[General] preposition or pro-infinitive

[yamamoto]

Hello.
This is a line in the song, 'You would be so nice to come home to'
In this sentence how can I undertand the usage of the last word 'to'?

And I understand the pro-infinitve is used to omit the words behind to-infinitive such as "I want to".
But when we know the situation well, can we use the pro-infinitive?
For example, my friend is looking for the keys, so can I ask him, "Can I help you to?" instead of "Can I help you to find the keys?"

Thank you.

 

[5jj]

This is a line in the song, 'You would be so nice to come home to'. ......In this sentence how can I understand the usage of the last word 'to'?

It's a preposition.

It would be so nice to come home to you.
You would be so nice to come home to.

 

[yamamoto]

Thank you very much for your kind answer.

Would you possibly check the second question regarding pro-infinitive?

 

[TheParser]

Hello.
This is a line in the song, 'You would be so nice to come home to'
In this sentence how can I undertand the usage of the last word 'to'?

NOT A TEACHER


(1) I really like your question, so may I comment?

(2) I do not have the confidence to parse your sentence, but I do respectfully

suggest that -- when you have time -- you check your books and the Web for

so-called stranded prepositions.

(a) If you find an answer that directly answers your question about "to" in your

sentence, please do share it with us.

 

[Tdol]

For example, my friend is looking for the keys, so can I ask him, "Can I help you to?" instead of "Can I help you to find the keys?"

For me this would only make sense if you had ... after it. It would be easier to say Can I help you?

By pro-infinitve, do you mean pro-verb?

 

[TheParser]

Hello.
This is a line in the song, 'You would be so nice to come home to'
In this sentence how can I undertand the usage of the last word 'to'?

NOT A TEACHER


(1) I have found a little more information about stranded/deferred prepositions such as the "to" in your sentence.

(2) If I understand what I have read, your sentence is really something like:

You would be so nice [for me] to come home to [you].

(a) The "rule" is that the object of "to" must not be expressed. Why?

Because the subject of the main sentence is "You" and the object of the prepositional phrase is also "you." Therefore, it is obligatory to drop the second "you."

(3) Here is the rule in the words of Professor Sidney Greenbaum in the 1996 edition of his Oxford English Grammar (page 301):

"The complement [of a preposition] is absent ... [when] the subject of the host clause is the same as the implied prepositional complement [object] in an infinitive clause."

(a) Here is one of the professor's examples:

"Buses are easy to see into." = "It is easy to see into buses."

(4) Apparently, there are several ways to express your sentence:

(a) (Very natural) You would be so nice to come home to.

(b) (Very natural, as Teacher 5jj taught us) It would be so nice to come home to you.

(c) (I think this is also grammatical) To come home to you would be so nice.

(d) The million-dollar question: Is there a super formal way to express this idea in which the preposition "to" is followed by some relative pronoun and the preposition is not stranded or deferred? Such a mystery sentence would not, of course, be natural, but would it be -- in theory -- grammatically correct?

 

[TheParser]

Hello.
This is a line in the song, 'You would be so nice to come home to'
In this sentence how can I undertand the usage of the last word 'to'?

NOT A TEACHER


(1) I thought about your question all night, and I have something else to add:

(a) I think that the following sentence is grammatical:

You are a person whom it would be so nice to come home to.

(b) So if one wanted to avoid a stranded/deferred preposition, I should think

(repeat: think) the following -- although NOT natural -- would be grammatical:

You are a person to whom it would be so nice to come home.

(2) I wonder what the teachers think.