Bill,
Thanks for explaining the term "bare infinitive."
I've heard some refer to it as the root form and of course the subjunctive
when it follows certain verbs. It's really hard to teach this in ESL class!
I don't know which term to use. I guess the form of the verb is the same,
but the context varies and then sometimes there is the "unbare" infinitive
with "to."
Is there a word for the "unbare" infintive? Dressed? ;-)
--
--
Christine Reintjes Martin
[log in to unmask]
>From: "Spruiell, William C" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: bare infinitive
>Date: Mon, 3 May 2004 12:03:58 -0400
>
>Christine:
>
>I'm using the term "bare infinitive" to refer to the verb form itself;
>it's 'be' rather than 'was' or 'were'; it's analogous to calling the
>-ing form in a gerund a present participle, even if the construction
>it's part of is called a gerund. I certainly have no objection to
>considering 'be' in that usage as a different kind of "regular
>subjunctive" that happens to look exactly like the infinitive form --
>it's not the way I treat it, but it'll work. I just choose to view the
>*use* of the bare infinitive in that context to be one manifestation of
>what gets termed the 'subjunctive' in traditional grammar. I'm a bit
>nervous about homonymy arguments, and tend to go out of my way to avoid
>them (theoretical predilection!).
>
>Bill Spruiell
>
>Dept. of English
>Central Michigan University
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
>[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Christine Reintjes
>Sent: Monday, May 03, 2004 4:19 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: bare infinitive
>
>Bill,
>
>I'm confused about considering "be" a bare infinitive in your example.
>
>I suggest he be hired.
>
>Instead of a bare infinitive couldn't it be a regular subjunctive with
>the
>absent "that"?
>
>I suggest THAT he be hired.
>
>
>--
>
>Christine Reintjes Martin
>[log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
>
> >From: "Spruiell, William C" <[log in to unmask]>
> >Reply-To: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> ><[log in to unmask]>
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Re: Singular or Plural
> >Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 18:37:24 -0400
> >
> >
> >
> >There seem to be two distinct subclasses of subjunctives: those
> >involving a bare-infinitive form after certain verbs like 'suggest',
>and
> >those involving the use of 'were' rather than 'was' with
> >first-person-singular contrafactuals:
> >
> > I suggest he be hired.
> > If he were here, he would have something to say.
> >
> >Although American English-speakers quite regularly use 'was' instead of
> >'were' in that second kind of subjunctive, I don't hear examples such
> >as, "I suggest he is hired" at all, and "I suggest he should be hired"
> >quite seldom (I'm not even considering the really archaic prescriptive
> >subjunctives such as "If he need medicine, give him this tonic").
> >Instead, "I suggest that we hire him" is rather common - but even
> >speakers who aren't looking over their shoulders for the grammar police
> >will use the canonical subjunctive form without much difficulty. The
> >subjunctive is disappearing in contrafactuals, but I'm not sure it is
> >with the 'suggestion' type.
> >
> >Bill Spruiell
> >
> >Dept. of English
> >Central Michigan University
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >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/
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Getting married? Find tips, tools and the latest trends at MSN Life
>Events.
>http://lifeevents.msn.com/category.aspx?cid=married
>
>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/
_________________________________________________________________
Stop worrying about overloading your inbox - get MSN Hotmail Extra Storage!
http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-us&page=hotmail/es2&ST=1/go/onm00200362ave/direct/01/
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/
|
