# What does this sentence mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 29, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471 "2012-05-29T19:25:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/1 "2012-05-29T19:25:24Z")
A subject that came up in a linguistics class I’m taking. What does it mean if you say: “Adam promised Betty to be on time.” Is Adam promising to Betty that _he_ will be on time, or is Adam promising to someone else that _Betty_ will be on time? Or is this sentence not even grammatical? ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/2 "2012-05-29T19:30:03Z")
I would go with the first one, though I could see how one could make a case for the second also being correct. Seems awkward, though. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/3 "2012-05-29T19:31:35Z")
In my opinion it’s slightly ambiguous, but only slightly, so I voted for Adam; in usage that I am familiar with, it might have said: Adam promised Betty that he would be on time; or Adam promised to be on time. For the other meaning, it pretty much would have had to say: Adam promised that Betty would be on time. Probably this is a location thing, and Brits or Aussies or someone would say it your way if they were promising for someone else; but I’ve never heard it. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/4 "2012-05-29T19:34:11Z")
IME, a native speaker of American English would understand the sentence to mean that Adam is making a promise to Betty that he will be on time. However, the sentence also strikes me (a native speaker of American English) as, if not outright ungrammatical, nonstandard. Personally, I would say “Adam promised Betty that he would be on time” or “Adam promised to be on time,” where “to Betty” is understood. If I thought there might be some confusion about, it might come out something like, “Adam promised to be on time. He promised Betty [as opposed to Veronica], I mean.” ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/5 "2012-05-29T19:35:52Z")
Adam promised Betty to be on time. I don’t see how it could be anything but Adam promising Betty. Otherwise, it would be “Adam promised (that) Betty would be on time.” ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/6 "2012-05-29T19:41:38Z")
It means Adam said to Betty, “I promise, Betty, to be on time.” I can see how it \*might \*mean that Adam said, “I promise, Hortense, that Betty will be on time.” But if it meant that, I would consider it an ungrammatical construction. In that case, I would say, “Adam promised Betty would be on time.” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/7 "2012-05-29T20:20:00Z")
Too much trouble to diagram on a message board, but my first crack at it would be: Adam (subject) promised (verb) Betty (indirect object) to be on time (infinitive phrase functioning as direct object) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/8 "2012-05-29T20:31:09Z")
No matter when Adam arrives, I’ll bet he has to wait for Betty to finish getting things sorted out. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/9 "2012-05-29T20:39:36Z")
And later, Adam prayed Betty would only be late. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/10 "2012-05-29T20:42:27Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > A subject that came up in a linguistics class I’m taking. What does it mean if you say: > > “Adam promised Betty to be on time.” > > Is Adam promising to Betty that _he_ will be on time, or is Adam promising to someone else that _Betty_ will be on time? > > Or is this sentence not even grammatical? Crap…I answered ‘Adam’, as in ‘this is a shitty sentence but he is promising Betty he’ll be on time’. However, I can now hear, in a slightly old-fashioned way of writing, that the sentence does seem grammatically correct if he’s promising that Betty will be on time. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/11 "2012-05-29T20:45:27Z")
As everyone has said, this is not a particularly pleasing formulation. I voted Betty, it seems less poorly-formed that way. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/12 "2012-05-29T20:55:31Z")
Adam made a promise to Betty Tobeontime, whose name was misspelled. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/13 "2012-05-29T22:07:13Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Adam (subject) > promised (verb) > Betty (indirect object) > to be on time (infinitive phrase functioning as direct object) Yes. If instead (Betty to be on time) were the direct object a different form of _to be_ would be required. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/14 "2012-05-29T22:18:00Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Too much trouble to diagram on a message board, but my first crack at it would be: > > Adam (subject) > promised (verb) > Betty (indirect object) > to be on time (infinitive phrase functioning as direct object) > [@septimus](#): > > Yes. If instead (Betty to be on time) were the direct object a different form of _to be_ would be required. Agreed. _Adam promised to Betty…_ would be proper and perhaps a bit clearer, but dropping the _to_ and saying _Adam promised Betty…_ is quite common, probably how it’s said 90+% of the time. _Adam promised Betty would be on time_ is how I expect anyone would phrase it for the other meaning. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/15 "2012-05-30T02:15:30Z")
It should be “Archie promised Betty…,” anyway. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/16 "2012-05-30T02:29:12Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Crap…I answered ‘Adam’, as in ‘this is a shitty sentence but he is promising Betty he’ll be on time’. However, I can now hear, in a slightly old-fashioned way of writing, that the sentence does seem grammatically correct if he’s promising that Betty will be on time. If it were “Adam promised Betty be on time” I could see it as a pseudo pre-1900 phrasing to mean Betty would be on time, but not as it stand with the “to” in there. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/17 "2012-05-30T03:00:22Z")
Speaking as a Brit, I would say either: - Adam promised Betty that he would be punctual - Adam promised that Betty would be punctual ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/18 "2012-05-30T05:45:33Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > IME, a native speaker of American English would understand the sentence to mean that Adam is making a promise to Betty that he will be on time. However, the sentence also strikes me (a native speaker of American English) as, if not outright ungrammatical, nonstandard. I am also a native speaker of American English. The sentence was being used as an example in our textbook, and I was the only one in the class who got the ‘Adam is promising that Betty will be on time’ reading of the sentence. My professor said she could sort of see it with the passivized version: ‘Betty was promised by Adam to be on time.’ Also, ‘Adam promised to be on time’ is ungrammatical for me: I can only say ‘Adam promised that he would be on time’. We did realize that a lot of the examples in that particular chapter seemed to be on the edge of acceptability; it depended on your dialect/idiolect as to whether you could say them. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/19 "2012-05-30T06:00:36Z")
Stupidly awkward phrasing, and not a sentence I could imagine uttering, but, to me, it means that Adam is promising to Betty that he will be on time. The other reading is possible, but less likely. I would phrase both possibilities as “Adam promised Betty (that) he’d be on time” and “Adam promised that Betty would be on time.” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471/20 "2012-05-30T14:35:30Z")
Neither. It’s just a promise. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sentence-mean/623471.md?page=2)