Question
Actualizado en
30 abr 2017
- Polaco
-
Inglés (UK)
-
Inglés (US)
-
Alemán
Pregunta de Inglés (UK)
Is there any difference between "Do you happen to know...." and "Do you know...."?
Is there any difference between "Do you happen to know...." and "Do you know...."?
Respuestas
30 abr 2017
Respuesta destacada
- Inglés (UK)
The first phrase would be 'would you happen to know' , and it's usually just referring to the chance of that person knowing something, whereas the second one is just a more direct way of asking. If you asked someone 'would you happen to know _blank_' , it would generally be used to be more polite and sometimes more formal when talking to a stranger, as in 'excuse me, but would you happen to know where the shop is?' and if you were being more informal or not as polite or talking to a friend, you would say 'Do you know where the shop is?'
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- Inglés (UK)
- Ruso
"Do you happen to know" is a little more casual than "do you know" but more or less the same
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- Inglés (UK)
The first phrase would be 'would you happen to know' , and it's usually just referring to the chance of that person knowing something, whereas the second one is just a more direct way of asking. If you asked someone 'would you happen to know _blank_' , it would generally be used to be more polite and sometimes more formal when talking to a stranger, as in 'excuse me, but would you happen to know where the shop is?' and if you were being more informal or not as polite or talking to a friend, you would say 'Do you know where the shop is?'
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- Inglés (UK)
- Polaco
- Inglés (UK)
'Do' in this kind of sentence is limited to how many ways you can use it, so it's not necessarily wrong, but using 'would' would be better.
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- Inglés (UK)
Also, using 'do' instead of 'would' sounds less natural. Or at least I've not heard anyone use it for this kind of sentence
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- Polaco
- Polaco
- Inglés (UK)
You're very welcome :)
Good luck with your future endeavours :)
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