Question

Aktualisiert am 15 Aug 2018

Peppeper

20 Sep 2017

Koreanisch

Englisch (US)
Japanisch
Thai

Frage über Englisch (US)

‎i've been hearing people use "if you will" to add uncertainty and ambiguity.

this is for your reference.

- this has a lot of shoestring fries, if you will.

and i know you can use "so to speak" that way too, but as opposed to 'if you will', i never heard someone use "so to speak" verbally...

can anybody please explain when and how i use those two expressions naturally, like a native speaker?

Antworten

emilymiri

21 Sep 2017

Favorisierte Antwort

Englisch (US)
Traditionelles Chinesisch (Taiwan)

In your example sentence, I suppose you could say "so to speak" instead since it implies there is more to the story.
"If you will" is usually used to ask someone to so something, though, so this is not always the case!

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emilymiri

20 Sep 2017

Englisch (US)
Traditionelles Chinesisch (Taiwan)

Both are actually pretty common to hear if someone is trying to speak more politely.

Peppeper

20 Sep 2017

Koreanisch

@emilymiri sorry could you elaborate a bit more please?

emilymiri

21 Sep 2017

Englisch (US)
Traditionelles Chinesisch (Taiwan)

Ex: It's pretty easy, so to speak.
Meaning: It's easy, but there's more to it than it seems.

emilymiri

21 Sep 2017

Englisch (US)
Traditionelles Chinesisch (Taiwan)

If you will is kind of like "if you'd like" or "if you know what I mean"
Hope this helps!

Peppeper

21 Sep 2017

Koreanisch

@emilymiri so can i use "if you will" instead of "so to speak" yhere?
and can you think of any situation where they are not interchangeable?

emilymiri

21 Sep 2017

Englisch (US)
Traditionelles Chinesisch (Taiwan)

If you will is also used to ask someone to do something politely
Ex: Please move forward, if you will
"So to speak" can't be used like this.

Peppeper

21 Sep 2017

Koreanisch

Peppeper

21 Sep 2017

Koreanisch

@emilymiri got it!

emilymiri

21 Sep 2017

Englisch (US)
Traditionelles Chinesisch (Taiwan)

In your example sentence, I suppose you could say "so to speak" instead since it implies there is more to the story.
"If you will" is usually used to ask someone to so something, though, so this is not always the case!

Peppeper

21 Sep 2017

Koreanisch

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‎i've been hearing people use "if you will" to add uncertainty and ambiguity.

this is for your reference.

- this has a lot of shoestring fries, if you will.

and i know you can use "so to speak" that way too, but as opposed to 'if you will', i never heard someone use "so to speak" verbally...

can anybody please explain when and how i use those two expressions naturally, like a native speaker?

Ähnliche Fragen

In your example sentence, I suppose you could say "so to speak" instead since it implies there is more to the story."If you will" is usually used to ask someone to so something, though, so this is not always the case!

Both are actually pretty common to hear if someone is trying to speak more politely.

Ex: It's pretty easy, so to speak. Meaning: It's easy, but there's more to it than it seems.

If you will is kind of like "if you'd like" or "if you know what I mean"Hope this helps!

If you will is also used to ask someone to do something politelyEx: Please move forward, if you will "So to speak" can't be used like this.

In your example sentence, I suppose you could say "so to speak" instead since it implies there is more to the story."If you will" is usually used to ask someone to so something, though, so this is not always the case!

In your example sentence, I suppose you could say "so to speak" instead since it implies there is more to the story.
"If you will" is usually used to ask someone to so something, though, so this is not always the case!

Ex: It's pretty easy, so to speak.
Meaning: It's easy, but there's more to it than it seems.

If you will is kind of like "if you'd like" or "if you know what I mean"
Hope this helps!

If you will is also used to ask someone to do something politely
Ex: Please move forward, if you will
"So to speak" can't be used like this.

In your example sentence, I suppose you could say "so to speak" instead since it implies there is more to the story.
"If you will" is usually used to ask someone to so something, though, so this is not always the case!