# what + bare infinitive



## maltravieso

Please help me.
I can´t understand why the following sentence sounds wrong for me, although I think it is correct.

'What the government must not do is forget our needs' 


Is there any other possibility you may suggest?

Thank you


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## Agró

Según Swan (_Practical English Usage_), existe la posibilidad de usar infinitivo con "to":

_All I did was (to) give him a little punch.
What a fire-door does is (to) delay the spread of a fire long enough for people to get out._


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## gringuitoloco

maltravieso said:


> Please help me.
> I can´t understand why the following sentence sounds wrong for me, although I think it is correct.
> 
> 'What the government must not do is forget our needs'
> 
> 
> Is there any other possibility you may suggest?
> 
> Thank you



This is correct. You could also say "All the government needs to do is not forget our needs."




Agró said:


> Según Swan (_Practical English Usage_), existe la posibilidad de usar infinitivo con "to":
> 
> _All I did was (to) give him a little punch.
> What a fire-door does is (to) delay the spread of a fire long enough for people to get out._



Adding "to" here doesn't sound very good. I would add "to" when the verb is "wanted."
"All I wanted was to give him a little punch."


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## Lis48

maltravieso said:


> Please help me.
> I can´t understand why the following sentence sounds wrong for me, although I think it is correct.
> 
> 'What the government must not do is forget our needs'
> 
> 
> Is there any other possibility you may suggest?
> 
> Thank you


Sounds fine to me e.g. 
What I can´t understand is why you find it strange. 
What you mustn´t do is guess the answer.


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## maltravieso

thank you all


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## Spug

gringitoloco said:


> Adding "to" here doesn't sound very good. I would add "to" when the verb is "wanted."
> "All I wanted was to give him a little punch."



Agreed, especially from the perspective of AE.

Swan's book has been found wanting more than once.


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## maltravieso

So,I must understand that

'What the governement must not do is forget our needs' is the best option, but
'What the governement must not do is to forget our needs' is also possible

However, the first one is preferable in AE.

Any different opinion on this?


Besides, Swan also speaks about this other possibility:

'What the governement must not do is forgetS our needs'

thank you


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## inib

maltravieso said:


> So,I must understand that
> 
> 'What the governement must not do is forget our needs' is the best option, but
> 'What the governement must not do is to forget our needs' is also possible
> 
> However, the first one is preferable in AE.
> 
> Any different opinion on this?
> 
> 
> Besides, Swan also speaks about this other possibility:
> 
> 'What the governement must not do is forgetS our needs'
> 
> thank you


 You asked for more opinions, so here's mine, but it is only an opinion...I haven't looked it up anywhere:
_All I did was (to) give him a little punch_ sounds ok to me in both versions (though my own tendency would probably be to miss out the _to_), but I cannot understand the use of _to_ after _must_ in the government example.
But I am extremely perplexed about Swan's other possibility:_ What the government must not do is forget*S* our needs_. That sounds awful to me, whether or not there is a grammatical explanation, which I can't imagine.


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## Lis48

maltravieso said:


> ,
> Besides, Swan also speaks about this other possibility:
> 
> 'What the governement must not do is forgetS our needs'
> 
> thank you


Ádding an S to forget is ungrammatical because_ forget_ still is the infinitive whether it has _to_ in front of it or not so would never be conjugated.
e.g. You would never say: 'The government must forgetS our needs'


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## blasita

I agree with Inib and Lis.

Maltravieso, could you write an example he gives (with the ´s´), please? I have the book, and I can´t find it.

Thanks. Un saludo.


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## Istriano

_All I wanna do is have some fun._

In examples like this one, I think the bare infinitive is more common.


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## maltravieso

PRACTICAL ENGLISH USAGE
second edition
oup

*131 Cleft Sentences*
2. Enphasising verbs
what she does is (to) write/writes science fiction
PAGE 115


Is this correct, then?


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## Istriano

What she does (for a living) is write science fiction.


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## blasita

maltravieso said:


> PRACTICAL ENGLISH USAGE
> second edition
> oup
> 
> *131 Cleft Sentences*
> 2. Enphasising verbs
> what she does is (to) write/writes science fiction
> PAGE 115
> 
> 
> Is this correct, then?



Thank you.

I´ve got the 3rd edition, and this option (´writes´) is not there, only: “What she does is (to) write science fiction./What she does is, she writes science fiction.”

But if it´s there, I suppose it´s not ungrammatical; it doesn´t sound good to me, though. So, let´s wait for other foreros´ opinions.

Un saludo.


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## pubman

You can only choose one option, you cannot mix them.

What she does is to write science fiction, or
What she does is writes science fiction, or
What she does is write science fiction

I can see, maltravieso, how confusing that example must seem


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## blasita

pubman said:


> You can only choose one option, you cannot mix them.
> 
> What she does is to write science fiction, or
> What she does is writes science fiction, or
> What she does is write science fiction
> 
> I can see, maltravieso, how confusing that example must seem



Thanks, Pubman.

So, is there any difference?


