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English language (monolingual) [PRO] Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
English term or phrase:consent to have / consent to having
In 'your' native English, is one of these sentences wrong? If so, which one? Or can both be right?
#1: I hereby consent to have my picture taken. #2: I hereby consent to having my picture taken.
I'd also appreciate it if answerers and peer graders would specify if 'their' English is UK/I, American, Canadian, Australian..., as that might play a role.
There is no helpful context, really! This is something that resulted in a discussion at work today so I thought I'd get other opinions. So I'm asking you lot :-)
I don't really see the point of substituting other verbs here? There are lists of verbs which are/must be followed by infinitives or gerunds or both in most grammar books and "consent to" is in the list of verbs followed by an infinitive. (And must be followed by an infinitive according to a Hunter College NY list). I haven't found it in any list of verbs to be followed by a gerund, but that doesn't mean it can't be since so many of us natives prefer a gerund in this case and anyway, these lists do not include every verb. https://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-lesson... Here are some examples of verbs + gerunds when followed by certain phrases such as"consent to paying for" ..."https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/322877/when-to-u... . As I said earlier, I think the noun phrase "having a photo taken" would be very common and would fit with this usage. On the other hand, an infinitive would be correct when followed by other phrases such as I hereby consent to: sell my house/pay for the damage or repairs/sign this document/meet him/her/receive medical treatment which...
Substituting "I object" is interesting and is clearly grammatically wrong. I'm not at all sure how it differs grammatically from "I consent to have". However, you could say "I refuse to have my picture taken". So, perhaps it is just about particular verbs being used in syntactically different ways. In that case, does the verb "to consent" follow the same syntax as "to object", or "to refuse"? Is there a logical reason behind it?
"I look forward to SEE you" is, obviously, wrong because it isn't an infinitive "to see", but the active complement of the compound verb "to look forward to", so it must take the form "seeing". However, in "I hereby consent to have my picture taken," "to have" is the infinitive and is passive. So, there is nothing grammatically wrong with the sentence. A more valid comparison would be with the sentence "I'd like to have my picture taken."
That example above could be varied to form the sentence "I'd like having my picture taken." Clearly, the meaning has changed and what the subject would like is no longer the result (getting a picture), but the process of posing for the picture.
To me it's as wrong as "I look forward to SEE you"
22:17 Nov 28, 2018
Thanks everyone for the interesting discussion. I came across the 'have' version in a text I was editing, which was written by a German who fancies his English and always insists I only make absolutely essential corrections. He wanted British English. It sounded wrong to me so I changed it. In fact I felt confident it was as wrong as writing e.g. "I look forward to SEE you".
Anyway, after the editing I ran a speller and 2 grammar checks, one of which actually highlighted my 'having' and suggested I change it to 'have'. That got me thinking, hence my Q here. In the end, after also asking other native speakers (from Irl, US and Canada), I reluctantly changed it back to 'have' though I still don't like it. It seems that UK/I have a preference for 'having' but many accept both. So I've learned something new, though I reckon I'll continue to make this change for other customers, who don't take corrections to their English as an affront.
#1 sounds wrong to me (yes, it grates!) but nevertheless looks like it's grammatically correct. I consulted my TEFL material to see if the verb came under the list of those followed by "ing". I, like most other (all?) natives here would definitely use "having" in this context so I thought about why this should be so. I've come to the conclusion that the noun phrase and collocation "having a picture taken" is most familiar to us so probably sounds better for that reason (???).
I agree with Rachel's comment: "As a UK person I think that "I hereby consent to have X done" sounds more like a one-off thing, whereas "I hereby consent to having X done" sounds more like consenting to something that could be done more than once."
Both would be acceptable to me as a native speaker of US English, but #2 sounds more natural to me. I would personally say "having" in this circumstance, whether the picture was going to be taken once or multiple times.
Hi Cilian, As a UK person I think that "I hereby consent to have X done" sounds more like a one-off thing, whereas "I hereby consent to having X done" sounds more like consenting to something that could be done more than once.
What is the "your" English? What flavour/flavor of English do your colleagues at work speak? I am inclined to agree with David H re both his comments below.
peer agreement (net): +3