A: I heard that you’ve invested in ABC. Is that true?
B: Yes, but why?
A: That’s what I want to know. It’s a hopeless start-up!
B: Really?
In this situation, what should you say “That’s what I want to know” in Japanese?
Business
A：むしろこっちが聞きたいですよ。そこは見込みのないスタートアップですから。
Note: This is not a word-for-word translation.
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A word-for-word translation
A：それは私が知りたいことですよ。望みのないスタートアップですよ。
In Japanese, we usually use 聞く (to ask) instead of 知る (to know) in this situation.
In this case, 聞く means ‘to ask’, not ‘to listen’ or ‘to hear’.
You may have learned that ‘to ask’ is translated as 尋ねる, but 尋ねる is not used even in business situations because it is too formal for conversation.
For example,
May I ask you some questions?いくつかお聞きしてもいいですか
Using 聞く is fine when you ask anyone within your workplace.
I mean you could say this to your boss as well.
望みのない is also understandable and a natural expression.
But 見込みのない is better and more common.
