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Grammar and Linguistics > "Won īt" or "don īt" after "hope"?
"Won īt" or "don īt" after "hope"?
blunderbuster
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"Won īt" or "don īt" after "hope"?
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Hi there,
If people think they are in a potentially dangerous situation and want to call the police, would it be:
I think we should call the police. Let īs hope they won īt think we are crazy.
or .....let īs hope they don īt think we are crazy.
Could you please explain the exact difference in meaning to me?
Thank you!
Regards
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3 Jul 2011
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Zora
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To be honest, there isn īt any real difference between the two. They both mean that you are hoping that the police don īt think you are crazy. Using the future just gives the sentence a tiny bit more of uncertainty... but not enough in my opinion to make a difference in usage.
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3 Jul 2011
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redcamarocruiser
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Let īs hope they don īt think we īre crazy is using the present tense to speak about a future event.
Let īs hope they won īt think we īre crazy is using the future tense to speak about a futute event.
To me they seem equivalent in meaning. Compare:
Let īs hope the train isn īt late. Let īs hope the train doesn īt arrive late. Let īs hope the train won īt arrive late. Let īs hope the train won īt be late.
Let īs hope the train is on time. Let īs hope the train will be on time. Let īs hope the train will come on time. Let īs hope the train will arrive on time. Let īs hope the train is coming on time. Let īs hope the train will be coming on time.
To me these are equivalent.
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3 Jul 2011
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