sentence

[M56]

. But maybe M56 would like to disagree.

He did and he does.



Would you disagree with the use of the response here?

Son: Mum, why have you stopped speaking to me? Is it just because you don't agree with my choice of girlfriend?

Mum: You know why. This situation doesn't have to be. It's up to you.[/I]

[Tdol]

at best odd, if not downright wrong

I'd say very odd, but not downright wrong.

[M56]

I'd say very odd, but not downright wrong.

But what do you see as odd about it?

[navi tasan]

Thank you M56 and TDOL,

Well, if it isn't wrong, I guess I can use it. Let's say that it just sounds odd to some people and not to the others.

He did and he does.



Would you disagree with the use of the response here?

Son: Mum, why have you stopped speaking to me? Is it just because you don't agree with my choice of girlfriend?

Mum: You know why. This situation doesn't have to be. It's up to you.[/i]

I think I have heard sentences like that. It seems to me that people don't say: 'The situation is' instead of 'The situation exists', but when it comes to 'doesn't have to be' things change.

'What has to be will be.'

As to why it sounds odd to some people and not to the others, I don't want to speak for Cas and Tdol, but I'd say that it is just a 'feeling thing' and cannot be defined and explained in clear terms. It is even sometimes hard to explain why a sentence is grammatically incorrect. It is funny, but when you think in discriptivist terms, the 'incorrectness' comes before the 'explanantion'.

It is good to see native speakers disagree though. I still tend to look for hard and fast rules sometimes.

PS. Come to think of it, maybe it is not the 'has to be' bit that makes the first sentence sound odd to some, but the subject 'being treated badly by your bank'. Can one say that being treated badly by your back EXITS? I mean can a verb (gerund or whatever) exist?