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Guest Posted 22 years ago
Grammar
To have
1-To have so much talent amazes me.
2-Having so much talent amazes me.
Can I use these sentences if the person who has the talent in question is not me? Can the subject of "to have" and "having" be "somebody"?
"That somebody has so much talent amazes me."
2-Having so much talent amazes me.
Can I use these sentences if the person who has the talent in question is not me? Can the subject of "to have" and "having" be "somebody"?
"That somebody has so much talent amazes me."
Top answer
Yes you can use those sentences in such a situation, however there is inherent ambiguity to the way it's said. In context you probably shouldn't have any problems with it, but out of context you might run into some people being confused by the statement (regardless of your intended meaning).
- Yes you can use those sentences in such a situation, however there is inherent ambiguity to the way it's said.
- In context you probably shouldn't have any problems with it, but out of context you might run into some people being confused by the statement (regardless of your intended meaning).
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6 Answers
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Yes you can use those sentences in such a situation, however there is inherent ambiguity to the way it's said. In context you probably shouldn't have any problems with it, but out of context you might run into some people being confused by the statement (regardless of your intended meaning).
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So could:
"To go there amazed me."
be used when I am not the one who goes there?
Or
"To be so stupid amazed me."
when I am talking about someone else?
"To go there amazed me."
be used when I am not the one who goes there?
Or
"To be so stupid amazed me."
when I am talking about someone else?
00
I would suggest:
Such talent amazes me.
Such stupidity amazes me.
The above imply that you are talking about someone else.
If you say To go there amazed me you are talking about your own experience. To talk about someone else, you should say:
To go there amazed him/her.
or
Going there amazed him/her.
Note th
Such talent amazes me.
Such stupidity amazes me.
The above imply that you are talking about someone else.
If you say To go there amazed me you are talking about your own experience. To talk about someone else, you should say:
To go there amazed him/her.
or
Going there amazed him/her.
Note th
00
I agree with taiwandave. That's a much better option and avoids the ambiguity.
If you're going to use amazed, you'd have to match the tense, so it would have to be "to have gone there" To go there takes "amazes" like in the examples in the first post.
If you're going to use amazed, you'd have to match the tense, so it would have to be "to have gone there" To go there takes "amazes" like in the examples in the first post.
00
You could probably say:
His going there amazed me.
His being so stupid amazed me.
His going there amazed me.
His being so stupid amazed me.
00
This is the first post in the thread:
"1-To have so much talent amazes me.
2-Having so much talent amazes me.
Can I use these sentences if the person who has the talent in question is not me? Can the subject of 'to have' and 'having' be 'somebody'?
'That somebody has so much talent amazes me.'"
Your sentence "That somebody has so much talent amazes
"1-To have so much talent amazes me.
2-Having so much talent amazes me.
Can I use these sentences if the person who has the talent in question is not me? Can the subject of 'to have' and 'having' be 'somebody'?
'That somebody has so much talent amazes me.'"
Your sentence "That somebody has so much talent amazes
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