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In the sentence

  • For we can show how "dogs bark" comes to have the property that constitutes X

can someone explain the meaning of comes to have? What does it mean?

John Lawler
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Miroslav valsoriM
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2 Answers2

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Come to VP is an English inchoative construction. It indicates a change from one state to another,
often expressed as the beginning of the new state.

  • It eventually came to be very, very tiring, but at first it seemed easy.
  • I eventually came to be very, very tired, but at first it seemed easy.

The construction come to be has come to be so frequent that it has become its own verb, become.

  • It eventually became very, very tiring, but at first it seemed easy.
  • I eventually became very, very tired, but at first it seemed easy.

But Come to VP can work before any stative verb phrase, including have in its sense of 'possess'.

  • I eventually came to have the jewel in my possession.

The construction come to have has come to have a lot of currency; its twin verb is get
(NB: this is the use of get that varies. In the USA, the past participle of this get would be gotten.)

  • I eventually got the jewel in my possession.

and in this case also

  • We can show how "dogs bark" gets the property that constitutes X

Unfortunately, get is also the inchoative of be, in all its uses

  • It eventually got very, very tiring, but at first it seemed easy.
  • I eventually got very, very tired, but at first it seemed easy.

This is another problem that contributes to confusion about have, got, and have got.

Community
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John Lawler
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2

"Come to have" is an idiomatic expression meaning developed or acquired. It explains the process by which a thing (the phrase "dogs bark") acquired or developed a property ("property of X").

Look at this list of synonyms for come to have - especially the tab "as in take on". (thesaurus.com)

For an example:

After playing the guitar for many months, I came to have calluses on my fingertips.

This is different from just "I had" because it explains how or why I acquired calluses.

This diagram explains how complicated software comes to have bugs.

Complicated software has bugs; the diagram explains the process by which software develops bugs.

John Feltz
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