To be fair, you are fooling yourself
If you expect the world to be fair with you because you are fair, you’re fooling yourself. That’s like expecting the lion not to eat you because you didn’t eat him.
I saw this quote on Facebook.
Please explain to me the grammatical form and function of "to be" and the use of present progressive in "you are fooling yourself" and not present simple- you fool yourself ?
Top answer
"to be" is an infinitive, a part of the set pattern "expect X to Y". "you fool yourself" is not wrong. "you’re fooling yourself" is a somewhat more usual way of expressing the desired sense of ongoing present behaviour.
- "to be" is an infinitive, a part of the set pattern "expect X to Y".
- "you fool yourself" is not wrong.
- "you’re fooling yourself" is a somewhat more usual way of expressing the desired sense of ongoing present behaviour.
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"to be" is an infinitive, a part of the set pattern "expect X to Y".
"you fool yourself" is not wrong. "you’re fooling yourself" is a somewhat more usual way of expressing the desired sense of ongoing present behaviour.
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