arrange the doctor for me VS arrange for the doctor to visit me

[jutfrank]

Re: arrange for the doctor for me / for a taxi for me

in a dictionary I found:
arrange for something to do something

Really? That sounds unlikely. Can you show me the dictionary entry?

Like I said in post #10, the pattern is: arrange for somebody to do something

 

[mrwroc]

Re: arrange for the doctor for me / for a taxi for me

Didn't we cover this in March? I have merged the two threads.

Yes, from my previous topic I know "Can you arrange for the doctor to visit me?" is correct. But, I have one more question (I should have been asked here. Sorry that I didn't do that).

I wonder if I can omit "to do something" in the sentence above:

I don't feel very well. Can you arrange for the doctor for me?

 

[mrwroc]

Re: arrange for the doctor for me / for a taxi for me

Jutfrank I wanted to write:
arrange for somebody to do something
but I copied the construction from the dictionary below by mistake

arrange for something to do somethingWe arranged for a car to collect us from the airport.
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/arrange?q=arrange

 

[jutfrank]

Re: arrange for the doctor for me / for a taxi for me

wonder if I can omit "to do something" in the sentence above:

I don't feel very well. Can you arrange for the doctor for me?

No, don't do that. What do you mean, anyway? I'm not sure if arrange is the right word here. Try:

Can you call a doctor for me?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

[STRIKE]For example:[/STRIKE] I am in a hotel and ask a receptionist questions. I wonder if the sentences below have similar meanings. Can I use any of them?

1A: I don't feel very well. Can you call a doctor for me? (This sentence I like more than 1B because it has the same structure in my language.)

Doctors are not arranged. You can arrange (or set up or schedule) an appointment with a doctor, but you can't arrange a doctor.

1B: I don't feel very well. Can you call a doctor[STRIKE] to visit me[/STRIKE]?

Visits are usually social. Friends and relations visit. People who come to do work, such as doctors, plumbers, and gardeners, do not. Just say, "Can you call a doctor?"

2A: Can you arrange a ride/shuttle/taxi to the airport for me? (This sentence I like more than 2B because it has the same structure in my language.)

2B: Can you arrange for a transfer to drive me to the airport?

That one makes no sense. A transfer is not a mode of transporation.

That's what I know.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Re: arrange for the doctor for me / for a taxi for me

Yes, from my previous topic I know "Can you arrange for the doctor to visit me?" is correct. But, I have one more question (I should have been asked here. Sorry that I didn't do that).

I wonder if I can omit "to do something" in the sentence below:

I don't feel very well. Can you call the doctor for me?

The sentence doesn't say "to do something."

Arrange is not natural. We never arrange doctors, and we are not likely to ask someone to arrange a doctor's visit.

We call doctors.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: arrange for the doctor for me / for a taxi for me

Maybe it's a BrE v AmE thing, but "arrange" works fine if you're asking someone else to make the call. If I were ill at a hotel and I couldn't make a call myself (because I'm too ill or because I don't know the relevant phone number), I might well call reception and say "I'm really ill. Can you arrange for a doctor to come here please?"

I agree that we don't "arrange doctors" but we do "arrange a doctor's appointment/visit". Having said that, saying "Can you arrange a doctor for me?" would be perfectly understandable and I think some native speakers would use it.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Re: arrange for the doctor for me / for a taxi for me

Maybe it's a BrE v AmE thing, but "arrange" works fine if you're asking someone else to make the call. . . . Having said that, saying "Can you arrange a doctor for me?" would be perfectly understandable and I think some native speakers would use it.

Viva la difference!

It's not completely unnatural in the US, it's just not what we're likely to say. We almost always say "call a doctor."

 

[jutfrank]

Re: arrange for the doctor for me / for a taxi for me

I doubt there's any difference between varieties. I think we're all saying the same thing.

Can you arrange for a doctor to come tomorrow morning? :tick:
Can you arrange a doctor's appointment for me? :tick:
Can you arrange a doctor for me? :cross:

If a native were to utter the latter, which I agree is not totally unnatural, I'd assume they were using the word doctor to mean 'doctor's appointment'. However, I'd still mark it wrong, or questionable at best, as it's not the kind of use I think we should be modelling on the forum, in my opinion. And if it's supposed to mean Can you call a doctor for me?, then it's definitely wrong.