教えて vs 聞かせて when asking questions on the internet.

I didn’t realize until recently, but I basically never use “聞かせて” when asking questions on 5ch/2ch (basically Japanese Reddit). When I use “聞かせて,” I assume someone wants to talk to me, or I care about the person at least. But when I ask someone to tell me something on the internet, I’m generally more interested in their answers or information for my benefit. That’s why I always use “教えて” when asking random strangers on the internet. Other native Japanese speakers might have different opinions, as it can be subjective. However, I can say that “教えて” is more common than “聞かせて” when asking someone to answer questions on internet forums, even when “聞かせて” is grammatically correct.(Don’t get me wrong, some people still use ‘聞かせて,’ but ‘教えて’ is used much more frequently.) I’ve also noticed that Japanese learners whose mother tongue is English tend to use “聞く” more frequently than native Japanese speakers even when it is not suitable to be used, likely influenced by English language.

by DesperateSouthPark

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