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Sdasd tont Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

only for his wife to protest...

Low morale has consequences. Like disgruntled workers everywhere, this country's police goof off. Patrol cars filled with somnolent officers are a common sight. Many police are also corrupt. Few respondents in the survey were willing to talk about this. But one detective described some of the gifts he took, only for his wife to protest: “His colleagues accepted far more! We wouldn’t have been so poor… if he had been truly corrupt.”

It seems complex for me to understand that "only for his wife to protest". How to take apart this sentence, is "only for" a phrase?
  

Top answer

sdasd tont It seems complex for me to understand that "only for his wife to protest". How to take apart this sentence, is "only for" a phrase? one detective described some of the gifts he took, but his wife protested..

— Mister Micawber

  • sdasd tont It seems complex for me to understand that "only for his wife to protest".
  • How to take apart this sentence, is "only for" a phrase?
  • one detective described some of the gifts he took, but his wife protested..
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5 Answers
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sdasd tontIt seems complex for me to understand that "only for his wife to protest". How to take apart this sentence, is "only for" a phrase?
...one detective described some of the gifts he took, but his wife protested...
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"X, only for Y" is a set pattern of words meaning that X happens, but then Y alters or contradicts the effect or interpretation of X in an unexpected or surprising way.
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GPY"X, only for Y" is a set pattern of words meaning that X happens, but then Y alters or contradicts the effect or interpretation of X in an unexpected or surprising way.
One more question: why there is an infinitive phrase "to protest" in this sentence?
Can't just say "...only for his wife protest..." ?
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sdasd tontOne more question: why there is an infinitive phrase "to protest" in this sentence?
This is a part of the set pattern. Sorry, I should probably have written the pattern in full as "X, only for Y to Z".
sdasd tontCan't just say "...only for his wife protest..." ?
No, this is not grammatical.
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