She was very hard to please her husband?

Question

a) it was very hard for her to please her husband. (ok)
b) Her husband was very hard for her to please. (ok)
c) She was very hard to please her husband. (wrong)

I understand that the object of a to-infinitive clause
can be moved to the subject position of the main clause,
while the subject of a to-infinitive clause can't be.

Is there any reason for this?
Grammars don't help me out with this.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

AnonymousIs there any reason for this?

I can't see why it is not simply the nature of the language: surely there are things you can and cannot say in Korean.

Anonymous · Answer

Mister MicawberI can't see why it is not simply the nature of the language

Yes, Mister Micawber. I'm on your side, too:
I really think it's just the way English works.
If it's a correct term,
it might well be called an idiomatic usage or something like that,
because you think those sentences are natural except for c) sentence.

But sometimes students ask me why, why and why, you know,
so I try to expain the answers with the help of dictionaries and grammars,
but about this I've not found any reasonable explanations.

Just saying that's just the way English works doesn't satisfy them.
So I thought I might be getting some useful tips.

If this question has troubled you, I'm sorry.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Anonymousc) She was very hard to please her husband. (wrong)

a) it was very hard for her to please her husband. (ok)
b) Her husband was very hard for her to please. (ok)
c) She was very hard to please her husband. (wrong)

hard = difficult
It is wrong because you do not want to say "she" was the difficult one, but pleasing her husband was the difficulty.

( c) can be changed to a different verb:
c) She worked / tried very hard to please her husband. (ok)

or ( c) can be changed to a reflexive:
c) She was very hard to please. ("hard to please" describes the subject)

Grammarfreak · Answer

a) it was very hard for her to please her husband. (ok)
b) Her husband was very hard for her to please. (ok)
c) She was very hard to please her husband. (wrong)

This is my take. Coming from an ESL background 30 years ago, this is my understanding as to why sometimes learners post awkward questions, and pragmatically; not every question can be answered satisfactorily because there are instances in practical English where a sentence is grammatical but it may sound quite odd idiomatically, just as the ones posted in this thread. I agree with AlpheccaStar. In real everyday conversation, to express the core meaning of the above sentences naturally, I'd suggest a couple of more natural variances for reference:
1) She feels difficult / impossible to please her husband. - This means, no matter what she tries to do for him, her husband is never satisfied.
2) She said, her husband is hard to please. This means, She has complained to her friend that her husband is a difficult person to please no matter how she tries..
3) She can never do enough to make him feel satisfied. This has the same core meanign as # 1

Mister Micawber · Answer

grammarfreak1) She feels difficult / impossible to please her husband. - This means, no matter what she tries to do for him, her husband is never satisfied

This is possible?!

AlpheccaStars · Answer

grammarfreak1) She feels difficult / impossible to please her husband.

I can feel that a task or job or winning the lottery is impossible, but I, myself can't imagine having the feeling of "impossible".

She was very hard to please her husband?

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