Reply
Sat 12 Dec, 2015 01:38 pm
Could I say this?
-If John manages to wait Mary, he will be very happy.
I am not sure about English, but in my mind and in some other languages, the sentence above would not work, because the meaning is strange: waiting is simply an act of attempt; it doesn' t tell you Mary will come or arrive in the end. There's no point saying John will be very happy. But I've heard non-natives using the structure this way.
"If John manages to wait for Mary . . ." would work. It would depend on context, though. For example: "John is dissatisfied with his relationship because Mary is not ready to make a commitment. If John manages to wait for Mary, he will be very happy." There is a standard locution used in descriptions of relationships, "to wait for," which means to wait until the other party is ready to make a commitment, get married, or otherwise consummate the relationship.
I often spend Saturday afternoons waiting for my wife outside shoe stores.
@WBYeats,
I agree with Setanta here, too.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace