the problem is that I do not know which is supposed to be used in which situation.
Asking question using でしょう, ですか and ですね confusion. - Asriel - 2012-02-24
Well, champ, it's one of those nuances you get used to.
Scene: two friends at a restaurant. A has been there before, and B hasn't.
B doesn't know what to get, so he asks A's opinion, who suggests the pie.
B takes a bite.
A: 「おいしいでしょう？」
In this case, A already has some background information about whether it is おいしい or not, and is looking for confirmation that B agrees. (The example with the crisp Autumn day also fits, because the time of year is 'background information')
A orders the salad, which B has never had before.
B: 「おいしいですか？」
B doesn't know anything about whether it is おいしい or not. It's a question, not so much looking for confirmation or anything.
The waiter comes up and takes their order. A orders the ハンバーガー.
Waiter:「ハンバーガーですね？」
This is a case where ですね is used for confirmation. They heard the information once, and they want to confirm that they got it correct.
Both A and B get hamburgers, with no recommendation or knowledge necessary from either side. Just the fact that they are both eating hamburgers.
B(or A)「おいしいですね」
In this case, it's not necessarily a question or asking for confirmation, it's just a statement by one of them that it's おいしい, and the other person can either agree or disagree.
Asking question using でしょう, ですか and ですね confusion. - nadiatims - 2012-02-24
You get the gist of it from situations as has been mentioned. If you want a kind of simplified formula, think of it like this.
でしょう makes assertion while eliciting a response.
おいしいでしょう ((i assert it's) it's delicious. It's delicious right? (I told you so))
たけしのことだから、早く来るでしょう。Well this is Takeshi we're talking about, so I think it's safe to assume he'll come early. (making an assertion)
ですか just asks a question.
おいしいですか is it delicious.
ですね eliciting a response or confirmation in a "isn't it?" kind of way.
おいしいですね it's delicious isn't it.