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Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009Careless caused him to fail the exam.
Hi all, Consider the following tree sentences: Careless caused him to fail the exam. Careless caused him fail the exam. Careless caused him failing the exam. Which of them are correct? What's the differences among the meaning of them? Thanks in advance.  Signature.: Hongyi Zhao [ hongyi.zhao AT gmail.com ] Free as in Freedom :. >Hi all, > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >Which of them are correct? What's the differences among the meaning >of them? None of them are correct. The second and third constructions are impossible in English. The first sentence could easily be corrected to: Carelessness caused him to fail the exam. SignatureJames Hongyi Zhao skrev: > Consider the following tree sentences: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Which of them are correct? None of them. This is what you need: Carelessness caused him to fail the exam. > What's the differences among the meaning > of them? They all convey the same basic meaning: he failed the exam because he was careless. The trouble is not with the meaning but with the form. SignatureJens Brix Christiansen > Hi all, > > Consider the following tree sentences: Would that be left-branching or right-branching? > Careless caused him to fail the exam. > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Thanks in advance. >> Hi all, >> >> Consider the following tree sentences: > >Would that be left-branching or right-branching? <smile> "Tree" is a pronunciation of "three" used by some Irish people. >> Careless caused him to fail the exam. >> >> Careless caused him fail the exam. If we change that to "Carelessness" then that is the way some Irish would word the sentence because sometimes "to" is omitted from the infinitive form: Carelessness caused him fail the exam. However, I don't know whether the tree-for-three speakers are also to-omitters. >> Careless caused him failing the exam. >> >> Which of them are correct? What's the differences among the meaning >> of them? >> >> Thanks in advance. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > Careless caused him to fail the exam. > Careless caused him fail the exam > Careless caused him failing the exam. > Which of them are correct? Two common errors: 1. All three model sentences are ungrammatical. The subject of any main verb (CAUSED) must be a noun: CARELESS is an adjective. 2. Subjects and verbs should agree in number: WHICH is singular but ARE is plural. Both errors are frequent signs of carelessness (noun.) SignatureDon Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) >> Careless caused him to fail the exam. >> Careless caused him fail the exam [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > 2. Subjects and verbs should agree in number: > WHICH is singular but ARE is plural. Agree on (1) but not on (2). The implication for "Which are correct" is that more than one may be. SignatureEvan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------ HP Laboratories |Pardon him, Theodotus. He is a 1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |barbarian and thinks that the Palo Alto, CA 94304 |customs of his tribe and island are |the laws of nature. kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com | (650)857-7572 | George Bernard Shaw http://www.kirshenbaum.net/ |
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