I was thinking of doing

[lauraguan]

I was thinking of doing a fish pie when Michael comes.

Is this a grammatically correct sentence? 'think' is in past progressive whereas 'come' is in present tense. If it's correct, what does it mean? Does it mean I am thinking of (doing a fish pie when Michael comes)?

Thanks!

[Munch]

It sounded strange to me at first, too, but I have both heard and used "do" in this sense (I am Australian but I suspect it is used in other countries too).

I might say "do a roast" meaning to roast meat and vegetables in the oven, with the suggestion I will serve it and eat with friends and/or family. "Do a casserole" also sounds natural to me.

Note that this is colloquial usage and I would not expect every native speaker to be familiar with this form, so I am interested to hear if other native speakers have encountered this use.

[lauraguan]

Thanks, Gillnetter and Munch.

I think 'do' is ok here. Actually this is an example from a dictionary I am trying to translate. My question was why a past tense was used with a present tense. If it means 'I want to prepare a fish pie when Micheal comes', I think I know how to translate it.

Thanks again!

[bhaisahab]

It sounded strange to me at first, too, but I have both heard and used "do" in this sense (I am Australian but I suspect it is used in other countries too).

I might say "do a roast" meaning to roast meat and vegetables in the oven, with the suggestion I will serve it and eat with friends and/or family. "Do a casserole" also sounds natural to me.

Note that this is colloquial usage and I would not expect every native speaker to be familiar with this form, so I am interested to hear if other native speakers have encountered this use.

Yes, it's widely used in the UK. "What are you going to do for dinner?" "I was thinking of doing a fish pie".

[riquecohen]

There is no problem with "thinking" or "come". The problem is how does one "do" a pie? You can cook a pie, or freeze a pie, or even prepare a pie, but I don't know how you do a pie. It sort of sounds as though you want to prepare a pie when Michael comes.

I agree. In the US, if one asks, "What are you doing for dinner?," the answer would most likely be something like "We´re eating out," "I´m making a casserole" or "We´re having dinner at my mom´s."