Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[aisen]

Hi members,

I am having some trouble with the following sentences. Are these two sentences grammatically correct? I know the best alternative is to use "marry," but can I replace "marry" with "to be married to" or "to get married to"? How do these sentences sound to you?

He finally made up his mind to be married to the girl he had met in Paris two years before.

He finally made up his mind to get married to the girl he had met in Paris two years

Thanks in advance.

Yours

[gulius]

The first sentence would not be correct. The second one sounds ok, but the best sounding one to me would be to write:

He finally made up his mind to marry the girl he had met in Paris two years before (don't forget that part).

So you can substitute "to get married to" for "to marry" but why would you want to use more words, when less says the same thing? Less is always more, and sounds smoother when you are speaking as well. "Get married to" sounds to formal I think.

[aisen]

Thank you again gulius,

[KazAV]

He finally made up his mind to marry...

He finally made up his mind to get married...

Both are ok to me. Both state an infinitive of purpose. It all depends, I think, on what is normally accpeted. I would say the second one, where I come from. Also, I think "to marry" sounds the more formal of the two. You can also say "earlier" as well as "before".

[aisen]

KazAV,

Thank you for your comment.

[Meadowlark]

Well . . . . . "technically" . . . ONLY the first is correct. So if you need to know this for something really important, the first one is your answer.

However, you will hear many people say "get married to", so for casual usage this is acceptable as well.

If you need or want to know why the first is correct and the second is incorrect let me know. I'll try to stop in tomorrow. :-)

[aisen]

Hi Meadowlark,

[Meadowlark]

The verb "get" is used for the receipt of an object.

Examples:

I want to get a new car.

I will get the files from the drawer.

So even though you will often hear people say "get married", if a situation calls for technically correct grammar, "be married" is the correct form.

In wedding ceremonies you will hear language such as, "These two have come to be married in the sight of God." You will not hear, "These two have come to get married in sight of God."

As I said earlier, for casual usage "get married" is acceptable. However, in a situation where perfect grammar is important "be married" should be used. In the example you gave, "get married" would be the best choice. "Be married" would sound overly formal.

I hope this has been helpful.

[aisen]