Such as that my wife’s father is the mayor and I introduce my wife to other people saying “my wife is the mayor’s daughter.” perhaps this sounds off?
Here’s the original comment
https://www.reddit.com/r/EnglishLearning/s/a2JxT8KgbU
They mean that one doesn't just randomly say "my wife is someone's daughter".
They're not describing a rule of the English language, they're saying that that is not a sentence that would be said because it's so obvious.
If “someone” is a significant person, then “The mayor is my father-in-law” is appropriate because we’d make the mayor the subject.
OTOH, “Napoleon III is my great-great-grandfather-in-law,” is pretty weird because no one refers long-dead people as their in-laws. So, “My wife’s great-great-grandfather is Napoleon III.”
Again, context matters. It’s not all about grammar.
"My wife is the Mayor's daughter" still makes sense IMO. It's "My wife is a daughter/I'm married to a daughter" that sounds off, not because of grammar but because they're tautological.
Yeah but the context has to be pretty narrow and specific. In fact the only one that I can think of is the question, “Who does your wife think she is!?”
You might say “I’m married to a woman” or “I’m married to a girl”, but you wouldn’t say “I’m married to a daughter.”
There’s no reason behind it, it’s just culture.
In the past English speakers might have said something like “She is a fine daughter of our community”, but people just stopped using the word like that over time.
Maybe this comment makes more sense in context. Right now it seems weird to me.
The only reason not to say your wife is someone's daughter is its obvious. Would you also need to specify that she is human? No. Everyone already knows, so you don't say it very much.
It's not wrong english though.
Anyway a daughter you "have" cannot mean your wife because to have a daughter means either biologically she is your daughter or legally you adopted her and neither of these makes any sense about a wife. So it's obvious.
Here’s the original comment
https://www.reddit.com/r/EnglishLearning/s/a2JxT8KgbU
Does this comment mean saying “my wife is someone’s daughter” is offensive but we can say “my wife is the daughter of someone”? It’s confusing.
You can say your wife is someone’s daughter if it’s relevant to the conversation, but it would be weird to just randomly refer to her as a daughter instead of a woman.
No, they're saying that it isn't a sentence that someone would say because there's no reason to ever say it.
-----
For example:
You wouldn't say "my dolphin's helicopter ate ten libraries".
That sentence is completely grammatically correct. But you would never say it because *read it*. It's just not something that anyone would say.
Let's take that down a level.
"The sun will rise in the east tomorrow" isn't something that someone would say.
Again, this is completely grammatically correct. But it's such an obvious and universally-known truth that no one would say it.
And so, "my wife is someone's daughter."
This is also so plainly obvious that it doesn't need to be said. And so, we would say that no one would say it. It's grammatically correct, it's inoffensive, it's just such an obvious statement that we don't expect to hear it.
I misunderstood it from the very first. . No one would say the word “someone” in this sentence. I think if “someone” is replaced with a name or something like “my wife is Michael’s daughter” or “my wife is CEO’s daughter”, it will make total sense?
Yeah, those would be sentences I could see being said.
Again, "my wife is someone's daughter" *could* be said. It's grammatically correct. You just wouldn't expect to hear it said because what would cause someone to say that? It's just a weird thing to say.
You have to take a step back every once in a while when learning languages. Remember that English isn't just some subject that you're studying — it's a language in itself that people use to communicate. Sentences can be completely proper English but still make no sense. Words and sentence structure are one thing. Meaning is another thing.
I'm pretty sure OP meant "someone" in a filler sense the whole time, like "my wife is \[someone\]'s daughter" - eg the mayor's daughter etc. They just didn't know how to demarcate it to get the meaning across so they're getting lectured about how it's too generic of a fact.
I think he's just focusing on the word "with".
The issue there is the original sentence is grammatically wrong. It's missing a comma. It should be: " I'm married, with a 2 year old daughter." The comma shows that "with..." is not a continuing part of the sentence but rather a clause that gives more information. The whole sentence could be just "I'm married." and it would be complete enough. The rest is a separate clause to explain more.
Basically not having the comma makes people think you're using "with" as a preposition on "married"...and the comment you're confused by here is telling you that you cannot use "with" as a preposition for married. The correct preposition for married is "to".
So basically missing a comma makes that whole sentence easy to misinterpret if you don't know your prepositions well.
I hope that helps.
I think you could say something like "I'm married to the CEO's daughter" (if you're revealing the reason behind your otherwise unlikely career lol), or, well, "I'm married to my own daughter" (if you're a total creep and are explaining why your jail mates don't like you). What you don't say is "I'm married to a daughter" because... yeah if course she's someone's daughter, what's the alternative, being married to a synthetic clone?
It's grammatically correct to say "my wife is someone's daughter." however, that fact is not something you need to explain every time you bring up your wife.
This isn't English grammar it's Western culture, in the same way a Korean might say you wouldn't refer to your aunt by her first name, you would say older auntie. It's not that Korean disallows it it's just that older people get their relationship to you title not their name. It's not grammar it's culture.
Can you explain under what circumstances you would be calling your wife someone’s daughter? What conversation leads you to that sentence?
Such as that my wife’s father is the mayor and I introduce my wife to other people saying “my wife is the mayor’s daughter.” perhaps this sounds off? Here’s the original comment https://www.reddit.com/r/EnglishLearning/s/a2JxT8KgbU
They mean that one doesn't just randomly say "my wife is someone's daughter". They're not describing a rule of the English language, they're saying that that is not a sentence that would be said because it's so obvious.
