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LeGion12359 Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

To-Infinitive After a Subject

Hasan to give me $10 tomorrow.
Is that grammatical? Moreover,could I say that thus without changing its meaning:
Hasan will give me $10 tomorrow?
Furthermore, Would that (original) be call a sentence or a non-finite clause? I think it's a non-finite clause, because it doesn't have a finite verb in it.
  

Top answer

LeGion12359 Hasan to give me $10 tomorrow. It is not a full sentence in standard English. It doesn't have a main (finite) verb.

— GPY

  • LeGion12359 Hasan to give me $10 tomorrow.
  • It is not a full sentence in standard English.
  • It doesn't have a main (finite) verb.
  • It would be understood as an abbreviated or note-form version of "Hasan is to give me $10 tomorrow", where "is to give" expresses expectation or obligation with respect to a future event.
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7 Answers
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LeGion12359Hasan to give me $10 tomorrow.
It is not a full sentence in standard English. It doesn't have a main (finite) verb. It would be understood as an abbreviated or note-form version of "Hasan is to give me $10 tomorrow", where "is to give" expresses expectation or obligation with respect to a future event.
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The first construction is common in newspaper headlines. It is considered acceptable there but not in formal writing. The second is fine. You could also use Hasan is to give me $10 tomorrow.
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GPYIt is not a full sentence in standard English. It doesn't have a main (finite) verb. It would be understood as an abbreviated or note-form version of "Hasan is to give me $10 tomorrow", where "is to give" expresses expectation or obligation with respect to a future event.
Fine. By the way, can I use it to imply an obligation of the past, thus:
Hasan to
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LeGion12359Fine. By the way, can I use it to imply an obligation of the past, thus:
No. The sentence needs a finite verb. These are grammatical, but uncommon:

Hasan was to give me $10 yesterday.
Hasan is to give me $10 today.
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AlpheccaStarsNo. The sentence needs a finite verb. These are grammatical, but uncommon:Hasan was to give me $10 yesterday.Hasan is to give me $10 today.
Informative! I always wondered when I read newspaper if they were grammatical.Thank you.
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LeGion12359By the way, why do people use it in newspaper headlines if they aren't grammatical?
Headlines are not meant to be sentences.
They are most often topic headings which are noun phrases.
Also, headlines have to be short, so editors will omit words that are not needed to convey the meaning.
But sometimes they make mistakes, resulting
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AlpheccaStarsLeGion12359By the way, why do people use it in newspaper headlines if they aren't grammatical?
Oh! Why do I often accidentally omit the auxiliary verbs?
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