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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006Questions on English small clauses/infinite clauses
Hello, again I need your help. In one of my recent English syntax class, I got a extraclass material. My friends and I had hours of discussions but never reached a unified conclusion. So I'm asking for your help. Any help would be appreciated Could you please tell me which sentences are syntactically incorrect? Or, please let me know any webpage that I can refer. That would be a great help. I asked a few Canadians and Americans but they could not give me an answer; they did not major linguistics. Thanks in advance. a) I found him clever I saw him clever b) I found him to be clever I saw him to be clever c) I found him to be crying I saw him to be crying d) I found him to cry I saw him to cry e) I found him cry I saw him cry f) I had him the car to be washed g) Keep the baby to be warm Keep the baby to be crying Keep the baby cry Keep the baby to cry Keep the baby being wrapped in a blanket > Hello, again I need your help. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Could you please tell me which sentences are syntactically > incorrect? Knowing whether a sentence is syntactically correct or incorrect is of very little use unless one is answering pointless questions on a linguistics exam. You need to know whether it's idiomatically correct or incorrect. Anyone who's studied linguistics knows Chomsky's famous syntactically/grammatically correct piece of nonsense "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously". Perfectly correct, perfectly meaningless, and inherently contradictory, > Or, please let me know any webpage that I can refer. "refer to" > That would be a great help. It would be if it existed. > I asked a few Canadians and Americans but they could not give me > an answer; they did not major [in] linguistics. I'm sure it was merely that they could not give you the answer you wanted. > a) I found him clever Correct. > I saw him clever Incorrect. "I saw him dead" would be okay, though. > b) I found him to be clever Correct. > I saw him to be clever Incorrect. > c) I found him to be crying Correct. > I saw him to be crying Incorrect. "I saw him crying" is fine, though. > d) I found him to cry > I saw him to cry Both incorrect. > e) I found him cry Incorrect. > I saw him cry Correct. > f) I had him the car to be washed Incorrect. "I had him wash the car", perhaps. > g) Keep the baby to be warm > Keep the baby to be crying > Keep the baby cry > Keep the baby to cry > Keep the baby being wrapped in a blanket All incorrect. "Keep the baby {crying / wrapped in a blanket}."  SignatureFranke: EFL teacher & medical editor Native speaker of American English; posting from Taiwan. Unmunged email: /at/easypeasy.com "Impatience is the mother of misery." . . . >> I asked a few Canadians and Americans but they could not give me >> an answer; they did not major [in] linguistics. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >> I saw him to be clever >Incorrect. I disagree with that one. To me it's fine, and means "I recognised that he was clever". Cheers - Ian > . > . [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > I disagree with that one. To me it's fine, and means "I recognised > that he was clever". I would have to change that to "I found him clever". While I agree that the "to be" structure is grammatically correct with "find/found", I usually find it stylistically abrasive and inferior. I never see it as correct with "see"; YMMVOC. I think that "I want him to be clever" is perfectly all right, by the way. SignatureFranke: EFL teacher & medical editor Native speaker of American English; posting from Taiwan. Unmunged email: /at/easypeasy.com "Impatience is the mother of misery." The care239@gmail.com entity posted thusly: >Hello, again I need your help. > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] >a) I found him clever > I saw him clever OK I found him clever I saw him as clever >b) I found him to be clever > I saw him to be clever OK I found him to be clever I saw him as being clever >c) I found him to be crying > I saw him to be crying I found him crying I saw him crying >d) I found him to cry > I saw him to cry Both incorrect. see (c) >e) I found him cry > I saw him cry I found him crying OK I saw him cry >f) I had him the car to be washed I had him wash the car >g) Keep the baby to be warm > Keep the baby to be crying > Keep the baby cry > Keep the baby to cry > Keep the baby being wrapped in a blanket All incorrect Keep the baby warm Keep the baby crying Keep the baby wrapped in a blanket > Hello, again I need your help. > [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > Keep the baby to cry > Keep the baby being wrapped in a blanket You have whole classes just devoted to syntax? As part of an English Language programme? Over how long a period? What does your tutor find to talk about? DC > You have whole classes just devoted to syntax? As part of an English > Language programme? Over how long a period? What does your tutor find > to talk about? > > DC It's not really a regular class; it's a twenty-four hour course (over two weeks), namely 'introductory' syntax. Being an EFL students myself, I found some part of the classes too reaching. As for the last question, I can only say it was about non-finite clauses. Anyway I really appreciate your replys. J. > > You have whole classes just devoted to syntax? As part of an English > > Language programme? Over how long a period? What does your tutor find [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > clauses. > Anyway I really appreciate your replys. Can I ask which country you're studying in, J? DC |
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