Sinatra song

1. The speaker.

It would be nice if I could come home to you.
You would be --- 'nice (for me) to come home to'.

2. It's past subjunctive, actually, to express the irreality of the situation. This usage matches the "would" clauses in the same way as shown in "You would be so nice by the fire if the breeze sang a lullaby". I question the comma before "sang a lul

CJ, Thank you as usual.

Hurm...the comma would be something like a typo. OK, now I understand as for the second question. The subject indeed must be 'the breeze on high'.

As for the first question, I still haven't got how come "You would be so nice to come home to" means "It would be nice if I could come home to you." Could you explain the construct

It is completely different from "You would be so nice to come to my home".

Maybe "to come home to someone" is the idiom that is bothering you.
When two people live together, each can 'come home to someone', i.e., each has 'someone to come home to'. They don't have to come home to just an empty house or apartment. Single people have nobody 'to come home to'. (Strictly speaking th

CJ

Thank you for the kind reply. Every time I really appreciate your help (not helpS).

So "come home to someone" is almost equal to "live with someone together." I got it.
As the grammatical construction, the to-verb phrase is subject's complement and the doer of 'come' is 'me' thought it is not expressed overtly. That is, we can modify the sentence like this;

There's still a problem. The meaning is not "because you seem so nice". The adjective "nice" does not apply to the person. The "nice" applies to the entire situation. It would be nice to come home to you. = I believe that the "nice thing" is that, because we would be married, I would come home to you. = In my mind I see something nice. The nice thing is the vision of you at our home, waiti

CJ

^^Ehh^^^... we can't say "a nice person"?
"Nice" can't be an adjective to modify persons?

Moment, I'll consult it with my OED.... ummmm, yeah, you are right!
"A nice person" is a wrong expression!

So our saying "he's a nice guy" must be a Japanese English!
I got kinda shocked!

CJ

I'm sorry I've posted the messy message. I highly appreciate your instruction. The phrase "You'd be so nice to come home to" looks like a very simple English. But actually what is in it is very difficult for some English learners like me to get all. English is really difficult to learn.

paco

"nice" as an adjective certainly can apply to a person. This is its primary use. But it also can apply to an entire situation.

"Getting it" in this particular structure involves, or may involve, regrouping the elements of the sentences.

"The actress would be nice to meet" is not to be interpreted as "(the actress would be nice) (to meet)", but as "(the actress would be) (nic

Hello CJ again, Thank you for the detailed explanation.

I'll review what you've taught me. "The thief would be nice to catch" sounds best fit the review, so please allow me to use it.
#1 (IC)[ to catch the thief] would be nice.
Here PRO means some person(s) and IC means an infinitive clause. Also < > denotes an implicit phrase.
#2 (It) would be nice (IC)

I believe you've got it! Yes, the clause "(for PRO) to catch ..." does indeed serve as a noun in one sentence and as adjective compliment in another. Yes, it is a lot of brain work. (No "s"!) The construction is not the most frequently used in English, of course, probably because it does seem anomalous in some contexts.

"You are fun to play chess with" as an equivalent of "To play c