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I have a sentence that, I was trying to frame, however, I cannot decide between ね, よ and だろう/でしょう, which ending particle that I should use.

The context is: Aさんのお母さんがほうれん草を作った、でも、Aさんがほうれん草が好きじゃない. そして, Aさんのお母さんはこの事実が知っている.

So, following are the four sentences that Aさん can and wants to use:

  1. ほうれん草を食べないね (here the ね is of agreement, as both Aさんとお母さん knows about the fact and have shared knowledge, and A wants to tell his mom something like, "I do not eat spinach, right (we both know this)" in the context that you have still cooked it even when you knew it).

  2. ほうれん草を食べないよ (here よ is used, even though both have shared knowledge that A does not eat spinach, in the context that (I don't think you know/realize but) "I do not each spinach" (and that you should know this), in a sense that Aさん thinks that his mother has forgotten about this, or sarcastically to show that you don't realize this, but I don't eat spinach) ( I hope you understand what I am trying to potray)

  3. ほうれん草を食べないだろう! (here だろう is that of empathetic tone, which as per my understanding means, "I think you know" or simply "you know" i.e. to say "I do not eat spinach, probably!" (where probably is in negative tone, that is to imply, You know that I do not each spinach)

  4. ほうれん草を食べるでしょうか (here でしょうか, which as per this post's answer given by user3985, is used in a sarcastic and rhetorical way, though by typing it means, I wonder if I eat spinach!?, it has a sense that, I don't each spinach)

Questions:

1.Are all the sentences grammatical, and make sense? When would each of the sentences be appropriate?

2.Can you please explain the different, between the sentences in nuance (I am not asking for the a general difference between ね,よ,だろう/でしょうか. I just want the difference in the nuance in the above said context and sentences)

教えてください

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  • I know this doesn't answer any of your questions, but I'd probably use じゃん . I'm pretty much a beginner as well but it sounds the best to me for some reason. Dec 16, 2020 at 22:32
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    To me, these four all seem unnatural as what A might say to his/her mother. But could you please share what this conversation would look like in English? I don't even understand what A wants to say...
    – naruto
    Dec 18, 2020 at 7:58
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    @naruto I think it's simply the situation where A's mum has made spinach and A want's to say "I don't eat spinach, do I?" or "You know I don't eat spinach don't you?". So it's a rhetorical question with the intention of making mum feel guilty/apologetic. Dec 20, 2020 at 9:38
  • ごめんなさい @naruto -san 私が法科大学の年次の試験が29日まであります. That is why I was not able to reply. and yes user3856370 is right, I wanted to say the same, so can you please elaborate the difference. If you still want more context for your answer, we can move to chat! Thank you for taking the time to reply, and thank you user-san for elaborating
    – APK
    Dec 20, 2020 at 19:30

1 Answer 1

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Person A would say 「ほうれん草は食べられないって知ってるでしょ!」「ほうれん草は食べないんだってば!」「ほうれん草は食べないよ!」 or something.

The four options you gave are all unnatural.

  • ほうれん草を食べないね "So I'm not supposed to eat spinach, right?" or "You don't eat spinach, do you?"
  • ほうれん草を食べないよ This means "(Listen,) I don't eat spinach!", but since ほうれん草 is an important topic, you must use は instead of を.
  • ほうれん草を食べないだろう! This sounds to me like A is jokingly playing a role of a prophet, "Oh A shall not eat spinach!"
  • ほうれん草を食べるでしょうか "So I wonder if A is going to eat spinach?" as if A were talking about someone else.
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  • Naruto-san, ありがとう for replying. I used this だろう! To have similar meaning like your first sentence. I did not know that I had to use 知っている as well, and that it is not implied. Secondly, naruto san, why doesn't でしょうか fit here if i have a sarcastic tone? Like in the abovementioned link, user 3985 san, mentioned that it would have an innuendo. も一つだけ、ナルトさんの四答え、どちらが一番replyでしょうか?
    – APK
    Dec 21, 2020 at 8:14

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