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Neo Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

How to use "to"

Hello,
I would like to ask one quick question.

1. The boss is not a man to be trifled with.
2. The boss is not a man to trifle with.

Is there a semantic difference between the two?
Is one of them grammatically wrong?

Thanks,
  

Top answer

Yipes! They seem to mean the same to me. We can expand to: 1.

— Mister Micawber

  • Yipes!
  • They seem to mean the same to me.
  • We can expand to: 1.
  • The boss is not a man to be trifled with by anyone.
  • 2.
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3 Answers
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Yipes! They seem to mean the same to me.

We can expand to:

1. The boss is not a man to be trifled with by anyone.
2. The boss is not a man for anyone to trifle with.

Nope, they seem to be just a passive/active pair carrying the same meaning. I don't feel any pragmatic difference myself.
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Mister Micawber, Thanks for the clear pointer.
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In English we use the active infinitive with passive meaning in many cases.

I've cleaned up everything. There are no more dishes to wash. (dishes to be washed)

I'm hungry. Is there anything left to eat? (left to be eaten)

This occasionally leads to ambiguity when either the active or the passive interpretation is possible, especially without context as a guide.
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