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## pubman

pubman said:


> You can only choose one option, you cannot mix them.
> 
> What she does is to write science fiction, or
> What she does is writes science fiction, or
> What she does is write science fiction
> 
> I can see, maltravieso, how confusing that example must seem


 

I have just seen Blasita's post and I agree the second example sounds the worst to me.

I personally prefer the first option and I'm guessing the third option would be preferred in the US

Edit to answer Blasita's question; No, they all mean the same to me.


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## blasita

pubman said:


> I have just seen Blasita's post and I agree the second example sounds the worst to me.
> 
> I personally prefer the first option and I'm guessing the third option would be preferred in the US



Cheers, Pubman.


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## Lis48

maltravieso said:


> PRACTICAL ENGLISH USAGE
> second edition
> oup
> 
> *131 Cleft Sentences*
> 2. Enphasising verbs
> what she does is (to) write/writes science fiction
> PAGE 115
> 
> 
> Is this correct, then?


 
Ah.
what she does is (to) write science fiction    One clause.
what she does is*,* (she) writes science fiction   Two separate clauses here separated by a comma.


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## blasita

Lis48 said:


> Ah.
> what she does is (to) write science fiction    One clause.
> what she does is*,* (she) writes science fiction   Two separate clauses here separated by a comma.



Yes, there´s a comma (p 107), and it says this structure is informal. It doesn´t say here that the subject can be omitted; thank you, Lis.


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## maltravieso

blasita said:


> Yes, there´s a comma (p 107), and it says this structure is informal. It doesn´t say here that the subject can be omitted; thank you, Lis.



On Page 115
*Second Edition*

There is no coma in this sample, though.

What she does is (to) write/writes science fiction

Thanks for all your answers, I think I have it quite clear now.

What the government must not do is to forget our needs (UK)
What the government must not do is forget our needs (USA)
What the government must not do is forgets our needs (better avoid this option)

THNX again, you´ve been very helpful


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## blasita

maltravieso said:


> PAge 115
> Second Edition
> 
> No coma
> 
> What she does is (to) write/writes science fiction
> 
> Thanks for all your answers, I think I have it quite clear now.
> 
> What the government must not do is to forget our needs (UK)
> What the government must not do is forget our needs (USA)
> What the government must not do is forgets our needs (better avoid this option)
> 
> THNX again, you´ve been very helpful



Maltravieso, please don´t take it amiss, but this option is not included in the third edition.

Lis said you´d need a comma after ´is´ if you write it (you have ´/´ in the book though, which may not be very clear).

Saludos.

Edit: It´d be interesting to have an AmE speaker´s point of view too.


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## pubman

maltravieso said:


> On Page 115
> *Second Edition*
> 
> There is no coma in this sample, though.
> 
> What she does is (to) write/writes science fiction
> 
> Thanks for all your answers, I think I have it quite clear now.
> 
> What the government must not do is to forget our needs (UK)
> What the government must not do is forget our needs (USA)
> What the government must not do is forgets our needs (better avoid this option)
> 
> THNX again, you´ve been very helpful


 
You got it, Forget the third sentence, it's not an option, it's just wrong.


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## maltravieso

blasita said:


> Maltravieso, I´ve never said it wasn´t like this!  Please don´t take it amiss, but this option is not included in the third edition.
> 
> Lis said you´d need a comma after ´is´ if you write it (you have ´/´ in the book though, which may not be very clear).
> 
> Saludos.



I did NOT take your post amiss.

You´ve been very helpful, too.


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## blasita

maltravieso said:


> I did NOT take your post amiss.
> 
> You´ve been very helpful, too.



Menos mal, que hay quien no se lo toma así ... Gracias.  Saludos.


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## ribran

blasita said:


> Edit: It´d be interesting to have an AmE speaker´s point of view too.



I prefer the second sentence, but I consider both to be correct.


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## blasita

ribran said:


> I prefer the second sentence, but I consider both to be correct.



Thank you, Ribran.


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## inib

I'll check my edition tomorrow (I wouldn't be surprised if it's the first - I've had it for so long!). 
There's no way I'd wish to challenge Michael Swan, but to my ear,  that 3rd person "S" sounds *wrong* with or without a comma.


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## ribran

inib said:


> I'll check my edition tomorrow (I wouldn't be surprised if it's the first - I've had it for so long!).
> There's no way I'd wish to challenge Michael Swan, but to my ear,  that 3rd person "S" sounds *wrong* with or without a comma.



Yes, I agree, inib. It sounds strange to me, too.


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## Spug

inib said:


> There's no way I'd wish to challenge Michael Swan, but to my ear,  that 3rd person "S" sounds *wrong* with or without a comma.



???

You should feel confident in challenging him or whoever might have written that sentence, because it is clearly wrong. Is that sentence really in Swan's book?


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## inib

Thanks for the support, ribran and Spug. When someone asks for advice about common usage, I contribute to the best of my ability, and basing my comments on the English I've always used, plus other variants I've learnt mostly thanks to WR. But when someone asks an advanced grammar question, I haven't the studies or the experience to say that no-one nowhere can apply a certain usage. I would presume that someone who publishes a grammar book that we are all so familiar with would have done that research, so there may be something to it. ?¿?¿


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