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I am trying to say: "Shall I buy it?" Which would be better?

私は買いましょうか？ or 私が買いましょうか？

Tyler H
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2 Answers2

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Assuming you mean "Shall I buy it?" in the sense of offering to buy something (i.e. "Do you want me to buy it?" or "Shall I be the one to buy it?") then 私が買いましょうか？ is best.

If "Shall I buy it?" is wondering to oneself "Hmm... shall I buy it?" then neither. That would need a completely different phrase to the two offered in the OP.

Robin
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  • I like this answer, but the way it's arranged is a bit confusing. – istrasci Dec 28 '15 at 23:10
  • @istrasci Thanks, I tried to arrange it a bit more clearly. I'm trying to make it clear which sense of "Shall I buy it?" it is that "私が買いましょうか？" would be a valid phrasing for. – Robin Dec 28 '15 at 23:53
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Instead of answering which is better, I would like to write some opinion. If in the situation here,

Shall I buy it?

"I" is not that important (the person you are talking to, knows it is about "you buy or not", not "who to buy it"), I suggest 買いましょうか{かいましょうか} / 買おうか{かおうか} / 買っちゃうか{かっちゃうか} ... which means you wish to have some feedback / you are considering buy or not youself (but saying.. hah)

Apart from "shall I buy it", you are actually asking the difference between は and が. Let's keep discussing if you still have problems :)

一緒に頑張りましょう (look here, you don't have to say 私たちが{わたしたちが}一緒に{いっしょに}頑張りましょう{がんばりましょう})

Tsumannai
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