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Johner Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

"To" as "as"

Hi,

I take 'Seyda' to be someone's name.

The use of infinitive in this sentence is a little confusing to me. I'd say: I take "Seyda" as somenone's name. Is "to be" also used instead of "as" ? Really?

Sorry I've been stuck in this "to" thing, it makes me frustrated. It's everywhere and each usage is different from the previous one. Could you give some examples?

Many thanks..
  

Top answer

Try to back off the emoticons a little bit-- they are distracting, not helpful or amusing. Try to use English instead. 'Take to be' is a common (perhaps idiomatic) structure similar in meaning to 'take as'.

— Mister Micawber

  • Try to back off the emoticons a little bit-- they are distracting, not helpful or amusing.
  • Try to use English instead.
  • 'Take to be' is a common (perhaps idiomatic) structure similar in meaning to 'take as'.
  • It also exists with 'understand', 'recognize' and similar verbs.
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8 Answers
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Try to back off the emoticons a little bit-- they are distracting, not helpful or amusing. Try to use English instead.

'Take to be' is a common (perhaps idiomatic) structure similar in meaning to 'take as'. It also exists with 'understand', 'recognize' and similar verbs.
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Chin Wo Sing

"I take 'Chin' to be the surname." - (I don't know for sure, but I think that's how the Chinese write their names, with the surname first. I'll assume I'm right.)

'take' here means: accept as valid, correct, true

"I take 'Chin' as being the surname." : ditto meaning.

"All girls do when they marry: they take their hus
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Hi Sir Terry!
Terryxpress"All girls do when they marry: they take their husband's name as their surname."
In South Korea they don't.
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Hi,

Mr. Micawber, you must have remembered this question from yesterday or maybe the day before. It was under an unrelated topic so I decided to create a new thread. Thanks for the response.
Mister MicawberTry to back off the emoticons a little bit-- they are distracting, not helpful or amusing.
Do you really think so? I think the emoticons colour up t
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Do you really think so? I think the emoticons colour up the post and they articulate the emotions of the author.
They are fine at a Chat site or in a games or other social forum, John. In a forum dedicated to study of the English language, they are counter-productive.

Mr. Micawber, you must have remembered this question from yesterday or maybe the day bef
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Happy to help - ask away, anytime.

I also like icons - to add a bit of 'how I'm feeling/the emotional basis for my saying this' to bland text.
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... and thus the English remains bland. Can't you use use verbs and adjectives to express the feelings, Terry-- and maybe teach the student a word or two in the process?
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johnerI take 'Seyda' to be someone's name.

The use of infinitive in this sentence is a little confusing to me. I'd say: I take "Seyda" as somenone's name. Is "to be" also used instead of "as" ?
Yes. "to be" is used there. In fact, I believe it's preferred to "as".

Many verbs allow a construction with two nou
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