paco2004  +  140404 Thu, 22 Sep 05 12:56 AM Hello Teachers I have another question about the use of bare infinitives. One of my grammar books (which is written by Japanese scholars) says that [1] below is acceptable but [2] is unacceptable. Is it true?         [1] Turn her father against her stepmother, that's what Mary wants to do.         [2] Turn her father against her stepmother, that's what Mary tried to do. paco paco2004 Joined on Wed, Nov 17 2004 Senior Member 4,095 In Japan today even dogs are learning how to bow-wow in English. Grammar

	CalifJim  +  140417 Thu, 22 Sep 05 01:46 AM I'm not aware of any papers written on the subject, but maybe someone else is. In the meantime all I can say is that both seem equally clumsy (but equally acceptable) to me.  They certainly are not the most common ways of expressing oneself in English! CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,465 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

	MrPedantic  +  140734 Fri, 23 Sep 05 12:08 AM Yes; they both seem acceptable to me, too. The construction is still current in British English; though it does have an air of stage Cockney. MrP MrPedantic Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004 Veteran Member 12,592 ...opella forensis / adducit febris... Constructions, British English

	Eimai_Anglos  +  140742 Fri, 23 Sep 05 12:24 AM Stage Cockney! I knew it had a familiar ring to it. That's precisely how it sounds. Well spotted! In fact it could almost be Dickens. Eimai_Anglos Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005 Regular Member 509 Martin - native English speaker and technical author.