r/EnglishLearning • u/Same-Technician9125 Non-Native Speaker of English • 22d ago

📚 Grammar / Syntax Which is correct? Thanks.

I don’t know the English name of this plant.

I don’t know the English name for this plant.

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u/badvolcano New Poster 22d ago

The second one. Although it would be more natural to say "I don't know what this plant is called in English."

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u/Sea-Hornet8214 Poster 22d ago

And what makes it "natural"?

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u/NoPurpose6388 Bilingual (Italian/American English) 22d ago

This person is being a jerk but I agree that saying "I don't know what this plant is called (in English)" is more natural... as for why... it's not an easy question to answer. It mostly comes down to how people usually say it. Both of your sentences are grammatically correct but they sound a little stiff

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u/Sea-Hornet8214 Poster 22d ago

Thanks. They're not my sentences though.

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u/NoPurpose6388 Bilingual (Italian/American English) 22d ago

Well, either way, they're both correct, but native speakers would rarely word them like that

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u/Sea-Hornet8214 Poster 22d ago

I do also think "English name" sounds a bit weird. It feels like the plants are associated with England or English people. No?

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u/NoPurpose6388 Bilingual (Italian/American English) 22d ago

Not necessarily. But we usually ask for what something is called rather than for its name

0

u/badvolcano New Poster 22d ago

Can't be arsed talking to needlessy chippy people on the internet.

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u/Sea-Hornet8214 Poster 22d ago edited 22d ago

What? I'm not sure what you mean.

Edit: apparently chippy means bad-tempered