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  1. This can make other people feel offended

  2. This can make other people offended

  3. This can offend other people.

These are exactly the same meaning without any difference in nuance, right?

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  • no, IMO the first one may be considered as 'guessing'. The other two are 'statements'! :)
    – Maulik V
    Commented Jul 15, 2015 at 6:56
  • 2
    Yes, these all have the exact same meaning.
    – Deusovi
    Commented Jul 15, 2015 at 9:57
  • The first feels slightly softer and every so slightly more poilite, but they all mean the same thing to me. Commented Jul 15, 2015 at 23:21

1 Answer 1

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Yes. I don't detect any difference in meaning.

A different form may flow better with the surrounding text, but you'll be saying the same thing.

The first one might be slightly softer since it refers to people feeling offended, rather than being offended, but this is a basically meaningless distinction.

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