This is my bible (although I do consult other reference grammars).

A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language

Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, & Svartik

Janet

-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of diane skinner
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 11:37 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Happen to (V) -- quasimodal?

Please tell me which reference are you using?

Thanks,

Diane

On Tue, Apr 22, 2008 at 1:43 PM, Castilleja, Janet

<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> 'happen to' is on my list of semi-auxiliaries from Quirk, et al.

> Janet

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar

> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Spruiell, William C

> Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 12:47 PM

> To: [log in to unmask]

> Subject: Happen to (V) -- quasimodal?

> I've been reading this list long enough that every time I have a question, I

> get this sneaking suspicion that it's been discussed before and I just can't

> find the thread – so apologies if I'm reheating leftovers here.

> In one of my grammar classes, a student asked what to do with a sentence

> like, "I happened to look up right at that moment." My reflex is to treat

> "happen to" the same way I'd treat "have to," "going to" and "ought to" – as

> a kind of modal-like combination. I'd feel better about that analysis,

> though, if I had some kind of test or set of tests I could use to identify

> quasimodals (other than instinct; I have this gut feeling that instinct will

> get me in trouble).

> Based on the three "acknowledged quasimodals" I mentioned above, it looks

> like one criterion might be based on transitivity. While various forms of

> "have" are transitive, there's no sense in which "I have to write a paper"

> can be construed as analogous to "I have something"; you can't "ought

> something," and you can't "go something" either unless you use the "become"

> sense of go, which doesn't seem at play in "going to write a paper," etc.

> (also, the "become" version is followed by an adjective or a noun that's

> arguably in adjectival function, as in "go bananas"). In constructions that

> seem to be drifting toward quasimodal status, but aren't in the official

> list (in that traditional grammar treats them as a main verb followed by an

> infinitival object), you can set up transitive analogues – "I want to watch

> a movie" // "I want something"; "I started to watch a movie" // "I started

> something." You can't "happen something," of course, so that supports

> treating "happens to" as a quasimodal.

> Is there a different established way to treat "happens to V"?

> Thanks in advance –

> Bill Spruiell

> Dept. of English

> Central Michigan University

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