Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

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jayles the unwoven

Member Since

June 3, 2014

Total number of comments

201

Total number of votes received

215

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Latest Comments

@Jasper I must confess that thick as I am, I am still not entirely lucid on what exactly you are trying to clarify and why this is so important to you. Is it just that you wish these sentences to fit in with some neat boxed-up grammatical terminology?
BTW are you familiar with German or any other languages besides English?

@Jasper To my mind, there is a difference in the usage of "am" in the following:

A) Who am I to judge?
B) Whom am I to judge?

In A "am" is a true copula.

In B "am" is a sort of modal auxiliary: the verb "be" plus infinitive conveys something like "must", "have to", "should"; much used in business and military as in "All employees are to submit timesheets by Monday 0900 at the latest."

@HS Thank you for reaching out to us in your hour of need. As you now know, we operate an outreach program for those whom the modern vernacular has left feeling bewildered, betrayed and benighted.

There is a list of copula verbs here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_copulae

Right now I cannot see how to follow any of these with a complement and then an infinitive.

It is perfectly true that in English we often come across an infinitive preceded by an object pronoun which seems to act as the subject of the infinitive: I want him to come, I persuaded him to come, I warned him not to come, I wish him to come.

Quite how English acquired this type of construction I know not (although there is something similar in Latin, other Euro languages tend to say "I want that she go" - je veux qu'elle aille). English just seems quirky here and the structure varies from one verb to the next.

But with a copula???

Victoria: I am to be queen then?
Lord Melbourne: Yes, you are, ma'am.
Victoria: And who is Prince Albert to be? Who is he to be?
Lord Melbourne: He is in no way to be KIng, ma'am.
Victoria: Well, if it is not to be him, who is it to be?
Lord Melbourne: No-one, ma'am.
Prince Albert: Well, if I am not to be him, who am I to be?
Lord Melbourne: You will be the Royal Consort sir.
Prince Albert: The Royal What???

Like that?

subwait

  • July 12, 2014, 2:36pm

@Anwulf the subwait area is often just a few chairs in the corridor outside the doctor's room, like a forward waiting area, which saves the doctor wasting time trudging back to reception to find the next patient. I haven't seen it used outside medical contexts, although it is much the same in outlook as "gate lounge" at an airport.