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Taka Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Infinitive
I need someone to help my mother.
(It's 'someone' that is supposed to help my mother. The sense subject of 'help' is 'someone')
The boy needs something to drink.
(It's the boy that wants to drink 'something'. 'Something' is the object of 'drink')
She is looking for a place to live in.
(It's a place in which she is going to live. She is going to live in the place)
Now, about this:
Mike is a good person to be around.
Is it Mike that is around? Or are we around Mike?
(It's 'someone' that is supposed to help my mother. The sense subject of 'help' is 'someone')
The boy needs something to drink.
(It's the boy that wants to drink 'something'. 'Something' is the object of 'drink')
She is looking for a place to live in.
(It's a place in which she is going to live. She is going to live in the place)
Now, about this:
Mike is a good person to be around.
Is it Mike that is around? Or are we around Mike?
Top answer
We are around Mike. The other meaning is rendered as Mike is a good person to have around . CJ
- We are around Mike.
- The other meaning is rendered as Mike is a good person to have around .
- CJ
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14 Answers
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We are around Mike.
The other meaning is rendered as Mike is a good person to have around.
CJ
The other meaning is rendered as Mike is a good person to have around.
CJ
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Good. Just as I thought.
Jim, would you come up with any example in which the sense subject of 'to do' in 'X is a good thing to do' is the 'thing', not X?
Jim, would you come up with any example in which the sense subject of 'to do' in 'X is a good thing to do' is the 'thing', not X?
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I'm not following.
skating, for example, is the object (not subject) of to do in
Skating is a good thing to do. ~ To do skating is good. ~ It is good to do skating.
Things don't usually "do"; people "do". So I don't see how you're going to construct the sentence you're looking for.
Do you have any candidate sentences that illustrate the iss
skating, for example, is the object (not subject) of to do in
Skating is a good thing to do. ~ To do skating is good. ~ It is good to do skating.
Things don't usually "do"; people "do". So I don't see how you're going to construct the sentence you're looking for.
Do you have any candidate sentences that illustrate the iss
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It doesn't have to be 'do' and it doesn't have to be 'thing'. Any verb and any thing.
I'm just wondering if there is a case where the relation between 'Y and verb' in 'X is a good Y to verb' is not that of object-verb' but that of subject-verb'.
Would you come up any example?
I'm just wondering if there is a case where the relation between 'Y and verb' in 'X is a good Y to verb' is not that of object-verb' but that of subject-verb'.
Would you come up any example?
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Sorry, but nothing I've tried so far has that grammatical relationship. Have you found any that seem like good candidates?
CJ
CJ
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For example, related to this example:
I need someone to help my mother.
Does this one below sound wrong?
She is a good person to help my mother.
I need someone to help my mother.
Does this one below sound wrong?
She is a good person to help my mother.
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TakaShe is a good person to help my mother.It's odd. I hesitate to say 'grammatical' or 'ungrammatical'. This is what typically happens to us native speakers when we encounter a structure that we don't see much, if at all.
Like all the others in this category that I thought up, it's hiding the verb for which 'person' is the object.
She
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But without 'good' as this, it would work, right?
She is a person to help my mother.
She is a person to help my mother.
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"'I need someone to help my mother. (It's 'someone' that is supposed to help my mother. The sense subject of 'help' is 'someone')"
-->Not necessarily. It could also mean that you're who is supposed to help your mother, and you need someone to help you acheive that (that is, you need someone to help you with it; for example).
"The boy needs something to drink. (It's th
-->Not necessarily. It could also mean that you're who is supposed to help your mother, and you need someone to help you acheive that (that is, you need someone to help you with it; for example).
"The boy needs something to drink. (It's th
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Would you disagree, Jim?
As for Mike is a good person to be around, I think the more probable meaning is that Mike is the one who is to be around, not the one whom others are to be around.
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