what would you like donw with?

Question

I know the meaning of the sentence, but don't know why they wrote this way?"You" is the subject."Like" is the verb.How about "done with"???ThanksLynn

Nona the brit · Accepted Answer

'What would you like done with?'

Sorry this doesn't make any sense as it is - or is it just the start of a sentence...What would you like done with this pile of paper? etc

PHILIPKA · Answer

Lynn,

(1) What would you like done with?

You state that you know the meaning of the sentence, but do not know why it is written that way! Fine! The main import of the meaning of the sentence resides, as I see it, in the meaning of the phrase "done with". If, as you stated, you understand the sentence correctly, then, you do understand the meaning of the phrase "done with"! Now, if I may ask you, what, then, is the meaning of the sentence (1) and, as such, how does the meaning of "done with" feature in the meaning of the whole sentence (1)?

What I am trying to get at with my last question(s) is that there are more than one sense of the phrase "do(ne) with (something or somebody)". The particular meaning that you made of the sentence (1) should reveal the particular sense of the phrase ("done with") that you are using in your understanding of the sentence (1). And that particular sense you are using can be a good guide in unravellling the form of the phrase as used in the sentence (1).

However, what readily came to my mind when I first read the sentence (1) is that the last phrase "done with" is in an elliptic form; that is the full form should be "to be done with". In other words, the full unelliptic form of the sentence (1) would be:

(2) What would you like [to be] done with?

If my view is tenable, then I would say "done with" in sentence (1) is being used in its idiomatic sense, meaning to no longer work at something or be involved with it. How does this address your quest? It means that "to be done with" -- in its idiomatic sense -- is a fixed expression in English. I believe you know how fixed expressions, like idioms, tend to behave in form and its relation to meaning.

Hope what I have said so far helps?

Love!

Anonymous · Answer

Hi! Philipka,

Thanks! What you have said helps me a lot.

I think the problem I have had is things like " a fixed expressions" or "in an elliptic form" in my reading.

Lynn

Lynn3 · Answer

Hi! Philipka,

Thanks! What you have said helps me a lot.

I think the problem I have had is things like " a fixed expressions" or "in an elliptic form" in my reading.

Lynn

what would you like donw with?

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