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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Have+object+complement
Hi.
I'm teaching English in a middle school,
and recently we have been dealing with the use of the language form 'Have+object+complement'
as in the example sentence "He had somebody else solve the problem".
According to traditional grammar, if the object and the complement have the passive relation, the complement is in the base form of the verb, but I'm also very familiar with the use of to-infinive form instead of the base form as in
-He had somebody else to solve the problem.
I've been trying to find more examples and references but I couldn't find any among prescriptive grammar rules.
(Does it mean this is one of those descriptive grammar on its way to be accepted by the authority?)
I would appreciate your comment regarding the matter- (help us out here-!)
cheers! :^)
I'm teaching English in a middle school,
and recently we have been dealing with the use of the language form 'Have+object+complement'
as in the example sentence "He had somebody else solve the problem".
According to traditional grammar, if the object and the complement have the passive relation, the complement is in the base form of the verb, but I'm also very familiar with the use of to-infinive form instead of the base form as in
-He had somebody else to solve the problem.
I've been trying to find more examples and references but I couldn't find any among prescriptive grammar rules.
(Does it mean this is one of those descriptive grammar on its way to be accepted by the authority?)
I would appreciate your comment regarding the matter- (help us out here-!)
cheers! :^)
Top answer
-- This does not sound like acceptable English to me.
- -- This does not sound like acceptable English to me.
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7 Answers
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He had somebody else to solve the problem.-- This does not sound like acceptable English to me.
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Here one could use the basic rules for the Sequence of Tenses:
When the verb in the Main Clause is in some of the Past Tenses, for the Subordinate Clause use the Past Tense or the Past Continuous Tense in case of a simultaneous action.
He had somebody else who solved the problem.
He had somebody else who
When the verb in the Main Clause is in some of the Past Tenses, for the Subordinate Clause use the Past Tense or the Past Continuous Tense in case of a simultaneous action.
He had somebody else who solved the problem.
He had somebody else who
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I agree with MrM. However, in slightly different contexts a participle is possible: With his various requests, he had the prime minister running around in the building.
CB
CB
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The use of 'to' in such cases is context dependent. For example:
We had friends to stay over the weekend.
We had friends to stay over the weekend.
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The rule of thumb could be stated as follows:
1) Use 'to' mainly with intransitive verbs.
2) Omit 'to' mainly for transitive verbs.
1) Use 'to' mainly with intransitive verbs.
2) Omit 'to' mainly for transitive verbs.
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AnonymousThe use of 'to' in such cases is context dependent. For example:Right you are. I didn't think of this context. The meaning is completely different from what I had in mind with the structure to have someone do something: I had him fix
We had friends to stay over the weekend.
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Anonymous"He had somebody else solve the problem".
... (vs) ...
-He had somebody else to solve the problem.The first is a causative construction; the second is not. The meanings are different.
1. He arranged for somebody else to solve the problem.
2. He had somebody else [ready / available] to solve the problem.
Compare:
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