Deserve (grammatical controversy)

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Rustamsher
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Deserve (grammatical controversy)

Post by Rustamsher »

Hello, Alan!

The following examples come from Oxford Learner's Dictionaries:

They didn't deserve to win.
Several other points deserve mentioning.

I have done a little research into the verb 'deserve' (in passive meaning) and I have got two different results:

Some grammar books say that 'deserve to be done' and 'deserve doing' are equally correct, whereas others say that only 'deserve to be done' is right.

For example:

(a) Your ideas deserve to be discussed.
(b) Your ideas deserve discussing.

My questions concerning the (b) version are as follows:

1) Is it incorrect or informally acceptable?

Or

2) Is this one of the cases that can be grammatically correct but sound unnatural?

3) If it is correct, is it recognized by many linguists-grammarians?

Dear teacher, could you please comment on all my three questions?

Many thanks
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Alan
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Re: Deserve (grammatical controversy)

Post by Alan »

The use of the passive gerund here is somewhat colloquial, albeit widespread.

However, for the most formal writing I would recommend the passive infinitive construction.
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