Re: Grammar-holes: secondary predication

On 7/14/07, Douglas Koller <laokou@...> wrote:
> From: Carsten Becker <carbeck@...>
>
> > >  Sie hat so viele Sorten Käse gekauft, das ich aufgehört
> > >  habe, zu zählen.
>
> > That should have been _dass_ and no comma before _zu_
>
> Are these possible?:
>
> ...daß ich aufgehört zu zahlen habe.
>
> ...daß ich zu zahlen aufgehört habe.
>
> Poetic? Pedantic? Formal? Or just plain wrong?
Don't know about prescriptive grammar, but the second sounds formal or
archaic while the first sounds plain wrong. (Also, note that the
sentence has "zählen" -- he's stopped counting --, not "zahlen" --
he's stopped paying.)

Actually, the first reminds me of the construction "Als er an zu
singen fing", which is nonstandard but is heard in some regions of
Germany. (I'm not sure whether it's jocular usage or a bona-fide part
of the local 'lect.) (Standard would be "Als er anfing zu singen" or,
if you'd like, "Als er zu singen anfing".)

Cheers,
--
Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>