To-infinitive doubt - Please help

Adailton de Oliveira   Tue Feb 17, 2009 12:54 am GMT
Good evening from Brazil,

I’m writing to ask you guys for your opinion on a grammar point discussed in class at college.

I’m going to write below what my professor of English thinks and what I think. Can you please shortly introduce yourself (where you’re from, what you do etc – to give your opinion more credit) and express your view on the below point?

My professor is teaching my class the ‘to-infinitive’. She asked us to translate a sentence from Portuguese into English and this is what I suggested:

- I don’t want him to go.

She told me it’s grammatically incorrect and is not proper English. The ‘negative to-infinitive’ should be:

- I want him not to go.

Am I missing some grammar point related to this? For me the first sentence sounds totally correct.

Can you guys please comment? Aren’t both grammatically correct?

According to my professor’s opinion, it’s like saying ‘I don’t have money’ (which in her opinion is incorrect) instead of ‘I have no money’.

I really appreciate your help. Thanks in advance.
Language Lover   Tue Feb 17, 2009 12:58 am GMT
Você tem razão.
CID   Tue Feb 17, 2009 1:18 am GMT
<<- I don’t want him to go. >>

I am a native English speaker. That's all the credentials you need.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this sentence. It is perfectly grammatically correct and is what you'd hear more often than "I want him not to go". Also, nothing wrong with "I don’t have [any] money’"--completely normal sounding.

Tell your English Profesora that she's crazy. You get an 'A'!
tbd   Tue Feb 17, 2009 1:27 am GMT
As an American native speaker I can tell you what's common.

"I don't want him to go" is far more common than "I want him not to go" which I never hear - unless its a response to "I want him to go"

Most people here say "I don't have any money" rather than "I have no money". There are exceptions. If you're listing what you don't have, then the second form is common. Example:

I have no money, I have no credit cards, I have no checks!

Though you can also say "I don't have any money, credit cards or checks"

Also its common to say "I have no money, so....." as in "I have no money, so I have no way to pay you".

In short "I don't have any money" is much more common as is "I don't want him to go"
Adailton de Oliveira   Tue Feb 17, 2009 1:35 am GMT
Thank you, guys, for your input.

tbd> just a note: she says 'I don't have money' is incorrect (without 'any').

So, from what you said, 'I don't want him to go' is certainly more common than 'I want him not go to'. My teacher's argument is that, even though it's more common, it's not grammatically correct and should be avoided. Any say on that?

Right now I'm looking it up on grammar books so I can show her.
CID   Tue Feb 17, 2009 1:46 am GMT
<<My teacher's argument is that, even though it's more common, it's not grammatically correct and should be avoided. Any say on that?
>>

It *is* grammatically correct. She is wrong :-)
tbd   Tue Feb 17, 2009 3:12 am GMT
I agree with CID.

"I don't want him to go" is fine, plus no native speaker will look at you strangely. They might if you say "I want him not to go". I want him not also sounds archaic like saying...

I think it not fair.
I feel it not a bit.
I know him not at all.

You may encounter this phrasing in English poetry or plays of a former era but if you use it today you'll definitely stand out as someone unaquainted with the language as commonly, and as CID mentions, correctly spoken. Maybe your teacher should read some contemporary authors. My humble opinion only.....
Another Guest   Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:31 am GMT
"I don’t want him to go" is correct. I'm not sure why your teacher feels qualified to contradict native speakers. "I want him to not go" is also correct, but means something slightly different (although people will often say the first when, strictly speaking, they mean the second).

I don't know Portuguese, but I believe that in Spanish, "I don't want him to go" would be "No quiero que vaya", while "I want him to not go" would be "Quiero que no vaya". It seems to me that this is not so much an issue of infinitive, but how to negate statements.

"I want him not to go" is how people who have somehow been convinced that it's wrong to "split infinitives" talk. That is, people who learned English from a book. "I don't have money" is not exactly incorrect, but it is quite odd.

BTW, native American here (not to be confused with Native American).
Uriel   Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:43 am GMT
"I don't want him to go" is definitely normal, grammatical English. "I want him not to go" or "I want him to not go" are also acceptable, but would usually only be used in specific situations where you would be cued to follow that pattern for emphasis, such as an exchange like this:

"He's talking about moving to Austin to get a job there. He'll make a lot more money if he does, but I'll only be able to visit once every few months."

"So what do you want him to do, then?"

"I want him to not go, of course! But we need the money...."


A lot of times there are several ways that you can phrase the same basic thought, depending on what part of the sentence you are trying to emphasize or what previous statement you are responding to. here isn't always just one single "right" answer.

(Native speaker, American)
Adailton de Oliveira   Tue Feb 17, 2009 3:07 pm GMT
Thank you all for your opinion and input.

Whenever I have an English-related question, I know I can come here and get the support I need.

You guys rock!