Page 51 - Makino,Tsutusi.DictionaryOfIntermediateJGrammar

SPECIAL TOPICS IN INTERMEDIATE JAPANESE GRAMMAR
sions.)
(20) a. El$-AGi.kfiZQBbf& Ir 8bl ZT,
(I think that Japanese avoid using decisive expressions.)

b. n$-AlAw~gcta k,g,blaj- I~W,
(I think that Japanese avoid using decisive expressions, but. . .)
C. El$-AbkkfiZQBIf&a> {-Chi. / h=l Qb~2~kEb~2To
(I wonder if Japanese wouldn't avoid using decisive expres-
sions.)
d. El$Alkl%Qbf& {TI& / C.el hb\+k.E,bl2T
/ If r1,
(I wonder if Japanese wouldn't avoid using decisive expressions,
but. . .)
e. El$Abk%fBQjBIf &a)Tti.hbl+Ir,R;h;kZj- {$/ If rl,
(It seems to me that Japanese will avoid using decisive expres-
sions, but. . .)

f. %Lb:GkH$AGi.kfiZQBGf&a)TGkfsb~~k.~,;h;k&a)TT$,
b~+$h6a>TL~ i+,
(It seems to me that Japanese will avoid using decisive expres-
sions, but what would you say?)

In (19) and (20), in which the same core statement is made, the longer the
sentence is, the less decisive the expression is 1 tends to be. When a Japanese
speaker opposes what his superior has said his expression definitely has to
avoid straightforward expressions. There are some set phrases that can be pre-
fixed to the speaker's statement of an opposing view, as shown in (21).
(21) a. % 5 + h &, [informal]
(Well, I doubt it. (lit. I wonder if that is so.))
b. ?-?LT~ blbl(Tj-) bfr0
(That's fine, too, but. . .)
c. ?-;kIk+-5 {Tj-/f?} IfFo
(That's true, but. . .)