"...no other choice but tightening/tighten my belt."?

[Mehrgan]

Hi there,

What is the right for of verbs after "but" in such examples?

'I could do nothing but wait/waiting.'
'There was no other choice but tighten/tightening my belt.'

Does the form varies according to the formality of the text?

Many thanks.

[TheParser]

Hi there,

What is the right for of verbs after "but" in such examples?

'I could do nothing but wait/waiting.'
'There was no other choice but tighten/tightening my belt.'

Does the form varies according to the formality of the text?

Many thanks.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

(1) According to Professor George O. Curme in his great

two-volume A Grammar of the English Language, your

sentence is an example of ellipsis.

(a) He gives these examples:

(i) She does nothing but [that she does] laugh.

(ii) I'll do anything to show my gratitude but (or except)

[that I do] marry your daughter.

(2) So I guess the full sentence of your first elliptical

sentence is something like:

I could do nothing but that I could wait.

(3) Regarding your second example, I have less confidence

in guessing. Maybe (a big "maybe"), it is SOMETHING like:

There was no other choice but that I did tighten my belt.

[Mehrgan]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

(1) According to Professor George O. Curme in his great

two-volume A Grammar of the English Language, your

sentence is an example of ellipsis.

(a) He gives these examples:

(i) She does nothing but [that she does] laugh.

(ii) I'll do anything to show my gratitude but (or except)

[that I do] marry your daughter.

(2) So I guess the full sentence of your first elliptical

sentence is something like:

I could do nothing but that I could wait.

(3) Regarding your second example, I have less confidence

in guessing. Maybe (a big "maybe"), it is SOMETHING like:

There was no other choice but that I did tighten my belt.

Many thanks to you dear. So, is that right to say "I had no choice but wait.", or even "waiting" would be acceptable?

[TheParser]

Many thanks to you dear. So, is that right to say "I had no choice but wait.", or even "waiting" would be acceptable?

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

(1) Professor Curme says that "She does nothing but laugh" is an

ellipsis of "She does nothing but [that she does] laugh." He says that

you need the infinitive (without "to"). Obviously, you could not say:

She does nothing but that she does laughing. Thus, I think (THINK!!!)

that in such constructions, you may NOT use the -ing form.


(2) Regarding "I had no choice but wait," I offer the professor's

example:

I have no choice but [the choice] to accept the fact.

I think that native speakers would NOT accept an -ing word here.

[Mehrgan]

Thanks a lot. I hope this is not boring to you! As my last question, would "I had no choice but wait." totally sound strange to you as a native speaker? Many thanks in advance.

[TheParser]

Thanks a lot. I hope this is not boring to you! As my last question, would "I had no choice but wait." totally sound strange to you as a native speaker? Many thanks in advance.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

(1) Discussing English usage is never boring!!! It is exhilarating!!

(2) What a coincidence! I was thinking the same thing about the "to."

(3) "I had no choice but to wait" is, of course, "perfect."

But I suspect that deleting the "to" (especially in fast

conversation) would not be a horrible "crime":

Tom: Why did you wait for three hours?

Martha: Because I had no choice but wait.

(3) I am eager to see what other native speakers say.