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Microctg Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Continuous Infinitive (to be+verb+ing)

Is there anyone to help me to remove my confusion about the following sentences? I've tried enough to understand these, nonetheless there is a little confusion in my mind. Such as:

1. My father wants me to be a doctor. = My father wants that I will be a doctor. (Am I right or wrong?)

2. I saw him to be working in the room. = I saw that he was working in the room. (Am I right or wrong?)
  

Top answer

Hello, Microctg—and welcome to English Forums. Thank you for registering as a member. Microctg 1.

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  • Hello, Microctg—and welcome to English Forums.
  • Thank you for registering as a member.
  • Microctg 1.
  • My father wants me to be a doctor.
  • = My father wants that I will be a doctor.
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3 Answers
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Hello, Microctg—and welcome to English Forums. Thank you for registering as a member.
Microctg1. My father wants me to be a doctor. = My father wants that I will be a doctor. (Am I right or wrong?)
Your meaning is right, but your paraphrase is wrong English. 'Want that...' is not a possible structure in standard English.
Microctg2. I saw
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Microctg2. I saw him to be working in the room.
Poor English. This is better:

He was observed to be working there. (The passive voice is rather formal and stilted.)
We observed him working there. (Active voice.)
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You're right, that was poor English. I think, in the sense of continuous infinitive, that sentence ought to have been `He was seen to be working in the room' instead of `I saw him to be working in the room.' As of now, `He was seen to be working in the room' is fairly formal expression. Conventionally we write this, I saw him working in the room.
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