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JungKim Posted 9 years ago
Grammar

Hope for someone to do something

From a Guardian article titled "Inauguration protests: your guide to where you can make your voice heard":

Lawyers concerned about how Trump's policies might violate the constitution are demonstrating in the most lawyerly way possible: by holding a conference in DC over inauguration weekend.

"We are a very organized and methodical bunch. What else would you expect?" said Traci Feit Love, founder of Lawyers for Good Government, an organization that started as a Facebook group the day after the election.

Feit Love initially hoped for 200 lawyers to join the group, mostly members of her 2014 Harvard Law class.
The last sentence has the structure of "hope for someone to do something", which I think means "hoped that 200 lawyers join the group."
Is this structure idiomatic or even grammatical?

  

Top answer

JungKim Is this structure idiomatic or even grammatical? Yes. A noun phrase can follow "hope for".

— AlpheccaStars

  • JungKim Is this structure idiomatic or even grammatical?
  • Yes.
  • A noun phrase can follow "hope for".
  • We hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.
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6 Answers
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JungKimIs this structure idiomatic or even grammatical?
Yes. A noun phrase can follow "hope for".
We hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.
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AlpheccaStarsYes. A noun phrase can follow "hope for".We hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.
I really am familiar with "hope for" being followed only by a noun phrase (the best / the worst), as in your examples.
But the structure in question is a bit different, I think, in that "hope for" isn't just followed by the noun phrase (2
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JungKimbut is also subsequently followed by a to-infinitive clause (to join the group)
The infinitive clause complements (or modifies) lawyers. It is fine.
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AlpheccaStarsThe infinitive clause complements (or modifies) lawyers. It is fine.
Thanks.
But I still wonder if there's any reason that it's not written like this.
Feit Love initially hoped that 200 lawyers would join the group, mostly members of her 2014 Harvard Law class.
Because I think this is the much more frequently used form.
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I also think that the "for" should be removed.
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Feit Love initially hoped for 200 lawyers to join the group, mostly members of her 2014 Harvard Law class.
Please ignore the earlier post; "for" shouldn't be removed.
Feit Love initially hoped 200 lawyers would join the group, mostly members of her 2014 Harvard Law class.
If "for" were removed, the sentence should be phrased as above.
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