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Navitasan Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
Left me wondering
1) His letter left me wondering whether he had gone mad.
2) His letter left me to wonder whether he had gone mad.
Do '1' and '2' both work?
Do they mean the same?
To me '2' sounds incorrect. In this 'structure', to me 'leave' has to have a physical meaning. A leaves B somewhere.
3) They left him dying there.
4) They left him to die there.
Do '3' and '4' both work? Do they mean the same?
To me, '3' states the state he was in when he was left. '4' does not say what state he was in, but says what they thought would happen to him. They thought he would die there and basically wanted him to die there (not necessarily out of ill will, maybe there was no other alternative).
Gratefully,
Navi.
2) His letter left me to wonder whether he had gone mad.
Do '1' and '2' both work?
Do they mean the same?
To me '2' sounds incorrect. In this 'structure', to me 'leave' has to have a physical meaning. A leaves B somewhere.
3) They left him dying there.
4) They left him to die there.
Do '3' and '4' both work? Do they mean the same?
To me, '3' states the state he was in when he was left. '4' does not say what state he was in, but says what they thought would happen to him. They thought he would die there and basically wanted him to die there (not necessarily out of ill will, maybe there was no other alternative).
Gratefully,
Navi.
Top answer
navitasan Do '1' and '2' both work? Yes. navitasan Do they mean the same?
- navitasan Do '1' and '2' both work?
- Yes.
- navitasan Do they mean the same?
- Yes.
- navitasan To me '2' sounds incorrect.
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1 Answers
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navitasanDo '1' and '2' both work?Yes.
navitasanDo they mean the same?Yes.
navitasanTo me '2' sounds incorrect.It is the less common choice, certainly. 'Left wondering' is the usual.
navitasanDo '3' and '4' both work?Yes.
navitasan
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