[Grammar] Using a noun before the infinitive.

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murat_turkey

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Good afternoon everyone

In English would be acceptable to use a noun/pronoun before the infinitive to tell who is doing the action?

I am aware that the verb 'suggest' can be followed by a gerund; however, I would like to know, if the below examples are correct or do they have different meaning?


  • She suggested people to drive on Sundays.
  • She suggested driving on Sundays.


Thank you in advance.
 

Phaedrus

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  • She suggested people to drive on Sundays.
That is incorrect.

I think, Piscean, that you are parsing the sentence as "She suggested them to drive on Sundays," and I agree with you that it is incorrect on that parsing. It occurs to me, though, that there are two alternative ways of parsing the sentence, on either of which interpretations the sentence is correct:

(2) = She suggested people [for us] to drive __ on Sundays. / She suggested people whom we could drive on Sundays.
E.g.: We didn't know who(m) to drive on Sundays, until she helped us out. She suggested people to drive on Sundays. Later on, we drove them.

(3) = She suggested people who could drive on Sundays.
E.g.: We couldn't decide whom to ask to drive on Sundays, until she helped us out. She suggested people to drive on Sundays. Later on, we asked them to.
 

GoesStation

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I think, Piscean, that you are parsing the sentence as "She suggested them to drive on Sundays," and I agree with you that it is incorrect on that parsing. It occurs to me, though, that there are two alternative ways of parsing the sentence, on either of which interpretations the sentence is correct ….
While it's possible to construct a case where sentence one from the original post is possible, doing so doesn't help the poster. Murat_turkey asked a specific question: whether it's "… acceptable to use a noun/pronoun before the infinitive to tell who is doing the action …." The proposed sentence is incorrect, so in that context, the answer is simply no.

Let's focus on common usage and save obscure possibilities for separate threads.
 

jutfrank

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To be entitled to a "simple 'no,'" murat_turkey should have asked whether "suggest" can be complemented by an infinitival clause with an overt subject.

I'm sure murat-turkey would have if he'd been able.

I get this question a lot. The sentence students are usually looking for is the one expressed with a subjunctive:

She suggested that he drive.

Since the context of the OP sentence is not very helpful, I'm not completely sure that this kind of sentence is what murat_turkey is looking for, but my intuition tells me that it is, so:

She suggested that people drive on Sundays.
 

GoesStation

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Thus, not only is "She suggested people to drive on Sundays" not incorrect. It is correct on three possible readings!
This really isn't helpful. Nobody would actually say that, and learners' work will be marked wrong if they use it.

I've moved this conversation to a new thread in the General Language forum. Please follow it there if you wish to pursue it.
 

emsr2d2

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Good afternoon, everyone.

In English, would it be acceptable to use a noun/pronoun before the infinitive to tell us who is doing the action?

I am aware that the verb 'suggest' can be followed by a gerund; however, I would like to know no comma here if the [STRIKE]below[/STRIKE] examples below are correct or [STRIKE]do[/STRIKE] if they have different meanings.


  • She suggested people to drive on Sundays.
  • She suggested driving on Sundays.

[STRIKE]Thank you in advance.[/STRIKE] Unnecessary. Thank us after we help you, by clicking on the "Thank" button.

Please note my corrections above, particularly to your use of punctuation.
 
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