Re: Verbal distinctions

On Tue, Aug 19, 2003 at 02:15:31PM -0400, Isidora Zamora wrote:
> As far as getting the English correctly goes, you'll want to use the verb
> "wish" here rather than "want."  (I wish I could explain the reason, beyond
> just saying that "I want that" is unidiomatic.  I'm sure there's more two
> it than that, but I can't grasp it myself.)
There are a couple factors here, one semantic and one syntactic.
Semantically, "want" is generally used only for fulfillable desires, while
counterfactual desires tend to get "wish".  There are exceptions
both ways, but that is the tendency.

Syntactically, "want" tends to get an infinitive (with a subject
in the infinitiave) rather than a relative clause in "that".
Examples:

        I wish that you would come with me.

        I want you to come with me.

Exceptions tend to carry some baggage with them:

        I wish you to come with me.

That sounds a bit haughty.  It would perhaps be used by a royal
personage to soften a command while making it clear that it is,
in fact, a command.

        I want that you come with me.

This is grammatical but non-idiomatic in standard English, although there are
nonstandard dialects in which a variant is common.  For instance, the
stereotypical Hollywood thug might pose the following question:

        Hey boss, you want I should take care of him?

-Mark

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