Noun/adjective + to infinitive patterns

Question

1.It was a mistake to send her home on her own.

2.It was my fault to leave her alone at the park.

3.It was a misfortune to get caught cheating on her.

4.It was unfortunate to meet her there.

5.It was unlucky to be your friend.

I'm not sure whether these sentences I made are grammatically correct.

Q1) Are they grammatically correct?

Q2) Do 1,2,3,4,5 mean the same thing as 6,7,8,9,10?

6.It was a mistake that I sent her home on her own.

7.It was my fault that I left her alone at the park.

8.It was a misfortune that I got caught cheating on her.

9.It was unfortunate that I met her there.

10.It was unlucky that I became your friend.

Q3) I heard from a native speaker that sentence 2 sounds off because "my fault" doesn't fit well with "to infinitive". Do you all agree on this?

(I've already asked this question on another site, but I want to hear opinions from users on this site as well)

BillJ · Accepted Answer

I don't think you should expect us to have our answers played off against the one(s) you got on another site.

Anonymous · Answer

1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are okay, all grammatical. 5 is a little unusual. In what situation would you say this? I'm a native English speaker in the US, and I'm having a hard time coming up with an example of this usage.

6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 mean the same thing as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively.

2 (and 7) are okay. It is 5 (and 10) that are unusual and difficult use in an example.

CalifJim · Answer

fire1I've already asked this question on another site

Can you provide a link?

There's no point in repeating what they said there if we agree with it.

CJ

CalifJim · Answer

fire1Q1) Are they grammatically correct?

Yes. I'd say the grammar is correct even though the usage isn't always as idiomatic as it could be. There are probably thousands of sentences that are grammatical without being very natural.

fire1Q2) Do 1,2,3,4,5 mean the same thing as 6,7,8,9,10?

Basically, yes. There is no need to go into any subtle details even if I find them. I'll give you some ideas below.

fire1Q3) I heard from a native speaker that sentence 2 sounds off because "my fault" doesn't fit well with "to infinitive". Do you all agree on this?

I agree. Of the first five, only the first sounds completely natural to my ear. It was a mistake to ... is a typical pattern in English.

Here's how I think a native would phrase the others:

2. It was my fault that she was left alone at the park.
3. Unfortunately, [I / he] got caught cheating on her.
4. Unfortunately, I met her there. / ..., I decided to meet her there.
5. ??? Not sure of the desired meaning. Maybe
What an unlucky day it was when I made friends with you!

CJ

Noun/adjective + to infinitive patterns

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