1) In the end I had to get a lift with a colleague

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Belly

#459341 Wed, 02 Jan 08 03:20 AM

-> What I did in the end was get a lift with a colleague

Question: Why can't we use to get or getting here but get?

2)I tried every key but not_____ fitted

a) any

b) one

The answer is b yet I think a is acceptable. How come we don't choose a but b?

3) Should your information ____ out to be true

a) turn

b) turns

I think b is the correct one, isn't it?

Belly

Joined on Mon, Feb 19 2007

Regular Member (591)

Cool Breeze

#459392 Wed, 02 Jan 08 09:23 AM

Hi Belly

1) You could use to get as well. Both the full infinitive (to get) and the plain/bare infintive (get) are correct after do in sentences like yours. There is an old song All I Have To Do Is Dream. It could just as well be All I Have To Do Is To Dream.

2) Not [a single] one is idiomatic and grammatical. Not any fitted is impossible because fitted is the finite/main verb (past tense) and the collocation not any/anything/anybody is never used as a grammatical subject. Not + any/anything/anybody is possible when any is an object:

I didn't see any boys there.
I didn't see anything there.
I didn't see anybody there.

3) Should is a defective/modal auxiliary and is therefore always followed by a plain infinitive: Should your information turn out to be true, ... However, the sentence is incomplete as there is no main clause.

CB

Cool Breeze

Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006

Helsinki, Finland

Senior Member (2,838)

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.- Mark Twain

Auxiliaries, Clauses, Modal auxiliaries, Modals, Past tenses, Tenses, Verbs

Belly

#459464 Wed, 02 Jan 08 01:19 PM

Hi, could you tell me in sentence 1, which structure is that? And can we use gerund here?

Belly

Gerunds

Cool Breeze

#459491 Wed, 02 Jan 08 02:23 PM

Belly wrote:
Hi, could you tell me in sentence 1, which structure is that? And can we use gerund here?

No gerund. Get is an infinitive, as I said.

CB

Cool Breeze

Gerunds

Belly

#459508 Wed, 02 Jan 08 03:01 PM

Hm... But what kind of structure is that?

Belly

CalifJim

#459620 Wed, 02 Jan 08 09:07 PM

What I did in the end was get a lift with a colleague.

<< What kind of structure is that? >>

It's called a "pseudo cleft with do".

See Post:335152.
See Post:72218.

CJ

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

Veteran Member (16,931)

"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

Belly

#460183 Fri, 04 Jan 08 02:00 AM

Cool Breeze wrote:
Hi Belly

1) You could use to get as well. Both the full infinitive (to get) and the plain/bare infintive (get) are correct after do in sentences like yours. There is an old song All I Have To Do Is Dream. It could just as well be All I Have To Do Is To Dream.

2) Not [a single] one is idiomatic and grammatical. Not any fitted is impossible because fitted is the finite/main verb (past tense) and the collocation not any/anything/anybody is never used as a grammatical subject. Not + any/anything/anybody is possible when any is an object:

I didn't see any boys there.
I didn't see anything there.
I didn't see anybody there.

3) Should is a defective/modal auxiliary and is therefore always followed by a plain infinitive: Should your information turn out to be true, ... However, the sentence is incomplete as there is no main clause.

CB