Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxful
By the way, I have a question regarding "Do you want to drink coffee" and "Do you drink coffee".
I always thought that the former sentence stands for "コーヒーを飲みたいですか。" and the latter stands for "コーヒーをのむんですか。" - but "コーヒーをのむんですか。" can also mean "Do you want to drink coffee" (if I am not wrong) apparently.
So can someone explain to me the exact way to say "Do you want to drink coffee" and "Do you drink coffee"?
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Good question. This is something I've seen so many Japanese-learners say incorrectly.
Forget literal translation here or you will say these incorrectly, too.
"Do you drink coffee?"
If you say 「コーヒーを飲みますか。」, most Japanese would take it to mean "Do you want a coffee (now)?"
If you want to ask if someone ever drinks coffee, say:
「コーヒーはお好きですか。」 or 「コーヒーは飲まれますか。」
Your sentence 「コーヒーを飲みたいですか。」 means "Do you want a coffee (now)?" But almost no one will say it. I certainly have never heard anyone say it. As I said, we would say 「コーヒーを飲みますか。」 to mean that.
Your other sentence 「コーヒーをのむんですか」 can be said when you are already in a cafe. "Are you having coffee (and not tea or juice)?"