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During my class today we were studying N1 Grammar といい. In our textbook there was the question:

水泳といいテニスといい、(x)。
a) スポーツはみな楽しい b) 私はお子様に習わせている c) 私はやったことがない

So I understand that a) is a correct answer, but I had trouble with c). The teacher explained to me that the grammar point is supposed to be used with the speaker's evaluation of the topic (評価) along side an adjective. They mentioned that because c) is related to the speaker's experience (経験) instead of (評価), the grammar cannot be used. I believe they were thinking I was aiming for a sentence like (水泳もテニスも私はやったことがない).

My argument actually was that the answer wasn't mutually exclusive to only one, since my thinking that lead to C) was that because the speaker hadn't tried those two activities before, it may seem to them as fun to try (as an evaluation after hearing them). The teacher was surprised, but didn't really give me a clear answer of whether or not being that case would still remain incorrect, (replied with あ、そんな考え方もあるんですね！) and moved on to make sure I understood why a) was correct.

Any thoughts?

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Indeed, AといいBといい is typically used in the context of expressing the speaker's excitement or frustration. You should not use it to describe a fact in a matter-of-factly manner. So if I need to choose only one option among the three, I would pick (a). Still, I believe it's perfectly safe to say (c), for example when expressing your regret that you haven't experienced any of similar activities.

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  • Thanks for your reply, I know to pick a) in the case of this question, but yeah could you explain further what would make my example for c) incorrect? As well as maybe add your own example of c) since it seems like you had an idea. For reference my explanation when I spoke to my teacher was 「経験ないので、楽しそう！行ってみたい感じがする」
    – Blue
    Commented Sep 19, 2023 at 9:32
  • @Blue I think AといいBといい is basically just a way to say "A, B, among others" with emotion (often frustration). For example, it's perfectly fine to say "田中といい鈴木といい、誰も来ない", which, on the surface, is a statement of mere fact rather than an "evaluation". Still, we can feel the speaker's frustration in a sentence like this.
    – naruto
    Commented Sep 19, 2023 at 14:03
  • I see, so writing with the meaning "A, B, among others", The original question in the textbook, can be answered C if the context is that the person was feeling upset or frustrated in not having being able to participate in the sports. Is that correct?
    – Blue
    Commented Sep 19, 2023 at 14:49
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    @Blue That's what I said in my answer :)
    – naruto
    Commented Sep 20, 2023 at 0:45
  • Thank you very much! :)
    – Blue
    Commented Sep 20, 2023 at 5:08

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