Interrogatives followed by an infinitive
I know these sentences work:
We don't know where to put the sofa. (where we should put the sofa)
No one could tell me how to start the engine. (how I should start the engine)
The rules didn't specify who to speak to in case of an emergency. (who you should speak to)
I had no idea what to write my home paper about. (what I should write my home paper about)
But are the followings do, too?
Search for "[yourcity] department of sanitation". They are who to call when there is a dead dog in the road.
Wow so if you need to know anything about the city of Helsinki, what district is good for what, where you can get the best food, the most fun bars – all that – then the staff at The Yard are who to ask.
What I would like to know is whether this pattern serves as a complement, aside from serving as an object in the first four examples.
Thank you very much.
grammar infinitives
New contributor
add a comment |
I know these sentences work:
We don't know where to put the sofa. (where we should put the sofa)
No one could tell me how to start the engine. (how I should start the engine)
The rules didn't specify who to speak to in case of an emergency. (who you should speak to)
I had no idea what to write my home paper about. (what I should write my home paper about)
But are the followings do, too?
Search for "[yourcity] department of sanitation". They are who to call when there is a dead dog in the road.
Wow so if you need to know anything about the city of Helsinki, what district is good for what, where you can get the best food, the most fun bars – all that – then the staff at The Yard are who to ask.
What I would like to know is whether this pattern serves as a complement, aside from serving as an object in the first four examples.
Thank you very much.
grammar infinitives
New contributor
I think they're all complements but the difference is that the first four are embedded questions, whereas the other two are embedded statements. The second two are not correct as far as I'm concerned - in both cases who needs to be replaced with the people, so it looks as though a complement with the form who + infinitive can only be used for an embedded question. It's different if you use a finite clause - the staff at The Yard are the people who you should ask is a bit clumsy and I think most people would drop the who - but you can put it in.
– Minty
3 hours ago
add a comment |
I know these sentences work:
We don't know where to put the sofa. (where we should put the sofa)
No one could tell me how to start the engine. (how I should start the engine)
The rules didn't specify who to speak to in case of an emergency. (who you should speak to)
I had no idea what to write my home paper about. (what I should write my home paper about)
But are the followings do, too?
Search for "[yourcity] department of sanitation". They are who to call when there is a dead dog in the road.
Wow so if you need to know anything about the city of Helsinki, what district is good for what, where you can get the best food, the most fun bars – all that – then the staff at The Yard are who to ask.
What I would like to know is whether this pattern serves as a complement, aside from serving as an object in the first four examples.
Thank you very much.
grammar infinitives
New contributor
I know these sentences work:
We don't know where to put the sofa. (where we should put the sofa)
No one could tell me how to start the engine. (how I should start the engine)
The rules didn't specify who to speak to in case of an emergency. (who you should speak to)
I had no idea what to write my home paper about. (what I should write my home paper about)
But are the followings do, too?
Search for "[yourcity] department of sanitation". They are who to call when there is a dead dog in the road.
Wow so if you need to know anything about the city of Helsinki, what district is good for what, where you can get the best food, the most fun bars – all that – then the staff at The Yard are who to ask.
What I would like to know is whether this pattern serves as a complement, aside from serving as an object in the first four examples.
Thank you very much.
grammar infinitives
grammar infinitives
New contributor
New contributor
New contributor
asked 4 hours ago
KevinKevin
61
61
New contributor
New contributor
I think they're all complements but the difference is that the first four are embedded questions, whereas the other two are embedded statements. The second two are not correct as far as I'm concerned - in both cases who needs to be replaced with the people, so it looks as though a complement with the form who + infinitive can only be used for an embedded question. It's different if you use a finite clause - the staff at The Yard are the people who you should ask is a bit clumsy and I think most people would drop the who - but you can put it in.
– Minty
3 hours ago
add a comment |
I think they're all complements but the difference is that the first four are embedded questions, whereas the other two are embedded statements. The second two are not correct as far as I'm concerned - in both cases who needs to be replaced with the people, so it looks as though a complement with the form who + infinitive can only be used for an embedded question. It's different if you use a finite clause - the staff at The Yard are the people who you should ask is a bit clumsy and I think most people would drop the who - but you can put it in.
– Minty
3 hours ago
I think they're all complements but the difference is that the first four are embedded questions, whereas the other two are embedded statements. The second two are not correct as far as I'm concerned - in both cases who needs to be replaced with the people, so it looks as though a complement with the form who + infinitive can only be used for an embedded question. It's different if you use a finite clause - the staff at The Yard are the people who you should ask is a bit clumsy and I think most people would drop the who - but you can put it in.
– Minty
3 hours ago
I think they're all complements but the difference is that the first four are embedded questions, whereas the other two are embedded statements. The second two are not correct as far as I'm concerned - in both cases who needs to be replaced with the people, so it looks as though a complement with the form who + infinitive can only be used for an embedded question. It's different if you use a finite clause - the staff at The Yard are the people who you should ask is a bit clumsy and I think most people would drop the who - but you can put it in.
– Minty
3 hours ago
add a comment |
0
active
oldest
votes
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "97"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Kevin is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f491553%2finterrogatives-followed-by-an-infinitive%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
0
active
oldest
votes
0
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Kevin is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Kevin is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Kevin is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Kevin is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f491553%2finterrogatives-followed-by-an-infinitive%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
I think they're all complements but the difference is that the first four are embedded questions, whereas the other two are embedded statements. The second two are not correct as far as I'm concerned - in both cases who needs to be replaced with the people, so it looks as though a complement with the form who + infinitive can only be used for an embedded question. It's different if you use a finite clause - the staff at The Yard are the people who you should ask is a bit clumsy and I think most people would drop the who - but you can put it in.
– Minty
3 hours ago