Why Would You Say That / Why Did You Say That

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You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. why would you say that / Why did you say that ?

• Thread starter Thread starter buttle
• Start date Start date Sep 18, 2007

B

buttle

Senior Member

Nice (French Riviera) France French Hi everyone , Is there any difference between : "Why would you say that ?" "Why did you do that ?" About the context, it could be something like: somebody insulted someone else and unfortunately their mum was listening and asked her child : "...." Thank you

bibliolept

Senior Member

Northern California AE, Español In that specific context, both sound natural and could be said to mean the same thing. "Why would you say that?," is more specific, of course, addressing the specific words the child used. X

xiaoJ

Senior Member

US - English Agree with bibliolept. A few other contexts for clarity: A: Paris is the greatest city in the world! B: Why would you say that? (=neutral question, equivalent to "Why do you say that?") C: I'm leaving and I never loved you! D: (in tears) Why would you say that? (here the use of the conditional makes the question stronger - no English speaker would use "did" in this instance) B

buttle

Senior Member

Nice (French Riviera) France French Okay thank you both

se16teddy

Senior Member

London but from Yorkshire English - England - Mrs X, your little Johnny told my little girl to f off! - Johnny, why did / would you say that? I would say that did here implies that Little Johnny did say it. As ever, there are a number of possible interpretations of would. - Would might be conditional (though I am not clear what the implied condition is). If so, it does not necessarily imply that Johnny said it; in fact the use of the conditional seems to hint that Mrs X doubts whether Johnny said it. - Alternatively, would could be used as a past tense, in one of its senses relating to the will. It might mean something like why did you insist on saying that?, or why did you take it into your head to say that? X

xiaoJ

Senior Member

US - English

se16teddy said: - Mrs X, your little Johnny told my little girl to f off! - Johnny, why did / would you say that? I would say that did here implies that Little Johnny did say it. Would is conditional (though I am not clear what the implied condition is): it does not necessarily imply that Johnny said it; in fact the use of the conditional seems to hint that Mrs X doubts whether Johnny said it. Click to expand...

I don't believe the use of the conditional truly implies that Mrs. X doubts Johnny said it. I do feel that the "would" version has a bit more shock/sadness and the "did" version has a bit more anger... L

lareneg

Member

United Kingdom, English If you say "why would you say that", suggests that it's something that the person wouldn't expect the other person to say, and is disappointed, not necessarily doubt. So, using: Mrs X, your little Johnny told my little girl to f off! Johnny, why would you say that? Would suggest that the mother is disappointed in Johnny, using "did" suggests less disappointment.

nichec

Senior Member

Chinese(Taiwan)

lareneg said: If you say "why would you say that", suggests that it's something that the person wouldn't expect the other person to say, and is disappointed, not necessarily doubt. So, using: Mrs X, your little Johnny told my little girl to f off! Johnny, why would you say that? Would suggest that the mother is disappointed in Johnny, using "did" suggests less disappointment. Click to expand...

I think in this case, "why would you say that?" is very close to "why on earth did you have to say that?" T

TyLeg

New Member

Australia English What I think: "Why did you say that?" is more direct, asking why the child felt the need to say something. Usually the reply to this question would involve the causes for saying it. I would ask this had the child said: "You suck, and I hate you!" "Why would you say that?" is asking why the child chose the particular words to say something. Usually the reply would involve the choice of words in what the child said. I would ask this if the child said: "I don't think that was wise." In real life, I ask "Why would" far more than "Why did". EDIT: Now that I think about it, another possible way to look at it is: Use "Why did" if something had been said a long time ago, and "Why would" if something had been said now, or will be said in the future. S

sunkitty

Senior Member

California USA English My feeling on the difference: "Why did you say that?" is referring to the specific moment that the person said something, and may not apply to other times in the past or future. "Why would you say that?" is more general. It can mean "Why would you ever, at any time say something like that?" or "How can you be capable of saying something like that?" or "Why would it ever occur to you for any reason to say that?" You must log in or register to reply here. Share: Bluesky LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Share Link

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