Using としたら・とすれば to ask advice


Is it redundant to give an assumed case and then use the どうすればいい construction?

E.g.

> 不合格だとすればどうすればいいですか。

If so, what's a better way to express this sentiment?




The sentence:

> 「不合格{ふごうかく}だとすればどうすればいいですか。」

sounds fairly awkward for using both 「だとすれば」 and 「どうすれば」 back-to-back. If it
were grammar that mattered, however, the sentence would be perfectly
grammatical. Nontheless, careful speakers/writers would probably not say it
that way.

To be honest, the biggest problem that I, as a native speaker, have with this
sentence is that I have no idea who it is talking about. Who is the one that
might not pass? Who is the one that would/should do something upon finding out
about the failure?

You could say:

> 「（もし）不合格だったらどうすればいいですか/いいでしょうか。」

if you are asking about what you yourself should do.

If, however, you are asking about what the other person should/would do, you
might say:

> 「（もし）不合格だったらどうしますか/どうするつもりですか。」

