the use of a participle

[KSSEEJ]

Dear Sir/ Madam

In the sentence"The 260 wardens who police traffic will have watching out for idling engine offenders added to their duties.", what is the function of the participle "watching",? Is it better to change it to " to watch" or add a comma before it ? What are the reasons behind?

Thanks so much!

[5jj]

It is a gerund, the direct object of the verb 'have'. It is correctly used.

[TheParser]

Dear Sir/ Madam

In the sentence"The 260 wardens who police traffic will have watching out for idling engine offenders added to their duties.", what is the function of the participle "watching",? Is it better to change it to " to watch" or add a comma before it ? What are the reasons behind?

Thanks so much!

REMINDER: NOT A TEACHER

(1) As a fellow learner, I can understand how confusing such -ing sentences can

be.

(2) As Teacher Fivejedjon told us, it's called a gerund.

(3) I read something this morning that might help you in the future:

Many years ago, the English people used the word "the" in front of a

gerund.

(a) So maybe if you imagine in your mind a "the," it will be easier to understand:

The wardens will have (the) watching out for idling engine offenders added to their

duties. (As you can see, the "the" reminds us that the next word is a noun.)

[KSSEEJ]

Thank u both!! TheParser, your note is really helpful, Thanks!!