Would mind TO do smth - will I be understood?

[Caprilla]

Hello everyone!

Can I use "would mind TO do smth" without loss of meaning? I know that this structure is ungrammatical, my question is about using English in everyday life in no English-speaking country.

 

[Tarheel]

Two things. One, I'm guessing you mean "in a non-English speaking country". Two, the structure you are talking about uses the -ing verb. (See below.)

Would you mind moving your car so I can get out of the driveway?
Would you mind looking after Johnny while I go to the store?

 

[teechar]

I know that this structure is ungrammatical

If you know it's ungrammatical, then why do you still want to use it?!

 

[Caprilla]

Non-English speaking, yes. Thanks for correction!

 

[Caprilla]

If you know it's ungrammatical, then why do you still want to use it?!

I don't use it. A student of mine sent me a memo written by her school teacher and there was this case there. They are studying gerunds and infinitives. The problem is that the girl will probable move to another country and she needs an everyday language. So, if she addresses to someone with "I would mind to go there", will she be understood properly and without loss of meaning?

 

[5jj]

So, if she addresses to someone with "I would mind to go there", will she be understood properly and without loss of meaning?

Probably not.

 

[emsr2d2]

I don't use it. A student of mine sent me a memo written by her school teacher and there was this case it was in there. They are studying gerunds and infinitives. The problem is that the girl will probable move to another country and she needs an everyday language. So, if she addresses to someone with "I would mind to go there", will she be understood properly and without loss of meaning?

1. Who's her English teacher - you or the teacher who wrote the memo?
2. If the memo to the student wasn't written by an English teacher, why did they write it in English?
3. Why are teachers writing memos to students at all?
4. What do you mean by "everyday language"? If she moves abroad, she'll need to learn the basics of whatever language they speak in that country.
5. I would struggle to understand what "I would mind to go there" means.

 

[Caprilla]

1. I didn't write this memo, it was done by her school English teacher
2. See 1st item
3. Can't answer
4. She is supposed to move to Dubai so it's unlikely she'll speak Arabian
5. That was the point of my question. Now I got the answer

 

[emsr2d2]

1. I didn't write this memo. It was done by her school English teacher.
2. See 1st item.
3. I can't answer that.
4. She is supposed to move to Dubai so - it's unlikely she'll learn to speak Arabian Arabic.
5. That was the point of my question. Now I got have the answer.

Since your member profile says you're an English teacher, and you started with "A student of mine ...", I thought it was more likely you were her English teacher.

 

[Skrej]

You can use "I would mind (gerund)", but typically only as a response when asked "Would you mind (gerund)?" As such, it's an emphatic (and somewhat confrontational) refute of the original request.

However, 'would mind' is always followed by a gerund, so using an infinitive 'to X' is so ungrammatical it's distracting to the point that anyone using it likely won't be understood.

A:Would you mind moving your car?
B:Actually, yes, I would mind moving it. Go away.

 

[Caprilla]

Since your member profile says you're an English teacher, and you started with "A student of mine ...", I thought it was more likely you were her English teacher.

Thanks for your corrections! No, I'm a tutor. The memo was written by her school teacher. I think it was given to all students in her class.

 

[Caprilla]

You can use "I would mind (gerund)", but typically only as a response when asked "Would you mind (gerund)?" As such, it's an emphatic (and somewhat confrontational) refute of the original request.

However, 'would mind' is always followed by a gerund, so using an infinitive 'to X' is so ungrammatical it's distracting to the point that anyone using it likely won't be understood.

A:Would you mind moving your car?
B:Actually, yes, I would mind moving it. Go away.

Thank you! It was so strange to see an expression "Would mind" followed by an infinitive as it was suggested by a teacher of this girl. I even consulted the British National Corpus.

 

[emsr2d2]

If your student is at least 14 years old, I strongly recommend that she join this forum (and that she encourage her classmates to do so). You could start by showing her this thread so she can see that her English teacher is getting things badly wrong.