"MAKE SURE HE EAT EVERYTHING." IS THAT CORRECT?

Question

or is it "MAKE SURE HE EATS EVERYTHING." correct?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Please don't post in CAPITALS!

You want 'eats'.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you. Ok, 'eats' is the present tense for the third person singular. But, in the sentence "make sure he eat everything" aren't you using 'eat' in a conditional or sort of imperative (??) tense? I'm confused.

For example, I would translate "make sure he eat everything" into Spanish as "Asegurate que el COMA todo." While, "he eats everything" would be translated as "El COME todo."

ps: I heard actor Jeremy Irons use that expresion in a movie. That's what brought this whole thing about.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousBut, in the sentence "make sure he eat everything" aren't you using 'eat' in a conditional or sort of imperative (??) tense?

A conditional or sort of imperative tense? No. Such a tense does not exist.

AnonymousI'm confused.

I'm doubtful about that.

AnonymousI would translate "make sure he eat everything" into Spanish as "Asegurate que el COMA todo."

So would I if I ever encountered it, but it's wrong, so that's not likely In any case, not every use of the subjunctive in Spanish corresponds to a subjunctive in English.

I hope you don't translate "Cuando llegue" as "When he arrive", because that's another case where there is a difference between the two languages, and you'll need "arrives" in English.

AnonymousI heard actor Jeremy Irons use that expresion in a movie. That's what brought this whole thing about.

Are you sure that's what you heard? Was Mr. Irons playing a role that required the use of dialect? Maybe it was "ett everything" or something similar. That's a dialectal usage for "ate everything" (past tense).

CJ

"MAKE SURE HE EAT EVERYTHING." IS THAT CORRECT?

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