things to make you anxious

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

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azz
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things to make you anxious

Post by azz »

a. He'll tell you things to make you anxious.

Is (a) grammatically correct?

I think it is. But how would you parse it. I think 'to make you anxious' postmodifies 'things'. Would you agree with that?

The sentence means:

b. He'll tell you things that will make you anxious.

and not:

c. He'll tell you things in order to make you anxious.

(c) doesn't make sense. You can't make someone anxious just by telling them 'things'.

Would you agree with that?

Many thanks.
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Alan
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Re: things to make you anxious

Post by Alan »

I disagree with your semantic judgment: both readings make sense, and either is possible depending on context, with the grammatical analysis varying according to meaning.

1. The 'purpose' interpretation: the infinitive phrase would be understood as modifying the verb.
2. The 'result' interpretation: the infinitive phrase would (indeed) be understood as postmodifying the noun.
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