Which is stronger, ないでほしい or てほしくない


I've asked this to several native Japanese speakers, but I've gotten varied
responses so I thought I'd put it out here.

Which feels 'stronger', ie more forceful:

(1) そこに行かないでほしい  
(2) そこに行ってほしくない

To me, ～ないでほしい feels like it's a little more forceful. Then again, both are
probably translated the same way in English. So what's the verdict?  
分からなかったら書かないでほしい。（笑）




Both are rather simply using ほしい, and I personally do not think there is a
clear difference in the level of forcefulness.

The literal translation of these two sentences are different also in English:

> (1) そこに行かないでほしい。 I want you not to go there.  
>  (2) そこに行ってほしくない。 I do not want you to go there.

Sentence 2 is theoretically ambiguous; it usually means the same thing as
Sentence 1, but its literal meaning is closer to "I'm not saying I want you to
go there." (i.e., if you want to go there, I don't want to stop you, either.)
Therefore, some people may say Sentence 1 is more direct, explicit, and thus
sounds a little "stronger". But practically, these are almost always safely
interchangeable.




Both are rather simply using ほしい, and I personally do not think there is a
clear difference in the level of forcefulness.

The literal translation of these two sentences are different also in English:

> (1) そこに行かないでほしい。 I want you not to go there.  
>  (2) そこに行ってほしくない。 I do not want you to go there.

Sentence 2 is theoretically ambiguous; it usually means the same thing as
Sentence 1, but its literal meaning is closer to "I'm not saying I want you to
go there." (i.e., if you want to go there, I don't want to stop you, either.)
Therefore, some people may say Sentence 1 is more direct, explicit, and thus
sounds a little "stronger". But practically, these are almost always safely
interchangeable.

