Is there any differences between "I suggest doing" and "I suggest you do?"

Asked Sep 20 '14 at 04:00

Active Sep 20 '14 at 04:13

Viewed 2,075 times

I know that both "I suggest doing this" and "I suggest you do this" are grammatically correct. But I wonder if they have same meaning or there are subtle difference between them.

asked Sep 20 '14 at 04:00

Anonymous

3,052

The second sentence uses the mandative subjunctive mood, but otherwise they seem to be similar in meaning.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_subjunctive#Use_of_the_present_subjunctive
– CowperKettle Sep 20 '14 at 04:24
2

The difference is that the second one mentions "you", which makes it more explicit who you expect to do the doing. – hobbs Sep 20 '14 at 04:51
The phrase, "I suggest that you do this" is more formal. – Mari-Lou A Sep 20 '14 at 05:05
1

One could point out that 'I suggest you do this' need not be the mandative subjunctive, which undermines the position of those who say that the mandative subjunctive should be used to avoid ambiguities. – Edwin Ashworth Sep 20 '14 at 06:35
1

@hobbs: In my vernacular that would be who you expect to be [doing the do.**](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22doing+the+do%22&btnG=Search+Books&tbm=bks&tbo=1&gws_rd=ssl) – FumbleFingers Sep 20 '14 at 12:08
@FumbleFingers Suggest + finite clause doesn't seem to be covered in that question and answer. Have you got a better link? – Araucaria - Him Sep 20 '14 at 17:29
1

@EdwinAshworth Yes, exactly so. Cold be either present simple or the subjunctive. – Araucaria - Him Sep 20 '14 at 17:34
1

Perhaps I should have cited “Recommend to have” vs. “recommend having”, which is itself closed in favour of When should a verb be followed by a gerund instead of an infinitive? (there's an excellent answer on the latter). – FumbleFingers Sep 21 '14 at 00:41
@FF Nice to see you're not letting your super-powers make you into a little dictator. ('Poland was possibly a mistake, says ...') – Edwin Ashworth Sep 21 '14 at 14:22

Is there any differences between "I suggest doing" and "I suggest you do?"

0 Answers0