It is exemplifying the there-have alternation.What point is this sentence exemplifying?
Two things. One, in both sentences the taxi was ready, but the second one gives more information. Two, hopefully, @Rover_KE will explain that grammarIt is exemplifying the there-have alternation.
There was a taxi ready.
The porter had a taxi ready.
Two things. One, in both sentences the taxi was ready, but the second one gives more information. Two, hopefully, @Rover_KE will explain that grammar
term.
Whilst I can see from those two sentences what that phrase is supposed to mean, it does not appear to exist. I Googled "there-have alternation" and got no hits at all. Is that the term used in Quirk et al?It is exemplifying the there-have alternation.
There was a taxi ready.
The porter had a taxi ready.
The second sentence implies the porter arranged for the taxi to be ready whereas the first doesn't.It is exemplifying the there-have alternation.
There was a taxi ready.
The porter had a taxi ready.
I don't have Quirk et al's 52-year-old book. It was cited in Essays on English Grammar and Rhetoric: From Traditional to Modern, written by Prof. Tang. (page 311)Whilst I can see from those two sentences what that phrase is supposed to mean, it does not appear to exist. I Googled "there-have alternation" and got no hits at all. Is that the term used in Quirk et al?