to buy curtains

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

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navit
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to buy curtains

Post by navit »

1) Tom is taking his wife to buy curtains.

Is the implied agent of 'to buy curtains' necessarily Tom's wife?
Could it be Tom?
Could it be Tom and his wife? (I don't think grammatically that is possible)

Gratefully,
Navi
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Alan
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Re: to buy curtains

Post by Alan »

Since 'take' in order to be meaningful here requires a complemental verb (to buy), whose agent is naturally considered to be the preceding object, namely his wife, it is she who is said to be doing the buying. (Whatever custom/common sense might lead one to expect, there is no linguistic basis for assuming that Tom is participating in the act of buying!)
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