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Stanislav
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Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2005 9:13 am
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I need your help

Post by Stanislav »

Hi. I need the explanation. Can I omit particle "that" in the next sentence: "I want that you bring it to me."
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GiddyGad
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Post by GiddyGad »

"I want you to bring it to me" sounds much better.
I'll explain the rule later if you don't mind.
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GiddyGad
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Post by GiddyGad »

Stas,

First I've got a few questions:
1. Do you know what the Subjunctive Mood means?
2. Do you have Russian installed?

Now, the Russian verb Hot'et' - "to want" requires the Subjunctive, i.e. the Mood English uses after verbs "recommend", "necessitate", "suggest", "suppose", "propose", etc., and some constructions like "Its necessary...", et al. The Russian particle "бы" (bee [lol]) is the indicator of the Subjunctive Mood and the word "чтобы" (chtobee) is in fact a combination of "что"+"бы" (chto+bee).
Now, "that" is as you know "что" (chto), and "бы" (bee) is either "should" or "would" ("would" here expressing desire and "should" - advice).
Thus "...что+бы..." (...chto+bee...) in English will be "...that... should...".
For example, in Russian you would say "I suggest him to do the job himself" which actually you shouldn't in English, because the verb "suggest" requires the Subjunctive Mood. So you will have to say "I suggest (that) he (should) do the job himself. Both "that" and "should" may be omitted in speach but they are meant to be there, i.e. you can't (and may not) say "I suggest he does the job" - only "do" will do here (you can use only the Infinitive after modal verbs).
Finally, you can't use the Infinitive after the verb "to want" in Russian, can you? And you shouldn't use the Subjunctive after the verb "want" in English.
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