[General] sprang on me that

[Silverobama]

Hi,

I read this sentence in a Chinese English vocabulary book:

Mary brought her boyfriend to my house, and sprang on me that they were going to get married soon.

Is this sentence natural?

 

[GoesStation]

It's possible.

 

[tedmc]

Shouldn't there be an "it" before "sprang"?

 

[tedmc]

It's possible, not essential.

Should that be an independent clause after "and"?

 

[GoesStation]

Shouldn't there be an "it" before "sprang"?

It doesn't work at all for me. Mary sprang the news on her. There's no room for a dummy pronoun.

 

[Phaedrus]

It doesn't work at all for me. Mary sprang the news on her. There's no room for a dummy pronoun.

Instead of anticipatory "it," which I like there (consider that we wouldn't say, e.g., "[strike]Mary sprang that she was gay on me[/strike]"), "the news" could be used.

Then the "that"-clause would be an extraposed complement clause, deriving from "the news that they were going to get married soon."

Mary sprang the news on me that they were going to get married soon.

 

[GoesStation]

Mary brought her boyfriend to my house, and sprang on me that they were going to get married soon.

Is this sentence natural?

Shouldn't there be an "it" before "sprang"?

It doesn't work at all for me. Mary sprang the news on her. There's no room for a dummy pronoun.

Actually there is room for a dummy pronoun, but it has to go after "sprang". You could write Mary sprang it on me that they were going to get married soon.

Is that what you had in mind, Ted?

 

[Silverobama]

It's possible.

Does "It's possible" mean, "it's likely that the sentence is natural but depends on the context"?

I read the following posts and I think this sentence, which was written by Phaedrus:

Mary sprang the news on me that they were going to get married soon.

is better than mine, but the first part of the sentence is missing.

Do I need to keep the sentence in the original post or used Phaedrus'?

 

[tedmc]

Actually there is room for a dummy pronoun, but it has to go after "sprang". You could write Mary sprang it on me that they were going to get married soon.

Is that what you had in mind, Ted?

Mary brought her boyfriend to my house and it sprang on me that they were going to get married soon.

I suppose the dummy pronoun works with the comma removed.

 

[Phaedrus]

I read the following posts and I think this sentence, which was written by Phaedrus:

is better than mine, but the first part of the sentence is missing.

Hi, Silverobama:

I omitted the first part of your sentence simply because it was irrelevant to the grammatical point I wished to make.

I didn't mean to imply that I thought you should delete that part of the sentence. Let me restore it. Incidentally, the comma is optional (not necessary).

Mary brought her boyfriend to my house, and sprang the news on me that they were going to get married soon.

 

[GoesStation]

Mary brought her boyfriend to my house and it sprang on me that they were going to get married soon.

I suppose the dummy pronoun works with the comma removed.

A person springs a piece of news on you. The news doesn't spring itself.

 

[tedmc]

A person springs a piece of news on you. The news doesn't spring itself.

Mary's bringing her boyfriend to my house sprang on me?

 

[emsr2d2]

Mary's bringing her boyfriend to my house sprang on me?

No.

 

[tedmc]

No.

OK, I know something dawns on me work, but apparently, it is not the same as something springs on me.

 

[emsr2d2]

Something dawning on you and having something sprung on you don't have even remotely the same meaning. The former is a gradual personal realisation of something and the other is a surprise caused by someone else.