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Aさん:この質問、子供さえしってるよ。

I want to express wondering about myself in answer to the previous sentence.

How to do that in the right way, and which of examples are incorrect or sounds strange?

  1. 私は知りませんよ。
  2. 私なら、しりませんよ。
  3. 私にとってはわからないことですよ。
airush
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1 Answers1

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Aさん: 「この質問{しつもん}、子供{こども}さえしってるよ。」

1) 私は知{し}りませんよ。

2) 私なら、しりませんよ。

3) 私にとってはわからないことですよ。

Before answering your question, I must first mention something regarding A's statement "Even children (would) know this question.". I could not tell if you noticed it.

A's statement is only natural-sounding or even valid if A is talking about a well-known question or riddle. Otherwise, it is usually the answer to a question that one may or may not know. It is not the question. Hope you are following this.

In English, which sentence would generally sound more natural? "Even children (would) know this question." or "Even children (would) know the answer to this question."? The latter, right? Yet, the former is A's statement.

A long preface, but I had to make it because I could not properly answer this question without it.

1) 私は知りませんよ。

A very natural-sounding reply to the question. "Kids might, but I don't."

2) 私なら、しりませんよ。

Grammatical, but not too natural-sounding in the context. "If it were me, I wouldn't know."

3) 私にとってはわからないことですよ。

Not incorrect per se, but fairly wordy (and definitely "off") as a reply. "It is something that I don't understand."

Thus, only 1) sounds 100% natural. Native speakers surely would not use 2) or 3).

  • Thank you for the precise answer. One more question, so "私は知りませんよ。" is the only answer? If not, how would you answer? – airush Dec 07 '19 at 06:27