if he wanted to do it

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

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azz
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if he wanted to do it

Post by azz »

a. I told him to eat slowly if he wanted to.
b. I told him to eat slowly if he wanted to do it.


Is (b) grammatical?

I think (a) means
1. I told him to eat slowly if he wanted to eat slowly.

and (b) could mean
2. I told him to eat slowly if he wanted to eat.
or the same as (a).

In other words I think (b) is ambiguous.

Is that correct?

Many thanks
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Alan
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Re: if he wanted to do it

Post by Alan »

(B) is grammatical but unnatural.

We would say 'do so', not 'do it'.
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