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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Force with stative verbs
Hello.
I would like to ask you a question.
Some grammarian say that force cannot be used with stative verbs such as like, believe, know and live as in (1).
(1)
a. × This forced her to like him better than before.
b. × John forced Harry to know the answer.
But I found a sentence in which force are used with live.
Do you think that this sentence is acceptable? Or is this sentence awkward?
(2)
To learn more, CAIR spoke to former internees and organized a trip to the Manzanar National Historic Site. The U.S. government forced 11,070 Japanese-Americans to live in an internment camp at Manzanar during the war, fearing they might collaborate with the Japanese military.
Thank you.
I would like to ask you a question.
Some grammarian say that force cannot be used with stative verbs such as like, believe, know and live as in (1).
(1)
a. × This forced her to like him better than before.
b. × John forced Harry to know the answer.
But I found a sentence in which force are used with live.
Do you think that this sentence is acceptable? Or is this sentence awkward?
(2)
To learn more, CAIR spoke to former internees and organized a trip to the Manzanar National Historic Site. The U.S. government forced 11,070 Japanese-Americans to live in an internment camp at Manzanar during the war, fearing they might collaborate with the Japanese military.
Thank you.
Top answer
In my opinion, the expression " to force someone/something to live in/under specified conditions" is perfectly natural. I even hear it used when a choice is possible: The parents were forced to live in poverty in order to send their children to college. There are obviously varying degrees of force.
- In my opinion, the expression " to force someone/something to live in/under specified conditions" is perfectly natural.
- I even hear it used when a choice is possible: The parents were forced to live in poverty in order to send their children to college.
- There are obviously varying degrees of force.
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22 Answers
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In my opinion, the expression "to force someone/something to live in/under specified conditions" is perfectly natural.
I even hear it used when a choice is possible:
The parents were forced to live in poverty in order to send their children to college.
There are obviously varying degrees of force.
I even hear it used when a choice is possible:
The parents were forced to live in poverty in order to send their children to college.
There are obviously varying degrees of force.
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There is no grammatical reason for this, but there are semantic reasons for it. How could you compel someone to like, know, or believe something?
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Grammar GeekHow could you compel someone to like, know, or believe something?I completely agree on these three. [Y]
- A.
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AnonymousSome grammarians say that force cannot be used with stative verbs such as like, believe, know and live.In order to understand the true meaning of such a statement, you need to add another condition. force, and other verbs as well, cannot be used with certain other verbs when these ve
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CalifJimDon't talk nonsenseIt seems that any rule can be made to be correct if you add enough "fine print" (footnotes).
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Avangiif you add enough "fine print" (footnotes).I take this as "if you have enough context"!
It's amazing how many "rules" are quoted on this forum that seem wrong in isolation but make perfect sense within the particular lesson in the particular chapter of the particular grammar book they were taken from.
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CalifJimif you have enough contextI'd like to be able to say "You took the words right out of my mouth."
(I didn't intend "fine print" as a pejorative. - Well, maybe a little.)
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Thank you for your comments.
I understand that force cannot be used with like and believe.
But how about the sentences in (3)?
In this case, your explanation does not explain why the sentences are correct.
(3)
a. She had two boyfriends during that time that she said she forced herself to like. I have dated several girl
I understand that force cannot be used with like and believe.
But how about the sentences in (3)?
In this case, your explanation does not explain why the sentences are correct.
(3)
a. She had two boyfriends during that time that she said she forced herself to like. I have dated several girl
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I don't feel that force is being used literally in either of those sentences.
"force", in the intended sense, would have to be imposed by one person upon another, so 'to force oneself to do something' must be considered a different concept, namely, to try very hard.
Thus,
She had two boyfriends during that time that she said she forced herself to
"force", in the intended sense, would have to be imposed by one person upon another, so 'to force oneself to do something' must be considered a different concept, namely, to try very hard.
Thus,
She had two boyfriends during that time that she said she forced herself to
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Hi
Your question made me think of 1984, George Orwell
As you may know, this is a story of a man who tries to live his life independently and not bow down to the state ("The Big Brother")
Unfortunately, he does not succeed. The horror of the book is that he is forced to believe
The final sentences are..
"But it was alright, everything was alright, the s
Your question made me think of 1984, George Orwell
As you may know, this is a story of a man who tries to live his life independently and not bow down to the state ("The Big Brother")
Unfortunately, he does not succeed. The horror of the book is that he is forced to believe
The final sentences are..
"But it was alright, everything was alright, the s
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