I'd like to know the difference of nuance between the two sentences below.
1. It is strange that he should say so.
2. It is strange that he should have said so.

I think it's the fact that "he said so." Even when he said so in the past, the two sentences are correct ? If so, I guess there is some difference of nuance between them.
Would you help me, please

Risposte

ZSlan

15 lug 2021

Domanda in primo piano

Inglese (Stati Uniti)

@popcha Looking over the sentences again, you could actually interpret both to mean simply “It is strange that he said so,” although the second would be even more irregular. Your first instance in the case of the punctual person means that the speaker expects the person to have left early in the morning. The second is the same as “It is strange that he should have said so.” (Meaning it could be interpreted either way.) Finally, as for what I would say, it would be “It is strange that he said that.” “Said so” as the end of the sentence is also correct, but it sounds a little bit old fashioned. You could say it and expect to be understood by anyone, but I would say it a little differently.

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ZSlan

15 lug 2021

Inglese (Stati Uniti)

This is actually a very tricky one. “Should” in the first sentence, while technically interpretable as meaning “is obligated to,” would be understood simplify to signify that the saying so happened. It’s an irregular and fairly archaic way to say it, and you wouldn’t use it unless you wanted to sound old-fashioned on purpose.

The second sentence says that he was obligated to say so, and that the fact that he was obligated was strange. While superficially similar, there’s subtle but large differences between the two sentences, going beyond what could be described as mere nuance.

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popcha

15 lug 2021

Giapponese

@ZSlan
Thank you for your reply.
As for the second sentence, is the 'should' like the one in a sentence like this ?
"He will arrive here soon, for he should have left home early in the morning."

If he is not a punctual person, "It is strange that he should have left home early in the morning." ?

As for the first sentence, "It is strange that he said so." has the same meaning ?
Or, is this expression also irregular ?

If you should want to say such words, what would you say ? What kind of sentence is natural ?

Thank you for your time.

ZSlan

15 lug 2021

Inglese (Stati Uniti)

@popcha Looking over the sentences again, you could actually interpret both to mean simply “It is strange that he said so,” although the second would be even more irregular. Your first instance in the case of the punctual person means that the speaker expects the person to have left early in the morning. The second is the same as “It is strange that he should have said so.” (Meaning it could be interpreted either way.) Finally, as for what I would say, it would be “It is strange that he said that.” “Said so” as the end of the sentence is also correct, but it sounds a little bit old fashioned. You could say it and expect to be understood by anyone, but I would say it a little differently.

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popcha

15 lug 2021

Giapponese

@ZSlan
"It is strange that he said that." is very intelligible.
I feel it's necessary and important to learn from native speakers like you.
Study aid books themselves seem old-fashioned.
Thank you very much for talking with me !