1

I believe

It is not safe to let strangers in.

How do I ask people and find out if they have the same opinion as me?

  1. Is it safe to let strangers in?: It feels like to me that I have no opinion.
  2. Isn't it safe to let strangers in?: It feels like to me that I believe it is safe to let strangers in.
  3. Is it not safe to let strangers in?: Many resources [1][2][3] claim this form is merely a formal form of option 2.

Someone told me to say

Is it unsafe to let strangers in?

How about this one? Is "unsafe" equal to "not safe"? Can you rephrase the question using "not"?

  1. https://www.englishgrammar.org/negative-questions/
  2. Why do not we ask negative questions without a contraction on the not after the verb?
  3. "Do you not" vs. "Don't you"
Gqqnbig
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  • Question tags are helpful for this. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Nov 08 '20 at 17:02
  • @Cascabel I know question tags if you are referring to "It is not safe to let strangers in, is it?" Is there a way to not directly state my opinion but hide it in a question? – Gqqnbig Nov 08 '20 at 17:04
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    Do you also feel it is not safe to let strangers in? – mplungjan Nov 08 '20 at 17:12
  • It isn’t safe to let strangers in, right? – Jim Nov 08 '20 at 17:19
  • @mplungjan I like yours, as "also" indicates someone else has the same feeling, but it may not be me. If it is my boss himself who made the decision to let strangers in, I can shrink and say "It is Tom and Marry who feel it's unsafe; I fully support your decision!" – Gqqnbig Nov 08 '20 at 17:24
  • Do you, as I do, feel it is not safe to let strangers in? – mplungjan Nov 08 '20 at 17:24
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    I think this question is based on a false premise. *None* of OP's examples actually give any indication of whether the speaker thinks something is safe or not (the default assumption is *He doesn't know - that's why he's asking). The way to convey the fact that you have a prior opinion in English is either by posing a "rhetorical" question, or by including a "tag" question: It's not safe, is it?, or It's safe, isn't it?* – FumbleFingers Nov 08 '20 at 18:09
  • +1 I think it is a legitimate Q for here. It might look like a non-native user question, but it shows research, and does not seem to be a duplicate. BTW...I agree with FF that tag questions are usually used for this context, but it also depends on the intonation. A rising intonation indicates uncertainty, while a falling intonation indicates an expected agreement...any actual answer will probabably depend heavily on question tags. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Nov 08 '20 at 20:38

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