Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[navi]

Can't 1 mean both a and b?

1-The man to get the job done was tall.

a-The man who would get the job done was tall.
b-The man who got the job done was tall.

[bud]

Well, definitely 1 and b could be equivalent in the proper context.

I'm not so sure about 1 and a, though. You mean that the (unknown) man who can possibly do the job successfully will have to be tall, right? If that's so, I think both 1 and a would need "is" rather than "was."

Maybe others will add their opinions.

[navi]

Thanks Bud,
Actually, I think with the meaning you give to it, the verb has to be "is", unless we backshift the sentence "We knew that the man who..."

But what if a specific man has been assigned to the job and he is tall.

The man to repair the computer was tall.

The man to do the job was tall.

The man they had sent to repair the computer was tall.

[bud]

Ok, I see I confused the issue by saying that the man was unknown. I don't know why I wrote that, because I can't imagine that being known or unknown would affect the verb tense or the sense of the sentence.

All of the sample sentences in your second post seem in the past tense to me, and I think it's because of "was" (and "knew"). The "was" says to me that the choosing of the man and the completion of the job were in the past. The only way I can imagine that the job was not yet done is if it was decided not to do the job after all. (We chose man who was tall to fix the computer, but then decided it would be cheaper to get a new computer.) If the job is still scheduled (and not yet done), than "is" would be used in his description. So I think the only timeframe possible for 1 is in the past.

Getting back to your original question, I can see another possiblity for the meaning of a, and then it might well be the same as 1. I don't know for sure, though... a could mean that the man who turned out to be the one to get the job done was tall. That is, the overall timeframe is before the man was chosen. Or to put in yet another way, the man was chosen in a more recent past than the past a is referring to. Then, I think probably 1 and a are the same.

I hope that helps rather than confuses further!

[navi]

Thanks a lot Bud,
You haven't created any confusion. I find the way you tackle these sentences interesting. You go about it logically and that's the way I do it.

The man to repair the computer was tall.

One possibility is what you suggest: the job wasn't done.
But maybe there are other possibilities:
The man to repair the computer arrived just before I left. (I don't know if he repaired it or not).

The man to repair the computer was tall so he could help me bring down the whatnot.

In this case, he hasn't repaired the computer yet and he is working on it. Whether he does finish his job or not is besides the point. He was there and he was the man to repair the computer (the man assigned to the task) and he was tall.

Does this make sense, or am I off the track?

[bud]

Thanks, Navi.

I agree. Once I left the building, I would use "was" regradless of whether or not he was still onsite.

However, I think I would use "is" if the job was likely to be ongoing the next day. In other words, I would use "is" if it was likely that we'd cross paths again.

Maybe the key is whether or not we are likely to meet again.

Great question, Navi.

[navi]

Thanks again Bud.