On 06/17/2010 11:23 PM, Peter Alcibiades wrote:
It might be something to do with subjunctives - English does have them,
though they are hard to recognize.
"I want that you give me that apple". that seems to be OK if a little old
fashioned and stilted. "I want that he obey his teacher" (not, that he
obeys). Its a bit like je veux que tu ailles a la poste.
Better to avoid the problem by using the infinitive. "I want you to give"
"I want him to obey". Not he, of course, him.
Richmond as an EFL guru will know the proper answer to this....
As "an EFL guru" I would start by saying that I think that is a misuse
and abuse
of the word 'guru' . . . :)
Also, there is a difference between Native English and EFL; the latter
tending increasingly
to focus on Communicative Competence rather than Prescriptive
Grammatical niceties.
I never, ever worry about "whom" as it is already half gone,
and as a native speaker I continually catch myself saying "If I was you"
instead
of "If I were you". From the point of view of a prescriptivist I am wrong;
but, Hey, why don't we all revert to Anglo-Saxon (which is bad Northern
Germano-Danish)?
Walk down a street in, say, Swindon, and I wonder how many people use
the "if I were you" structure - probably none.
I have never heard anybody say "I want that you give me that apple"; it
sounds
like somebody trying to fake 18th century English (and botching it) or
something
from some odd dialect. I would always favour "I want you to give".
"I wist that Thou givest me that apple" micht dae fae some sonsy loon
fae oot a time-machine,
but isnae mensefu the noo.
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