Is this grammatically correct?

Question

I've got a journey to go on business in Rome next week. or should it be:I've got a journey to do business in Rome next week.

Yankee · Accepted Answer

Neither sentence sounds terribly natural to me, Anon. How about one of these instead:

I have to go/travel to Rome on business next week.
I'll be in Rome on business next week.

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks Yankee. The original sentence is

I've got to go on a business journey to Rome next weekend.

journey has to be changed to trip, right? But my friend insisted that this sentence is right:

I've got a journey to go on business in Rome next week.

But it sounds so awkward and not right. She insisted that journey is okay to use. I said, maybe you could say:

I took a journey to do some business in Rome next week. ---> Is this right?

Thanks!

CalifJim · Answer

You have to go on a journey. And you're going on the journey on business. You need two on's if you do it that way.

I've got a journey to go on on business in Rome next week.

But that's a bit awkward, and I think Amy's suggestions are much better.

CJ

Yankee · Answer

AnonymousThanks Yankee. The original sentence is

I've got to go on a business journey to Rome next weekend.

journey has to be changed to trip, right? But my friend insisted that this sentence is right:

I've got a journey to go on business in Rome next week.

I agree with CJ that you would need to use the word 'on' twice in your friend's version of the sentence in order to make it grammatically correct. But grammatically correct and natural are sometimes worlds apart. Your friend's sentence is neither grammatically correct nor natural.

In American English, it is not normal to say "business journey". It is normal to say "business trip". I think this is also true in British English.

"I've got to go on a business trip to Rome next weekend" is OK.

"I've got to" = "I have to" = "I must"
All of these expressions are used with an infinitive (i.e. I've got to go). They do not refer to the finished past. They refer to a necessity to do something now and/or in the future.

"I've got" = "I have" = "I possess"
Your friend changed "I've got to" to "I've got". So your friend also removed the idea of necessity from the original sentence.

But it sounds so awkward and not right. She insisted that journey is okay to use. I said, maybe you could say:

I took a journey to do some business in Rome next week. ---> Is this right?

No, the word 'took' is past tense and that doesn't make sense with 'next week'.
Typical collocations are:
- take a trip
- go on a trip
- go on a business trip

You could say this:
"Next week I'm taking a trip to Rome to do some business."
(I doubt I would ever use the word journey in such a sentence.)

CalifJim · Answer

On the other hand, there's
I took a trip (last week) to do business in Rome next week
(next week being an adverb for do business, not an adverb for took a trip).

In that case, I think the combination of took with next week is possible, since the two are no longer in the same constituent of the sentence.

CJ

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