I was proud to do it / doing it

Question

I'd like to know which of the following sentences are grammatically correct

“I won’t be able to finish my work by tomorrow (in time for the meeting)”

To say how I feel now…

It is/has been a shame/ a mistake/an error/a fault/a wrong/ a pride for me not to keep my word = It is/has been a shame/ a mistake/an error/a fault/a wrong/ a pride for me the fact that I won’t keep my word.

It is/has been shameful/mistaken/erroneous/faulty/wrong/ for me not to keep my word = It is/has been shameful/mistaken/erroneous/faulty/wrong for me the fact that I won’t keep my word.

I am/have been ashamed/mistaken/faulty/wrong/ proud not to keep my word = I am/have been ashamed/mistaken/faulty/wrong/ proud for the fact that / because I won’t keep my word.

Can we say also:

I’m ashamed of not keeping my word

meaning:

I’m ashamed for the fact that I won’t keep my word.

To say, the day after the meeting, how I felt the day before the meeting…

It was a shame/ a mistake/an error/a fault/a wrong/ a pride for me not to keep my word = It was a shame/ a mistake/an error/a fault/a wrong/ a pride for me the fact that I wouldn’t keep my word.

It was shameful/mistaken/erroneous/faulty/wrong for me not to keep my word = It was shameful/mistaken/erroneous/faulty/wrong for me the fact that I wouldn’t keep my word.

I was ashamed/mistaken/faulty/wrong/ proud not to keep my word =I was ashamed/mistaken/faulty/wrong/ proud for the fact that / because I wouldn’t keep my word.

Can we say also:

I was ashamed of not keeping my word / of not having kept my word

meaning:

I was ashamed for the fact that I wouldn’t keep my word.

Instead we can never say:

It was shame/ a mistake/an error/a fault/a wrong/ a pride (for me) not keeping my word.

I’m ashamed/proud (not) keeping my word.

“Yesterday I caused an accident.”

To say how I felt yesterday… or To tell s.o. (now) about the accident…

It was/had been a shame/ a mistake/an error/a fault/a wrong/ a pride for me to cause the accident = It was/had been a shame/ a mistake/an error/a fault/a wrong/ a pride for me the fact that I had caused the accident.

It was/had been shameful/mistaken/erroneous/faulty/wrong for me to cause the accident = It was shameful/mistaken/erroneous/faulty/wrong/ a pride for me the fact that I had caused the accident.

I was/had been ashamed/mistaken/faulty/wrong/ proud not to keep my word = I was/had been ashamed/mistaken/faulty/wrong/ proud for the fact that / because I had caused the accident.

Can we say also:

I was ashamed of causing the accident.

meaning:

I was ashamed for the fact that I had caused the accident.

Nona the brit · Accepted Answer

I'd just say 'I'm sorry that....' or 'I apologise for...'.

Out of all your options you could also use ashamed.

To say 'it was a shame' somehow shifts the blame from yourself, it is as if you are saying it was something/someone elses fault that you did not keep your word. So not a good idea.

An error/fault/wrong are not appropriate. Although you could say 'It was my fault'.

Pride/proud - no no no no no. You'll get yourself in tons of trouble if you use this. This is saying that you are very very pleased that you did not keep your word.! Look up pride in your dictionary. You could say that you are NOT proud that you didn't keep your word.

Matar0 · Answer

My question was if it is correct or not to use the infinitive. It  will depend on the specific sentence if i use "pride, proud, or shame,ashamed", i have put them altogether just because i'd like to know sthg more about this grammar structure because usually the infinitive is used for an action which is posterior in confront of the tense of the verb of the principal clause. Isn't it strange? May be we should  use the gerund instead, (DO WE???)

Goodman · Answer

Matar0My question was if it is correct or not to use the infinitive. It will depend on the specific sentence if i use "pride, proud, or shame,ashamed", i have put them altogether just because i'd like to know sthg more about this grammar structure because usually the infinitive is used for an action which is posterior in confront of the tense of the verb of the principal clause. Isn't it strange? May be we should use the gerund instead, (DO WE???)

Matar,

There are really no set rules concerning your questions. Infinitive or gerund, it really depends on how you compose your thought into sentences. I guess the difficult part is acquiring the ability to recognize what sounds and looks right. Perhaps, the following examples can offer your some hints.

ashamed- He should be ashamed of himself [ for having stolen ] / [to have stolen ] money from his grandmom.

Shame – it’s a shame to steal from your own grandmom.

Shameful – He didn’t feel a bit shameful [to steal] / [for stealing ] from his own grandmom

Pride – It hurt his pride to ask for help.

Proud – We are proud of having / [to have ] you as a guest of honor.

Matar0 · Answer

Thank you very much for your message.

Yet, I'd like to know if we can use an infinitive to refer to an action which is anterior with respect to the tense of the principal clause

It was a mistake to steal that car

Could it be understood: It was a mistake that I had stealed that car

Or only: It was a mistake the action of stealing that car, so I didn't. ???

Thx in advance

CalifJim · Answer

It was a mistake to steal that car.
Could it be understood: It was a mistake that I had ~~stealed~~ stolen that car

Yes. That is the first thing that comes to mind as the meaning of the sentence.

CJ

Goodman · Answer

I am sorry but I am not exactly sure of your questions. But by guessing your first question, my answer is yes.

Yet, I'd like to know if we can use an infinitive to refer to an action which is anterior with respect to the tense of the principal clause

I would say this. When we make a statement, we must consider the implied meaning and the literal meaning. If you say “it was a mistake to steal that car”, my perception is:

1) You only thought it was a mistake because that car you tried to steal had caused you troubles.

2) or something had gone wrong.

3) You were caught by the police.

From the sentence, I didn’t see any context in which indicates that you had recognized it was wrong to steal. Had you said “it was wrong to steal”, the meaning would have been very clear to the readers.

My point is, when we compose a thought into a sentence, we must consider the weigh and significance of every word.

I hope I answered you questions.

Matar0 · Answer

Thank you all for your interventions. Yet, I still have doubts. I'll try now to focus on the nut of question: Tell me if I'm correct or not:

It is a shame to do it = It is a shame that you will do it

It is a shame to have done it = It is a shame that you did it.

It is a shame doing it yesterday = It is a shame that you did it yesterday

It is a shame having done it (in general with no specific time) = It is a shame that you did it

It was a shame to do it = It was a shame that/if you would do it

It was a shame to have done it = It was a shame that you had done it (the day before).

It was a shame doing it the day before = It is a shame that you had done it the day before

It was a shame having done it (in general with no specific time) = It was a shame that you had done it

If they were not correct, Please give me a full explanation about the difference of usage of "to do", "doing", "to have done","having done".

Thanks Very Very much

I was proud to do it / doing it

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