Thank you for a prompt reply, Til. So sentence 2 is problematic in terms of semantics. How about these? 1. I have something to tell you about rugby. 2. I know a coach to tell you about rugby. Sentence 2 sounds odd to me. Or doesn't it? In sentence 1 "to tell you about rugby" is not a purpose phrase, but an adjective clause to modify "something". Something that tells you about rugby. In the same way can it modify "a coach", like a coach who tells you about rugby? I really don't think so, but I'm wondering why. M.T. On 15/09/22 9:35, Turner, Tildon L. wrote: > Hi M.T. > > Number 2 is odd. This lies in the use of purpose clauses. In this case the purpose clause is "to tell you about rugby". Therefore, 1 makes perfect sense because the speaker is stating the purpose of his or her presence. However, 2 is ill-formed because it implies that the purpose of being a coach is to tell people about rugby. This is a superficial explanation, but it should suffice for quick functional understanding of why 2 seems odd to you. > > All the best, > Til > > > > Til Turner > Languages and Literature > Northern Virginia Community College > http://blogs.nvcc.edu/tturner > http://tilturner.wordpress.com > www.englishiskillingme.com > Ph: 703.323.3269 > > > ________________________________________ > From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of 高橋 美津子 [[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 8:11 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: I'm here to, vs I'm a coach to > > Hello, > Could someone help me clear my head? > Do both the following two sentence sound natural to you , native > speakers of English? > To me sentence 2 sounds a bit odd. > I'm wondering why. > > 1. I'm here to tell you about rugby. > 2. I'm a coach to tell you about rugby. > > M.T. > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/