Re: Aspects of English Grammar

scripserunt multi:

> On Fri, Mar 12, 2004 at 10:07:57PM -0600, Nik Taylor wrote:
> > > Philippe Caquant wrote:
> > >
> > > "To be about to" is possible in the future tense:
> > > Tomorrow morning, at the same time, I'll be about to
> > > take the train to Madrid...
> > >
> > > > To this native speaker, that sounds, at best, only semi-gramatical.
> > > [snip]
>
(Mark Reed:)
> It sounds perfectly natural to me, and I'm also a native speaker.
> I'm sure I've used exactly that construct zillions of times in my
> everyday speech.
>
Well, this native speaker finds it Quite Odd and awkward.  For one thing,
it's combining _definite future_ time (tomorrow morning, at the same time)
with _indefinite future_ (...I'll be about to board).  Further, "about to"
can refer to (1)something immediate and non-postponible ("Yikes, I'm about
to throw up", "The plane is about to take off") or (2) something at a more
uncertain time, and perhaps postponible ("Henry's about to join the Army [in
5 mins? today? tomorrow? in 5 days?] , but I think we can dissuade him").

Note that (1) "Tomorrow, at this time, I'll be about to throw up" is total
nonsense.
(2) likewise IMO "5 days from now, Henry will be about to join the Army" --
it does sound OK if I say "....Henry will be getting ready to..." or simply
"...Henry will be joining....".

With past and present tenses, one can use "about to" with impunity.

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