Are those sentences weird?

Question

Which one of the following sentences is correct?
1. Did you have an instructor sit beside you ?
2. Did you have an instructor sat beside you yesterday?

Here are some comments:

The thread poster had wrongly assumed that sit was a verb and that was why he posted the question.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

#1 is correct.  'Have' is the finite coercive verb governing the infinitive 'sit'.

Anonymous · Answer

As far as I know #1 is technically correct, but I think both sentences are irrational, because normally we can't give a command to an instructor to sit next with me or something. Am I correct?

Clive · Answer

Hi,

1. Did you have an instructor sit beside you http://hk.knowledge.yahoo.com/question/article?qid=6911060200122?

This seems more to me like this meaning of 'have':

- be subjected to a specified state or event

eg I had someone steal my car yesterday.

eg I had someone drop a piano on my head yesterday.

With this meaning, the idea is that it was the instructor who decided to sit there. The student did not ask the instuctor to sit there.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Hi Clive,

If the student didn't ask an instructor to come, howcome an instructor would sit there with the student? I'm so confused with this sentence.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Maybe the instructor sat beside the student for a few moments to help him or her with something. That doesn't sound like an unusual thing to do.

Clive

Are those sentences weird?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions