0

Man: I don't want to talk about it. I doubt you'd find it particularly interesting to hear about, either.

Psychologist: ...Probably not. But now it's not about me. It's about you.

Hi. In my language, which is Danish, now would be perfectly natural here, but would it also be natural in English? From the research I've done it doesn't seem to be.

Improve this question
1
  • 1
    I'd say right now. Now on its own leaves me wondering what the Psychologist meant. I'd probably take it to refer to a previous conversation which was about the Psychologist, but that seems unlikely.
    – Colin Fine
    Commented Mar 21, 2022 at 16:55

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

The phrase "But now it's not about me"is not unnatural but it is perhaps a little unusual. I think a more usual way of expressing this thought in US English would be something like one of:

  • But here it's not about me. It's about you.
  • But in this conversation it's not about me. It's about you.
  • But when we talk it's not about me. It's about you.
Improve this answer
1
  • Which research have you done, and what did it show? Ignoring the research you didn't Post, I'd go with David's 'not unnatural, but perhaps a little unusual', with the emphasis very clearly on 'not unnatural…' Since you mention Danish, I happen to know at least a score of Danes who would not think once about Questioning that passage… Most native speakers would never think of Questioning that passage… Even if you doubt all of that, why are you questioning that passage? What other phrasing would you suggest that might have the same meaning?
    – Robbie Goodwin
    Commented Oct 6, 2022 at 18:47

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .