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Hans51 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Want O ~ing structures
"I don't want them teaching it."
I saw the sentence and is it a short version of "I don't want them to be teaching it."? Of course, we must figure it out in context but I would like to know if to be here can be omitted? What do you think? Thank you so much as always and have a good day
I
I saw the sentence and is it a short version of "I don't want them to be teaching it."? Of course, we must figure it out in context but I would like to know if to be here can be omitted? What do you think? Thank you so much as always and have a good day
I
Top answer
Yes, "I don't want them teaching it" is natural English. Similarly "I don't want him going there", "I don't want her seeing it", etc. etc.
- Yes, "I don't want them teaching it" is natural English.
- Similarly "I don't want him going there", "I don't want her seeing it", etc.
- etc.
- I would not use this style in very formal writing.
- Although they are connected in meaning, it is not obvious to me that these are specifically abbreviated versions of sentences with "to be".
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3 Answers
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Yes, "I don't want them teaching it" is natural English. Similarly "I don't want him going there", "I don't want her seeing it", etc. etc. I would not use this style in very formal writing. Although they are connected in meaning, it is not obvious to me that these are specifically abbreviated versions of sentences with "to be".
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Thank you so much, so here whatever the grammar is, them, him and her are subjects and teaching, going and seeing are verbs in meaning, right?
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Hans51is it a short version of "I don't want them to be teaching it[no period]"?I would say no, even though their meanings are very similar. The catenative verb want is one that licenses either a to-infinitival or a gerund-participial as complement, the latter being rather informal in style.
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