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Sentence Structure for Writers (2017)

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84 points onemind | 3 comments | 13 Nov 24 22:17 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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BoostandEthanol ◴[17 Nov 24 14:51 UTC] No.42164462[source]▶
Am I missing something here or does the very first example break this article’s own point?

“It was nice of John and Mary to come and visit us the other day,” is 8 words before the verb come.

“For John and Mary to come and visit us the other day was nice,” is only five, focused solely on the subject with no additional information (how the author felt about their visit)

Yet personally the second one reads easier for me, so I guess that reinforces the point to me specifically? Although I agree it’s unusual.

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1. phillc73 ◴[17 Nov 24 15:15 UTC] No.42164577[source]▶
Why is the clunky construct “to come and visit” even used?

“It was nice of John and Mary to visit us the other day”

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2. dahart ◴[17 Nov 24 15:30 UTC] No.42164677[source]▶
Come and visit makes it sound like they traveled to be there, where just visit might be the neighbor stopping by. It’s subtle and ambiguous, but I do see valid use for come and visit.
3. rawgabbit ◴[17 Nov 24 22:53 UTC] No.42168101[source]▶
I believe it is for emphasis. Instead of a big deal. It is a big ginormous deal that John and Mary would come all the way from their country estate to visit us their poor relations in our humble house.