English grammar questions, answered by Alan
Moderator: Alan
simonwai99
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Posts: 18 Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2004 3:45 pm
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by simonwai99 » Fri Oct 15, 2004 7:03 pm
Hi teachers
My teacher had all students ______( write ) a research paper.
what is the answer to this q ? thx
Hello all
Alan
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Posts: 15237 Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2003 7:56 pm
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Location: Japan
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by Alan » Sat Oct 16, 2004 5:39 am
The answer is 'write': it is a causative construction, where 'had' means 'made' (in the sense 'forced/obliged').
googl
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by googl » Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:11 am
Dear teacher,
Why we use in this causative construction the infinitive, not the past participle? I have sb./sth. do instead of I have sb./sth. done ?
Alan
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Posts: 15237 Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2003 7:56 pm
Status: Teacher of English
Location: Japan
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by Alan » Tue Oct 19, 2004 12:13 pm
They serve different purposes: 'have smb. do smth.' focuses on the person, while 'have smth. done' focuses simply on the action, without reference to its agent.