Didn't like or Not Liked

[SomeOne]

Hi, there!
Haven't been there for some time, so nice to meet you again!
There's the question that stumbled me: if somebody had visited an event, then you asked them of their feelings about it and they told that it was bad, how would you continue:

- What exactly you not liked on the event?
or
- What exactly you didn't like on the event?
or maybe somehow else?

Either expression sounds awkward for me, so I need your help here.

Thanks in advance!

[Lady]

Hi, there!
Haven't been there for some time, so nice to meet you again!
There's the question that stumbled me: if somebody had visited an event, then you asked them of their feelings about it and they told that it was bad, how would you continue:

- What exactly you not liked on the event?
or
- What exactly you didn't like on the event?
or maybe somehow else?

Either expression sounds awkward for me, so I need your help here.

Thanks in advance!

Hi SomeOne:

I guess i would say to them:

What exactly that you didn't like about the event?

That's all that i know..

good luck

[Rusty]

Hi, there!
Haven't been there for some time, so nice to meet you again!
There's the question that stumbled me: if somebody had visited an event, then you asked them of their feelings about it and they told that it was bad, how would you continue:

- What exactly you not liked on the event?
or
- What exactly you didn't like on the event?
or maybe somehow else?

Either expression sounds awkward for me, so I need your help here.

Thanks in advance!
There are a few ways to ask the question.
What didn't you like about the event?
What exactly didn't you like about it?
What was it that you didn't like about the event?
What exactly was it that you didn't like?

Another thing:
The verb stumble is intransitive, it does not take an object.
I stumble. (OK)
It stumbled me. (Incorrect).
It tripped me. (OK).
I stumbled over it. (OK).

[SomeOne]

Thank you very much! And for "stumbled" separately :)))

And on the contrary I suppose I could ask:

What (exactly) did you like about the event?
or
What (exactly) was it that you did like about the event?

Am I right? Or there must be "what you liked" instead?

[danmahaffey]

Sometimes people will ask, Why didn't you like it? or, Why did you like it? They mean to ask the cause, but often it will sound like they are asking the reason. This might lead to misunderstanding and bad feelings. For example: You: I didn't like the show.
Friend: What didn't you like about the show?
You: I was sitting behind a tall person and I couldn't see very well.
Friend: Oh, my. Let me buy you a coffee and I'll tell you everything you missed.

You: I didn't like the show.
Friend: Why didn't you like the show? [Asked: What was the cause?]
You: It was difficult to enjoy. [Heard: What was your reason?]
Friend: What do you mean? Don't you know how hard those actors worked to put on a good play?
I really like that you are asking your question in the form, what did/didn't you like? I think that's wise.

[SomeOne]

Thank you, Dan!

And finally, the most diffucult thing for me: those questions will be applied in survey, that covers about 5000 people, so questionary in the presentation must come without any personal addressing, I mean there should be no such words as "you", "he", "they" etc. That thing really sticks me, because I always thought that there should always be an acting subject in every english sentence, therefore I cannot just clear these words out and say something like:

- What did/didn't like about the event? (not specified whom exactly I ask, just in common)

I might have to explain: I need this, because this is russian survey, and its results to be sent to the international company, so I'm trying to translate its questions (as close as possible) from Russian into English. In Russian we do have such questions which come without direct addressing to a person, but I can't imagine if I can say something like that in English.

[SomeOne]

I'l try to explain it more precise. Sometimes in English we can say "Do not interrupt!" instead of "You mustn't interrupt while somebody's speaking." and we can write the sign that reads "Do not come in" instead if "Nobody is allowed to come in". I need to do the same thing: to address everybody who's reading the question without naming them directly with "you", "anybody", "everybody", etc.

And one thing just came out while I was typing:
We can write the sign that reads "..."
or
We can write the sign that'll read "..."
or
We can write the sign that would read "..."

Which one is correct?

Thanks again for your time!

[danmahaffey]

Last question first:
And one thing just came out while I was typing:
We can write the sign that reads "..."
or
We can write the sign that'll read "..."
or
We can write the sign that would read "..."

Which one is correct?Usually, one makes, prints, paints, draws or letters a sign. One writes or pens a notice. The difference is that sign connotes graphics, while notice suggests text. Also, usually, signs and notices say (they speak to the observer), although read is correct too. Here are some good combinations:Make a sign that reads...
I am making a sign that reads...
She made a sign that reads...
I will make a sign that reads...
I can make a sign that reads...
I could make a sign that would read...
I understand that you want to design survey questions that do not personally address the survey takers. Here is what puzzles me. Because a survey asks a person his or her opinion (a personal belief), how does your sponsor intend for you to do this without addressing the survey takers?

In a personal opinion survey, Did you enjoy the show? for example, means a much different thing than, Was the show enjoyable? In the first question, you are asking for the survey taker's opinion. In the second question, you are asking for the survey taker to evaluate the play and its effect on the audience, something most people could not do.

If the survey is not personal, but is looking at public policy, for example, you could ask the question, Should Russia send explorers to Mars? Or, Should the mayor increase the budget for public works? Here you would not have to address the survey takers individually.

If you can tell me a little more about the survey, and some questions you are struggling with, I might be able to make some suggestions. Also type survey design into Google and look at the first several sites that come up. There is a wealth of good information there.

[SomeOne]

Ok, I'll try to explain the demands of the sponsor. In questionary itself we're addresing the people directly and the questions look like:

- What do you know about the DIA event?
... open response

- Did you participate in the last DIA event?
yes/no answer.

- Did you like the DIA event? (if participated)
yes/no answer.

- What did you like about the DIA event? (if participated and the previous answer is "yes")
... open response

- What didn't you like about the DIA event? (if participated and the previous answer is "no")
... open response

and so on.

But in presentations we have to show the results in gaphic form with comments that address the percentages and not the respondents themselves. And we're to leave the "personality" behind and operate on non-personal average percetages only. Therefore we have to represent those questions in non-personal form like we usually do in Russian, but I wonder whether we can do it in English. It's just the way we usually form our russian surveys, and I don't know if we're able to do the same in English.

[danmahaffey]

That is much more clear now.

It may be difficult for you to give percentages with open-ended questions, but if you have the time and staff you can make categories of the answers after they come back in. Then you might say 12% liked the quality of the presenters, 31% liked the organization of the event, 35% liked the food, etc.

To "neutralize" the questions, you could say the blue words in your presentations and reports: What do you know about the DIA event? -> Respondents' knowledge of the DIA event
Did you participate in the last DIA event? -> Participation in the last DIA event
Did you like the DIA event? -> Participants' enjoyment of the DIA event
What did you like about the DIA event? -> Likes of (Things liked by) DIA event participants
What didn't you like about the DIA event? Dislikes of (Things disliked by) DIA event participants I hope this helps. Good luck to you.

[SomeOne]

Thanks again! I think that'd fit.
There's only one thing to go: I don't know if the word "thing" is allowed to be used in this quite formal situation. I mean "Things liked by.." sounds a bit frivolous to me. Maybe I should replace "things" with something else, something more official?

[danmahaffey]

Of course I offered Likes of DIA event participants and Dislikes of DIA event participants. More "official" words might include items, components, or elements. You could break it down into sessions liked/disliked, topics liked/disliked, activities liked/disliked, speakers ..., etc.

I'm happy you found this useful.

[SomeOne]

Ok, I think I'll go with "Likes/Dislikes of DIA event participants" and leave all sorts of "things" behind :)

Thanks for your help, it's really useful!

[danmahaffey]

Anytime.

Good luck.