Is "To Infinitive" Omitted?
They didn't want people staring at them as they sat on the lawn, so they put up high walls.
I want my car this colour.
..And remember, we want him alive.
May I take it that
They didn't want people to be staring at them as they sat on the lawn, so they put up high walls.
I want my car to be this colour.
..And remember, we want him to be alive.
If so, could it be that those omissions are optional?
Top answer
It is as though "to be" has been omitted in the first two, but I am reluctant to say that that is what is happening. English is not so cut and dried. "People staring" has a right to exist without "to be", and "want" seems to have the "to be" built in, especially in the last one.
- It is as though "to be" has been omitted in the first two, but I am reluctant to say that that is what is happening.
- English is not so cut and dried.
- "People staring" has a right to exist without "to be", and "want" seems to have the "to be" built in, especially in the last one.
- Wanted posters say "wanted dead or alive".
- " anonymous If so, could it be that those omissions are optional?
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It is as though "to be" has been omitted in the first two, but I am reluctant to say that that is what is happening. English is not so cut and dried. "People staring" has a right to exist without "to be", and "want" seems to have the "to be" built in, especially in the last one. Wanted posters say "wanted dead or alive". Mick Jagger wrote "I see a red door, and I want it painted black."
0anonymousThey didn't want people staring at them as they sat on the lawn, so they put up high walls.
That is the better version.
anonymousI want my car to be this colour.
That is the better version.
anonymous..And remember, we want him alive.
The other version has a differ
0
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