Can I say this?
hray
July 18, 2008, 04:40 PM posted in General Discussion如果可以的话，我想告诉你我生活中发生的事情。If it is okay, I'd like to tell you about something that happened to me.
Is this sentence grammatically correct? Is it a natural way to say it? If not, please advise.
algoon2010
September 12, 2008, 05:40 PMHello
sanbapo
September 22, 2008, 10:33 PMlooks fine to me. Good job~!
fred_02071622
September 29, 2008, 03:49 AMAs a native speaker, we don't usually say "如果可以的话" in this case. To show your consideration and respect to the listener, you should say "如果你不介意的话", which means "if you don't mind".
But "如果可以的话" is also understandable and without grammatical problems, and I think the listener could sense your consideration and respect. "如果可以的话" usually emphasize whether the objective situation allow you to do something or not. While "如果你不介意的话" emphasize the listener's willings, if he/she would like to listen your story or not. So, "如果你不介意的话" is recommended in your case.
nicolenanjing
November 07, 2008, 02:49 PMIt is accorrding to the situation and the relationship between you and your friends. If you want to show your respect and be friendly, use 如果你不介意的话 instead of 如果可以的话．If you two are close friends, you can say "昨天/今天 发生了一件奇怪的/有趣的/事情．""昨天/今天，我碰到一件事．．"
ctu2015
November 27, 2008, 05:50 PMHello everyone I am moussa. I studied this language for one years in shenzhen.It's so happy that find so many friends learn chinese.I am very glad to teach anyone who want learn chinese.It's free.Only I want is make friends.You can contact me with msn. mrmoussa@hotmail.fr
www.facebook.com search moussactu
heheh i can talk but icant read lol
maojianxinjolin
March 21, 2010, 02:42 PMIt is quite good. I think you want to express that you want to tell something you experienced before.
The sentence “如果可以的话，我想告诉你我经历的一些事情”is used more often. we always say this sentence in Chinese.
My English is not very good,hope you can understand.I am a Chinese student.
changye
July 20, 2008, 05:48 AMHi hray,
There is no response from native guys yet, so please let me (non native) try to answer. I don't find a grammatical mistake in your example sentence. If you would like to say more specifically, 我生活中发生的一件事情 or 昨天发生的一件事 (事情) should be more appropriate. The connotation of 事情 might be slightly more serious (or formal) than that of 事.
Whether or not the sentence is natural depends on the situation, and I think your example is also natural under certain circumustances. In my opinion, 如果可以的话 is usually followed by sentences such as 我想去美国旅游 or 我想成为世上最有钱的人. If I were you, I would just say ‘我想告诉你我生活中发生的一件事，可以吗？’