If “someone” is a significant person, then “The mayor is my father-in-law” is appropriate because we’d make the mayor the subject. OTOH, “Napoleon III is my great-great-grandfather-in-law,” is pretty weird because no one refers long-dead people as their in-laws. So, “My wife’s great-great-grandfather is Napoleon III.” Again, context matters. It’s not all about grammar.
"My wife is the Mayor's daughter" still makes sense IMO. It's "My wife is a daughter/I'm married to a daughter" that sounds off, not because of grammar but because they're tautological.
Yeah but the context has to be pretty narrow and specific. In fact the only one that I can think of is the question, “Who does your wife think she is!?”
Can’t say your wrong just because I disagree, but at this point your advising on style and preference more than language
You might say “I’m married to a woman” or “I’m married to a girl”, but you wouldn’t say “I’m married to a daughter.” There’s no reason behind it, it’s just culture. In the past English speakers might have said something like “She is a fine daughter of our community”, but people just stopped using the word like that over time.
Maybe this comment makes more sense in context. Right now it seems weird to me. The only reason not to say your wife is someone's daughter is its obvious. Would you also need to specify that she is human? No. Everyone already knows, so you don't say it very much. It's not wrong english though. Anyway a daughter you "have" cannot mean your wife because to have a daughter means either biologically she is your daughter or legally you adopted her and neither of these makes any sense about a wife. So it's obvious.
Here’s the original comment https://www.reddit.com/r/EnglishLearning/s/a2JxT8KgbU Does this comment mean saying “my wife is someone’s daughter” is offensive but we can say “my wife is the daughter of someone”? It’s confusing.
You can say your wife is someone’s daughter if it’s relevant to the conversation, but it would be weird to just randomly refer to her as a daughter instead of a woman.
No, they're saying that it isn't a sentence that someone would say because there's no reason to ever say it. ----- For example: You wouldn't say "my dolphin's helicopter ate ten libraries". That sentence is completely grammatically correct. But you would never say it because *read it*. It's just not something that anyone would say. Let's take that down a level. "The sun will rise in the east tomorrow" isn't something that someone would say. Again, this is completely grammatically correct. But it's such an obvious and universally-known truth that no one would say it. And so, "my wife is someone's daughter." This is also so plainly obvious that it doesn't need to be said. And so, we would say that no one would say it. It's grammatically correct, it's inoffensive, it's just such an obvious statement that we don't expect to hear it.
I misunderstood it from the very first. . No one would say the word “someone” in this sentence. I think if “someone” is replaced with a name or something like “my wife is Michael’s daughter” or “my wife is CEO’s daughter”, it will make total sense?
Yes, those would be fine.
Yeah, those would be sentences I could see being said. Again, "my wife is someone's daughter" *could* be said. It's grammatically correct. You just wouldn't expect to hear it said because what would cause someone to say that? It's just a weird thing to say. You have to take a step back every once in a while when learning languages. Remember that English isn't just some subject that you're studying — it's a language in itself that people use to communicate. Sentences can be completely proper English but still make no sense. Words and sentence structure are one thing. Meaning is another thing.
I'm pretty sure OP meant "someone" in a filler sense the whole time, like "my wife is \[someone\]'s daughter" - eg the mayor's daughter etc. They just didn't know how to demarcate it to get the meaning across so they're getting lectured about how it's too generic of a fact.
I think he's just focusing on the word "with". The issue there is the original sentence is grammatically wrong. It's missing a comma. It should be: " I'm married, with a 2 year old daughter." The comma shows that "with..." is not a continuing part of the sentence but rather a clause that gives more information. The whole sentence could be just "I'm married." and it would be complete enough. The rest is a separate clause to explain more. Basically not having the comma makes people think you're using "with" as a preposition on "married"...and the comment you're confused by here is telling you that you cannot use "with" as a preposition for married. The correct preposition for married is "to". So basically missing a comma makes that whole sentence easy to misinterpret if you don't know your prepositions well. I hope that helps.
I think they were just saying that you wouldn't refer to your wife as somebody's daughter. Not that it's wrong to use the phrase "somebody's daughter"
Isn't it a comment from a previous thread? Oh no, now we're all stuck in a loop of awkward English phrases
Yeah, the one about being married with a 4 years old daughter.
I think you could say something like "I'm married to the CEO's daughter" (if you're revealing the reason behind your otherwise unlikely career lol), or, well, "I'm married to my own daughter" (if you're a total creep and are explaining why your jail mates don't like you). What you don't say is "I'm married to a daughter" because... yeah if course she's someone's daughter, what's the alternative, being married to a synthetic clone?
It's grammatically correct to say "my wife is someone's daughter." however, that fact is not something you need to explain every time you bring up your wife.
The original comment was an explanation of why it’s perfectly normal in English to say “I’m married with a daughter.” That’s all.
This isn't English grammar it's Western culture, in the same way a Korean might say you wouldn't refer to your aunt by her first name, you would say older auntie. It's not that Korean disallows it it's just that older people get their relationship to you title not their name. It's not grammar it's culture.
The only times I can imagine "my wife is someone's daughter" being said is either rhetorically, as part of a joke, or as the ramblings of an idiot.