LingQ Forum

It looks like you are using an old version of Internet Explorer (IE6). We do our best to support IE6, but the site will work much better if you use a more up to date browser. We strongly recommend you upgrade to:

I wonder whether you should not see someone who could help you.

Question:I wonder whether you should not see someone who could help you.
Lesson: EnglishLingQ - Eating Out, Part 12
Why use negative word (should not see) in this sentence?

Is there any difference between
"I wonder whether you should not see someone who could help you."
and
"I wonder whether you should see someone who could help you."?

Thanks a lot.
If you say "I wonder whether you should" it means you are kind of doubting.

"I wonder if you shouldn't" makes it into a slight suggestion.

It's like saying "why don't you", "it wouldn't hurt to", or "there would be no harm in seeing someone who could help you".

As you can see, Mary responded to it by asking Peter if he knows anyone who could help her.
That's not a very colloquial sentence honestly, if its even correct.
Well, it really just sounds unnatural in casual spoken English to not use contractions. The speakers are saying things like "it is not that easy" and "I do not".

It would be more natural to say "it isn't that easy", or to place stress on 'not': "it's not that easy".

It's the same with this sentence. "I wonder if you shouldn't..." sounds much more natural and is completely fine grammatically. Consider the sound of "I wonder if I shouldn't just say it like this". It's a perfectly colloquial expression.

I guess the reason they aren't using contractions is to teach each separate word before contracting them. I don't know. We never speak like that. I've never said "I do not know".
.
You make a good point LFJ, that can be the case a lot of the time, but I don't think I would even say "I wonder whether you shouldn't see someone who could help you" (Though it does sound a little better). It's just an awkward phrase overall, I would say "I wonder if you should see someone who can help you" instead. Maybe it's only awkward in American English, I don't know.
To comment login or sign up for a free account