What do you say when someone is talking very loudly?

Open Forum in English
1
  1. What do you say when someone is talking very loudly?
  2. What would you say if someone is talking very loudly?

Question 1: Are the two sentences are grammatically correct?
Question 2: Is it okay if I use “will” or “would” to go with “when”, the sentence would like this:
What would/will you say when someone is talking very loudly?

Thank you!!

2

  1. Yes, they are both correct. The first question assumes this is something that happens regularly or often enough so that the person being asked has a ready answer. The second question is the second conditional.

  2. For would+when, no, it’s not correct. The ‘if’ and the ‘would’ go together as a conditional form. For will+when, this feels like a strange construction to me. It sounds like the speaker is very strongly assuming that someone will indeed talk loudly in the future, for no real reason or benefit. I think will+if is better because it leaves open the possibility that someone won’t speak loudly.

3

Another way of asking that question is: How do you respond when someone is talking too loudly?

A more informal way of saying that is: when someone is being too loud.

A teacher might ask, “What do we say when someone is being too loud?” to a group of young students to find out how they have learned to respond and to start a discussion about the polite way of letting someone know that they are talking too loudly or making too much noise.

Maybe it’s just an Americanism, and perhaps a little old-fashioned, but there’s also this thing parents do when teaching their children manners. If the child receives a gift (or is given anything, really) but doesn’t respond with a polite “Thank-you,” the parent will prompt the child by asking “What do you say?”

There’s also the slang expression, “Whaddya say?” Here is a good dictionary entry on that subject:

You can also do a twitter search for “whaddya say” to find more examples:
https://twitter.com/search?q=“whaddya%20say”&src=typd

To add to jungleboy’s answer to your second question, I offer this song lyric:
What would you do if I sang out of tune?
– With a Little Help from my Friends (Lennon, McCartney 1967) – The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

4

Thank you, brucenator. I really appreciate it. Always learn a lot from your explanation. Lucky me.

5