You could roast chicken whole or in pieces

Question

(1) You can roast chicken whole or in pieces if you want to/if you like.(2) You could roast chicken whole or in pieces if you want to/if you like.(3) You can stay here if you like.Q1) Does sentence (1) sound like a suggestion to someone, or does it sound like a statement conveying information, or like a statement used for stating a fact about "chicken"?Q2) Does sentence (2) sound like a suggestion to someone?Q3) Does sentence (3) sound like a suggestion or an offer?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Rizan MalikQ1) Does sentence (1) sound like a suggestion to someone, or does it sound like a statement conveying information, or like a statement used for stating a fact about "chicken"?

It is a faulty sentence. It says that you are permitted to roast a chicken no matter which of the states it is in, which is nonsense. What you mean to say is "You can roast a chicken whole or in pieces as you choose." This means that its initial state, whole or on pieces, will have no effect on the quality of the resulting dish. It is not a suggestion. It conveys information. You might put it "A chicken can be roasted …" to the exact same effect, but the other way is usual.

Rizan MalikQ2) Does sentence (2) sound like a suggestion to someone?

Yes, but it sounds like nonsense.

Rizan MalikQ3) Does sentence (3) sound like a suggestion or an offer?

That depends entirely on the context.

Scenario 1: You and I are in a foxhole when the enemy starts an artillery barrage on our position. I want to go to the nearby fortified bunker, but you hesitate. I say, "You can stay here if you like. I'm leaving."

Scenario 2: The beautiful girl I'd loved from afar all through high school has come to my door in a thunderstorm eight o'clock at night, dripping wet with the rain. She doesn't recognize me, no reason she should. She never knew I was alive even when we were going to school together. Her car has broken down on the back road I live on, she tells me, and she wants to use the phone to call a taxi. As we sometimes do with strangers, she blurts out more than she would tell a friend, saying that she is lost and she needs to get to a motel because she is running away from her violent husband. Only then do I notice the bruise on her left cheekbone. My head is spinning with joy and affection and compassion, and I hear myself saying, "You can stay here if you like."

CalifJim · Answer

Rizan Malik
(1) You can roast chicken whole or in pieces if you want to/if you like.
(2) You could roast chicken whole or in pieces if you wanted to/~~if you like~~.
(3) You can stay here if you like.

Rizan MalikQ1) Does sentence (1) sound like a suggestion to someone

No.

Rizan Malikdoes it sound like a statement conveying information

Yes. In one sense or another, all statements convey information.

Rizan Malikor like a statement used for stating a fact about "chicken"?

Yes. How is 'stating a fact' different from 'being a statement'? I fail to grasp the import of this question.

Rizan MalikQ2) Does sentence (2) sound like a suggestion to someone?

It might. It depends on context.

Rizan MalikQ3) Does sentence (3) sound like a suggestion or an offer?

An offer? Possibly. It sounds more like an offer than like a suggestion in any case.

You can have an offer that also sounds like a suggestion and a suggestion that also sounds like an offer. The two are not mutually exclusive.

CJ

You could roast chicken whole or in pieces

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