Date:  Fri, 11 Apr 1997 09:42:06 -0700
From:  Peter Richardson <prichard[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]LINFIELD.EDU>
Subject: Re: Variation in "try"-complements?

> > I don't get "forgot locking the door" at all -- can't imagine what it
> means.
 I suspect the meaning is "forgot that I had locked the door" or
 "forgot having locked the door." This, of course, is just the opposite
 of "forgot to lock the door."

As long as we're on "forget," how about "remember"? i.e. I remembered
visiting him at home vs. I remembered to visit him at home. (I trust that
no one out there confuses these two, but am certainly willing to be proven
wrong.)

As a newcomer to this list, I don't know whether the overstated "I would
have liked to have seen him" has come up, or what the opinions (I won't
reveal mine) are about
        I would like to have seen him
            and
        I would have liked to see him.
Some treat these as equals, some don't, and others (most, I guess) just go
for the gusto and combine the two, as in the first example at the
beginning of this paragraph.

> > to see if it has some effect, such as cooling the house down. But I don't
> > feel any difference in "He walked up onto the porch and tried [to open |
> > opening] the door, but when he found it was locked, turned around and left."
I think either works fine in this larger context, but--as you--can
certainly feel a difference in the shorter phrases between
infinitive-as-object and gerund-as-object. (My formative language
background: northern Illinois)

Peter Richardson
Linfield College / Oregon>