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navi
2024-11-09 12:23:15 UTC
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Are these sentences correct:

1) What happened that you decided to leave?
2) What happened to you that you decided to leave?


--
Gratefully,
Navi


Lost in the Twilight Zone of the English language
Obsessed with ambiguity
Interested in strange structures
Hibou
2024-11-09 13:55:52 UTC
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Post by navi
1) What happened that you decided to leave?
2) What happened to you that you decided to leave?
It seems I'm doomed to find your sentences unnatural.

What caused you to leave?
What event caused you to leave?

Perhaps:

What happened that caused you to leave?
What happened that decided you to leave?
Athel Cornish-Bowden
2024-11-09 14:48:50 UTC
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Post by Hibou
Post by navi
1) What happened that you decided to leave?
2) What happened to you that you decided to leave?
No
Post by Hibou
It seems I'm doomed to find your sentences unnatural.
What caused you to leave?
What event caused you to leave?
What happened that caused you to leave?
What happened that decided you to leave?
Yes
--
Athel -- French and British, living in Marseilles for 37 years; mainly
in England until 1987.
Kerr-Mudd, John
2024-11-13 12:20:24 UTC
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On Sat, 9 Nov 2024 15:48:50 +0100
Post by Hibou
Post by navi
1) What happened that you decided to leave?
2) What happened to you that you decided to leave?
No
Post by Hibou
It seems I'm doomed to find your sentences unnatural.
What caused you to leave?
What event caused you to leave?
What happened that caused you to leave?
What happened that decided you to leave?
Yes
Why did you leave?
</precis>
--
Bah, and indeed, Humbug
Athel Cornish-Bowden
2024-11-13 15:10:25 UTC
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Post by Kerr-Mudd, John
On Sat, 9 Nov 2024 15:48:50 +0100
Post by Hibou
Post by navi
1) What happened that you decided to leave?
2) What happened to you that you decided to leave?
No
Post by Hibou
It seems I'm doomed to find your sentences unnatural.
What caused you to leave?
What event caused you to leave?
What happened that caused you to leave?
What happened that decided you to leave?
Yes
Why did you leave?
Yes, but navi doesn't like doing anything in the simplest least verbose way.
Post by Kerr-Mudd, John
</precis>
--
athel -- biochemist, not a physicist, but detector of crackpots
Snidely
2024-11-13 19:22:25 UTC
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Just this Wednesday, Athel Cornish-Bowden explained that ...
Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden
Yes, but navi doesn't like doing anything in the simplest least verbose way.
I'm not sure that's true. You're judging only by stuff composed to
explore corners, and not seeing what he composes for everyday use.
That's like judging a foundry worker by his Sunday Suit.

/dps
--
Who, me? And what lacuna?
jerryfriedman
2024-11-09 16:37:59 UTC
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Post by navi
1) What happened that you decided to leave?
2) What happened to you that you decided to leave?
Normal informal American English, I'd say. I added
"American" because of Hibou's and Athel's responses.

--
Jerry Friedman

--
Phil
2024-11-09 17:04:14 UTC
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Post by navi
1) What happened that you decided to leave?
2) What happened to you that you decided to leave?
Normal informal American English, I'd say.  I added
"American" because of Hibou's and Athel's responses.
--
Jerry Friedman
--
I wouldn't find them odd in spoken BrE either, although as you say,
they're informal.
--
Phil B
Hibou
2024-11-09 17:14:33 UTC
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Post by Phil
Post by navi
1) What happened that you decided to leave?
2) What happened to you that you decided to leave?
Normal informal American English, I'd say.  I added
"American" because of Hibou's and Athel's responses.
I wouldn't find them odd in spoken BrE either, although as you say,
they're informal.
It looks as if the formulation has come to us from the West:

<https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=what+happened+that+you%3Aeng_us%2Cwhat+happened+that+you%3Aeng_gb&year_start=1900&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3&case_insensitive=false>
Phil
2024-11-10 01:53:58 UTC
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Post by Hibou
Post by Phil
Post by navi
1) What happened that you decided to leave?
2) What happened to you that you decided to leave?
Normal informal American English, I'd say.  I added
"American" because of Hibou's and Athel's responses.
I wouldn't find them odd in spoken BrE either, although as you say,
they're informal.
<https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=what+happened+that+you%3Aeng_us%2Cwhat+happened+that+you%3Aeng_gb&year_start=1900&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3&case_insensitive=false>
I did wonder whether I'd picked it up from US TV and films in my youth.
In that light, it's interesting to see that its use has increased so
much since 2000, long after my youth was over.
--
Phil B
Sam Plusnet
2024-11-09 18:24:32 UTC
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Post by Phil
Post by navi
1) What happened that you decided to leave?
2) What happened to you that you decided to leave?
Normal informal American English, I'd say.  I added
"American" because of Hibou's and Athel's responses.
--
Jerry Friedman
--
I wouldn't find them odd in spoken BrE either, although as you say,
they're informal.
But in any language, an open question is usually a better option.

"Why did you decide to leave?"

The original question(s) make an assumption that a specific event was
the trigger.
--
Sam Plusnet
Janet
2024-11-10 10:39:38 UTC
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Post by Sam Plusnet
Post by Phil
Post by navi
1) What happened that you decided to leave?
2) What happened to you that you decided to leave?
Normal informal American English, I'd say.  I added
"American" because of Hibou's and Athel's responses.
--
Jerry Friedman
--
I wouldn't find them odd in spoken BrE either, although as you say,
they're informal.
But in any language, an open question is usually a better option.
"Why did you decide to leave?"
The original question(s) make an assumption that a specific event was
the trigger.
"Why did you leave?" avoids any assumption the
departure was either chosen or voluntary.

Janet.
jerryfriedman
2024-11-10 15:00:22 UTC
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Post by Janet
Post by Sam Plusnet
Post by Phil
Post by navi
1) What happened that you decided to leave?
2) What happened to you that you decided to leave?
Normal informal American English, I'd say.  I added
"American" because of Hibou's and Athel's responses.
--
Jerry Friedman
--
I wouldn't find them odd in spoken BrE either, although as you say,
they're informal.
But in any language, an open question is usually a better option.
"Why did you decide to leave?"
The original question(s) make an assumption that a specific event was
the trigger.
"Why did you leave?" avoids any assumption the
departure was either chosen or voluntary.
Though sometimes both assumptions are justified.

--
Jerry Friedman

--
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