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Is "discuss the question" a valid collocation?

PolylingualAnilingus
The teachers in my school are in disagreement about this. Some say that you cannot discuss questions. You can discuss topics, issues, etc. But that's not a collocation, and instead, we should use "answer the question" or "talk about the question". Others say it sounds fine and use it in class. How do you feel? Does the instruction "discuss the following questions" sound natural?

23 comments

KingAshleyWilliams•
This would sound perfectly normal to me. (Midwest US)
Person012345•
Are we talking in the most pedantic way possible, or in practice? This is a pretty commonly understood phraseology in english and "sounds fine" although is not usually taken literally. Also if you can't "discuss the question" then you probably can't "talk about the question" either since those are effectively synonyms. The only issue is that "discuss the question" is usually used to mean "talk about the possible solutions or answers to this question and how you would reach them" rather than "talk about the question" in a literal sense (examining whether the question itself makes sense for example, or maybe just discussing whether you like the question or not). Though the latter would be a perfectly acceptable usage as well.
Brilliant_Towel2727•
It depends on what they want you to do. If they want one student to give them the correct answer to the question, then "answer the question" would be the correct phrasing. If they want students to share their answers and provide one another with feedback, or talk about features of the question among themselves, then "discuss" would be appropriate. "Discuss" connotes two or more people having a conversation, whereas talk about could refer to multiple people having a conversation or one person saying something.
hooboy322•
Yeah, I don’t mind discuss the question.
Severe-Possible-•
this seems crazy to me. if you can say "talk about the question" then you should absolutely be able to say "discuss the question". "discuss the following questions" sounds totally normal -- you're Not just asking the students to answer the questions, you're asking them to discuss their ideas, have a conversation about them etc. rather than just stating the answer. i'm on your side on this one (:
Matsunosuperfan•
How does one even argue that a question cannot be "discussed"? Even if you take it annoyingly literally in a stubborn attempt to reach an absurd interpretation, it still works.
Comfortable-Study-69•
“Discuss the question” is a perfectly acceptable command in English.
Benkyougin•
"Talk about the question" actually sounds more awkward to me in an educational setting, it's a bit more informal.
Agreeable-Fee6850•
It is natural and a recognised collocation which will appear in various dictionaries. The noun ‘question’ has 3 meanings: 1 - the grammatical meaning: a sentence which asks for information. 2 - an issue / topic / matter / subject 3 - a doubt For the second two meanings, ‘discuss’ is a valid collocation.
honkoku•
I see nothing wrong with the phrase -- the meaning is obvious and will be understood by native speakers, which to me is more important than any kind of pedantic literal parsing of the words.
marvsup•
If you're being incredibly pedantic, then I get the point. For example, if the question is "What is the theme of this essay?" and someone says "Discuss the question", technically they're asking you to discuss the *question*, when want you really want to discuss is the answer or possible answers. But "Discuss the question" is a common prompt that no native speaker (IMO) would ever even think to question.
BouncingSphinx•
>talk about the question To discuss something is to talk about it. To talk about something is to discuss it. If you are talking about the question, you are discussing the question. “Discuss the question” is perfectly valid.
algoreithms•
Maybe if you wanted to be super clear, you'd say "discuss your thoughts about this question" or "discuss your answers to this question". But the meaning can still be inferred from "discuss the question".
clovermite•
>Does the instruction "discuss the following questions" sound natural? It depends. Do you want them to discuss the merits of the questions themselves, do you do you want them to use the questions as prompts to respond to? For example, when presenting the class with the following list of questions: * how do you personally feel about alcohol use? * do you know anyone who suffers from alcohol addiction? If you want them to debate the phrasing of the questions, and perhaps see if they could come up with different phrasing that will better encourage the responders to openly explore the topic of alcohol and addiction, then yes "discuss the following questions" sounds natural. If you want them to just respond to the questions and explore the topic that the questions are presenting, then no, it doesn't natural. In this latter case "Discuss the following topics" sounds better. As a side note, I don't think I've ever seen the word "collocation" before. So, ironically, I would say that it isn't a natural phrasing either.
zeptozetta2212•
This thread is discussing your question right now.
Nondescript_Redditor•
It’s fine
Simpawknits•
You can discuss questions. Questions is a noun.
Desperate_Owl_594•
Discuss the question makes sense. I would say discuss your answers. I get where the confusion might happen, but the students would be able to naigate the intended meaning, even without teacher intervention. If the students are given such general instructions, they should be able to. You'd have those students who purposefully misinterpret the direction, (as a student, I would) but they'd understand and the general consensus would be what the teacher intended.
Rogfy•
Sounds natural to me
mr_stevekass•
Discuss this book. Discuss this paragraph. Discuss this painting. Discuss this music video. Discuss this question. Just because there's something else you can do with a question (answer it) besides discuss it doesn't mean you can't discuss it.
PapaOoMaoMao•
Australian. Perfectly normal to me. I wouldn't even notice it as being odd, let alone wrong.
lochnessmosster•
It sounds natural. The teachers who argue against it are being pedantic to a level that native speakers never consider.
SnarkyBeanBroth•
One of literal definitions of "discuss" is "to talk about something", so some of your teachers are clearly wrong. And yes, my teachers when I was growing up here in America often gave us the classroom instruction to "Discuss question 3". In my office, we still say "Let's discuss the question of whether we want to update our client contracts to include fixed-rate shipping" or whatever. It's an incredibly common construction here in the US.