DONE US PROUD?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Our soldiers have done India proud by protecting her frontiers.
Is this sentence correct and acceptable?

2

I don’t know if it would satisfy the grammar sticklers, but it sounds very natural to me.

3

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Hello, Anglophile:

As Luschen said, your sentence seems to be spot-on.

One Google result states that American SLANG has sentences such as:

  1. He done her wrong. [Only my note: In order to make it sound more like slang and in order to get to the point faster, the “has” has been omitted. “He HAS done her wrong” would not have the same impact. Or it could simply be that some “uneducated” people use “done” when they mean “did.” In any case, using only “done” is popular American slang in such phrases. Also, for some educated people, using “done” gives a humorous flavor. That is, they know that they should say “has done” or “did,” but they want to speak “bad” English on purpose. For example, an educated person might occasionally use “ain’t”:

James: Wow! She’s beautiful!
Tony: Ain’t that true!

(James and Tony laugh together.)]

  1. You did us proud. = You did it so that it made us proud. [Only my note: Our soldiers have done it so that it makes India [to be ] proud.]

Source: a website with the title “Adjective complements to verbs – Grammar Quizzes.”

4

The phrase is idiomatic and has no link to the deliberately incorrect slang use of ‘done’.

oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries … roud_2__13

dictionary.cambridge.org/diction … o-sb-proud

5 
 Hello, James:

I'm confused: [b]make + object + do[/b] OR [b] make + object + to do [/b]? 
  
  Thanks..
6

Thank you, James.

By the way, regarding Foreigner’s confusion, I’m sure you will agree to the former. The latter might have been inadvertent because of the brackets.

7

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Hello, Foreigner:

A lot of things confuse me, too!

I am not quite sure what confuses you.

Here is how I would parse “You did us proud.”

You = subject.
did = verb. (in this case = made)
us = object.
proud = the object complement.

a. That is, the sentence would not be meaningful if you said, “You did us.”

b. So you need a word to complete (“complement”) the object.

c. That is, you made us proud (of you).

i. Your excellent study habits are, I am sure, making your teachers proud (of you).

James

8

Thanks a lot, James!

Please take a look at thread # 5 once again. I believe, the latter, as Anglophile said, might have been inadvertent because of the brackets, mightn’t it?

9

Thanks a lot, James!

Please take a look at thread # 5 once again. I believe, the latter, as Anglophile said, might have been inadvertent because of the brackets, mightn’t it?

 Thanks again.
10

I apologize if the brackets misled you, and I thank Anglophile for clarifying the situation.