[Grammar] to have or having

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Laudator

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Everyone seems really happy to have / having him back. (He has already come back.)

Which one should I use, to have or having, and why?
 

Matthew Wai

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I would use 'to have', a to-infinitive.
 

emsr2d2

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If you change the word order, it would be possible to use "having".

Having him back made everyone happy.
 

Laudator

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Thank you. But why is that? Grammatical or simply conventional?
 

tedmc

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Everyone seems really happy having him back.

I think "having him back" implies something on-going, which does not suit the context. It is a one-off happening.
The gerund works in other contexts but not this.
 

Matthew Wai

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I think 'having' is a present participle rather than a gerund in the above post.

Thank you. But why is that? Grammatical or simply conventional?
I consider 'adjective + to + gerund' ungrammatical with some exceptions like 'be accustomed/used to doing something'.
 

Laudator

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I think 'having' is a present participle rather than a gerund in the above post.


I consider 'adjective + to + gerund' ungrammatical with some exceptions like 'be accustomed/used to doing something'.

Yeah, I know. What I meant was to replace "to have" as a whole by "having", not simply "have". tedmc has already answered my question, but thank you anyway.
 

tedmc

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OK, that was a participle.
"Everyone seems really happy working." - looks fine to me.
 
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