bidding her prepare ...

Hi

A certain lady received a letter from assurance company.

Like everyone else in the British Isles, she had from time
to time received admonitory communications from
various assurance companies, bidding her prepare for a
comfortable old age, to insure against fire and flood, to
make certain, in the event of her sudden demise, that her​

dependents would not be doomed to starvation.

Does it mean they offered to take care of her when she's old ...

bidding her = urging her to, suggesting that she

GUEST2008 said:

Hi

A certain lady received a letter from assurance company.

Like everyone else in the British Isles, she had from time
to time received admonitory communications from
various assurance companies, bidding her to prepare for a
comfortable old age, to insure against fire and flood, to
make certain, in the event of her sudden demise, that her​

dependents would not be doomed to starvation.

Does it mean they offered to take care of her when she's old ...

Click to expand...

Not a teacher only a native.

Not exactly, I wouldn't say life assurance companies take care of you when you are old, they are similar to life insurance but are slightly different.

The life assurance company is soliciting for her custom. They want her to take out a policy with them.

'Bidding her to prepare for a comfortable old age....' could be 'Inviting her to prepare for a comfortable old age...[by taking out a policy with them].

I have added 'to' into the text as I think this is necessary.

shroob said:

Not a teacher only a native.

Not exactly, I wouldn't say life assurance companies take care of you when you are old, they are similar to life insurance but are slightly different.

The life assurance company is soliciting for her custom. They want her to take out a policy with them.

'Bidding her to prepare for a comfortable old age....' could be 'Inviting her to prepare for a comfortable old age...[by taking out a policy with them].

I have added 'to' into the text as I think this is necessary.

Click to expand...

I disagree with your last statement. I don't think "to" is required at all.

I bid you come with me.
He bid me leave the room.

And, of course, we have the use of "bid", not followed by a verb:

I bid you goodnight.

emsr2d2 said:

I disagree with your last statement. I don't think "to" is required at all.

I bid you come with me.
He bid me leave the room.

And, of course, we have the use of "bid", not followed by a verb:

I bid you goodnight.

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Those examples sound correct, however to my ear '... bidding her prepare for a comfortable....'.

'...bidding her TO prepare for a comfortable...' sounds better to me.

Have I simply misunderstood the use of the word?

emsr2d2 said:

I disagree with your last statement. I don't think "to" is required at all.

I bid you come with me.
He bid me leave the room.

And, of course, we have the use of "bid", not followed by a verb:

I bid you goodnight.

Click to expand...

I agree completely, no "to" is necessary or desirable. It sounds clunky with it.

One of my favourite Shakespearean quotes, from Much Ado About Nothing:

"Against my will, I am sent to bid you come into dinner."

emsr2d2 said:

One of my favourite Shakespearean quotes, from Much Ado About Nothing:

"Against my will, I am sent to bid you come into dinner."

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In this example, 'request' could act as a synonym, right? So if we put 'requesting' into the original text, '...requesting her prepare for...', this sounds wrong to me. 'Requesting her to prepare for'... sounds better.

Though am I wrong again? Have I have totally misunderstood the way the word is used? Could you try and explain why 'to' isn't needed?

I'm sorry for suggesting something that is wrong, however I don't understand why it is wrong.

Is 'bidding' being used as an imperative?

Thanks for the clarification and appologies for the mistake.

shroob said:

In this example, 'request' could act as a synonym, right? So if we put 'requesting' into the original text, '...requesting her prepare for...', this sounds wrong to me. 'Requesting her to prepare for'... sounds better.

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The whole question of synonymy is taken far too seriously.
No one is saying that '...requesting her prepare for...' is right.

Raymott said:

The whole question of synonymy is taken far too seriously.
No one is saying that '...requesting her prepare for...' is right.

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Indeed so! And "... requesting that she prepare for ..." would sound much better anyway, and still wouldn't require "to".

As far as why "to" isn't required, I've no idea. My only guess (and it is just that) is that originally it might have been followed with direct speech.

Against my will, I am sent to bid you "Come into dinner".

In fact, in the version of Much Ado About Nothing that I have seen more often than any other, that is exactly how the actress in question chooses to phrase it, but in the actual text it is simply written "Against my will, I am sent to bid you come into dinner".

Raymott said:

The whole question of synonymy is taken far too seriously.
No one is saying that '...requesting her prepare for...' is right.

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Sorry if I sounded angry/rude, I was just trying to show where my confusion came from.

shroob said:

Sorry if I sounded angry/rude, I was just trying to show where my confusion came from.

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No you didn't. Sorry if I did! :-D

shroob said:

Those examples sound correct, however to my ear '... bidding her prepare for a comfortable....'.

'...bidding her TO prepare for a comfortable...' sounds better to me.

Have I simply misunderstood the use of the word?

Click to expand...

No, you just went to school after they stopped teaching the subjunctive. ;-)

b

BobK said:

No, you just went to school after they stopped teaching the subjunctive. ;-)

b

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Ah, that could well be the case. I probably am younger than the majority of people answering on this forum, but that just means I have more to learn :lol:.

Thank you, you have put my mind at rest.