Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

jasonlulu_2000 · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 879

i saw a sentence "They signed me to a record deal".

I cannot find the usage of "sign sb. to a deal" in a dictionary. Is it correct from the point of a native's view?

Thanks

m_prime · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:33 pm Post subject:

'Signed', in this sense, means that there is a contract between two people (or companies, organisations, etc).

'Madonna has signed a 10 album record deal with Sony"
"David Beckham has signed for Real Madrid"
"Coca Cola wants to sign a deal with the Chinese government to be an Olympic sponsor"

We only use 'signed' to describe contracts that are particularly interesting or involve a lot of money. You would not say "I've signed a deal to work at my local supermarket".

We also sometimes use the idiom "signed, sealed and delivered" to describe a contract (or negoiation for a contract) that has been succussfully completed.

Hope this helps.

jasonlulu_2000 · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 879

Sorry, i think you got me wrong. But thank you all the same.

What i want to ask is "IS THERE ANY FIXED STRUCTURE LIKE-----SIGN SB. TO A DEAL" .

i only find "sign sb. OR sign a deal" but i cannot find "sign sb. to a deal"

IS it correct ???????

Thanks

m_prime · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 11:24 pm Post subject:

Not sure what you mean by 'sb.' - 'somebody' maybe?

'Sign' is just a verb, the actual structure that you use will depend on the context and the structure of the other sentences.

So you could use the structure that I think you are suggesting for the following sentence.

"The record company will sign Madonna [or somebody] to a new deal".

You would probably only use this structure when there is something you want to say about the deal (a new deal, a lucrative deal, surprising deal, etc).

I hope I have not misunderstood you again but if I have then please let me know. Please try to give me some more conext and let me know what SB. is meant to mean.

jasonlulu_2000 · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 879

thank you for your efforts.

sb is short for somebody.

What i cannot understand is the preposition "to"

I cannot find such structure as sign somebody TO something in a dictionary.

I want to ask a NATIVE whether it is correct.

Thanks again for your efforts.

m_prime · Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:14 am Post subject:

Jasonlulu_2000, I am a NATIVE English language speaker! I also teach English as a second language.

You can use the verb 'sign' in a variety of ways, depending on sentence structure and context.

Sign to (infinitive form)
"The record company will sign Madonna to a new deal"

Sign (bare infinitive - but note the use of replacement preposition)
"Madonna will sign a new deal with (or for) the record company"

To sign (full infinitive form)
"Madonna is to sign a new deal with the record company"

Perhaps your dictionary does not list 'sign [somebody] to' as this is considered a 'split infinitive'. Split infinitives are sometimes considered incorrect by some old-fashioned grammar books but - when used with care - are completely acceptable in modern English.

jasonlulu_2000 · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 879

Many thanks.

Sorry for being so fussy. But please understand why we really need a native's help rather than a textbook's reference, which we also have easy access to.

English is progressing and changing every day. Therefore, we need to know whether some usage of a certain word keeps up-to-date with times from a point of a native's view.

Once again, thank you and now I've got it.