I object to you having a girlfriend. vs I object you to having a girlfriend.

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

Hi there!

“I object to you having a girlfriend” or “I object you to having a girlfriend”
Which is the correct one?

Thanks in advance!

2

I object to you[color=red]r having a girlfriend[color=red].

Do not forget a period at the end of a sentence.

3

[color=darkred]As far as I know “I object to you+verb+ing” is also possible. If not, provide any explanation, please.

Maryann

4

When a gerund is preceded by a noun or pronoun, the noun or pronoun must be in the possessive case. Accordingly, it is correct to say I can understand his wanting to go, but incorrect to say I can understand him wanting to go.
Harbrage College Handbook

5

I’m a little bit puzzled. What about this sentence “I object to you playing any other court sim game”? which you can find here watch this

Maryann

6

Maryann, there have been hot disputes about the construction you are defending, it is often called “fused participle”.

In general, I think most grammarians approve of it now, though not all; I think the most traditional ones will not approve. Using it with a pronoun is a bit different: more people disapprove of it then, they would have you use the possessive pronoun. Still, I should say that “I saw him coming” and such are often used by native speakers, and I think most foreign students will not be corrected. Although I am not entirely sure about this.

7

Hello Maryann,

In addition to the grammar information that you might find on this site, the following website is a very good source of information for grammar rules that you should know for academic or formal written English:
grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/index.htm

If you visit the link below, scroll down to “Using Possessives with Gerunds”. The write-up about when to use possessives with gerunds is quite good.
grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/gerunds.htm
As you will see in that link, there are also situations in which a possessive noun/pronoun should not automatically be used simply because it is followed by the -ing form of a verb. An old Beatles song provides an interesting example of just such a situation:

  • I saw her standing there.
    “Her” is not a possessive adjective in that sentence. It is the object form of the pronoun “she”. These sentences would also be correct:
  • I saw him standing there.
  • I saw Maryann standing there.

With respect to the sentence you posted, if formally correct (traditional) grammar rules had been applied, then the word “your” rather than “you” would have been used.
In informal everyday English, however, it is not at all unusual for people to use an object pronoun rather than a possessive adjective in such a sentence.

[size=92]“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
— Abraham Lincoln[/size]

8

Hi Serzige,

With reference to your sentences:

“I object to you having a girlfriend” or “I object you to having a girlfriend”.

Let’s put aside the heavy grammar talk for a minute - the second one doesn’t really make sense because the verb ‘object’ needs the preposition ‘to’ if it’s going to take an object. I think others have gone down a different track in their responses. Am I right?

Alan

9

[color=blue]Many thanks, Esl Expert (don’t know your real name) for those helpful links you’ve shared with us. The information, given there, made it clear for me the usage of Possessives with Gerunds and its explanation.

Maryann

10

hey, i’d like to ask a question here by the way. What do people mean by saying:

1- It’s subject to do something.
2- It’s object to do something.

Please help

11

[color=darkblue]Here is Alan’s explanation as to the meaning of subject and object Follow here

[color=indigo]Maryann

12

I do not quite understand what you mean here, those sentences do not make sense to me.

13

Sorry to have made confusion. What I meant was I wanted to ask about “subject” and “object” in the following context.

  • Technological innovation, as discussed above, is subject to the law of diminishing returns.

  • In contrast, something is object to us when we can take a perspective on it…

And what is the meaning of either of the following contructions

1- to be subject to gerund/ing form
2- to be object to gerund/ing form

Is this cleared up? Please help Cerberous.

Thanks

14

Thanks Alan…you’re right they got off track. Your explanation was quite clear…

15

I have answered about “subject” in this thread:
english-test.net/forum/ftopic35444.html
My comments in bold:

16

I’ll tell you something of their etymology. Both come from Latin iaceo, meaning “to throw”. Both are passive past participles. Subiectus means “thrown under [something]” and obiectus means “thrown in the way of [something]”. Their meaning is not intrinsically very different.

In philosophy:

  • The subject has come to mean the agent of action or perception, looking from the “I” perspective or active perspective.
  • The object is the thing that is exposed to an action or perception, as in the “other” perspective or passive perspective.

In linguistics:

  • The “subject” of a sentence is the thing or person that does the action of the main verb. It determines the form of the verb: in “he hits me”, the s in “hits” is added because the subject is in the third person singular.
  • The “object” is the thing or person that the action is performed on, that experiences the effects of the action. In “he hits me” the object is “me” and it has no effect on the form of the finite verb.
    They were already used this way by Roman grammarians.

As you can see, the “subject” has changed from a passive role in “thrown under” to an active role in philosophy and linguistics. In “to be subject to something”, however, this passive role has been retained.