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I saw the sentence like

I want you to buy me a doll.

But I read the book that says

I hope you to buy me a doll.

is not the right sentence.

I think there is a reason certainly.Don't say that it is a custom.There is no sentence that has no reason.Please, somebody tell me the reason. And Is there any other 'verb' that can't make a sentence like this?

Kirti
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박용현
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    The reason is that speakers have not agreed on this sentence pattern. – rogermue Feb 09 '16 at 19:03
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    @rogermue, is there a board meeting that I missed? – Octopus Feb 10 '16 at 00:41
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    There is no board meeting. Nevertheless the community of speakers manages to use almost the same vocabulary and the same patterns of sentence structures in the long course of time. – rogermue Feb 10 '16 at 02:34

1 Answers1

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If there is a subject in the complement, the verb in the complement is finite (tensed):

The little girl hopes {her mom buys her a doll}.

and when there is no subject in the complement, the verb in the complement is an infinitive:

The mother hopes {to buy her daughter a doll}.

Thus:

I hope {you buy me a doll}.

The second-person singular and second-person plural form of the verb buy is also buy, so the rule is not as easy to see as it is in the third person.

P.S. Hope is complemented by a that-clause or reduced that-clause or an infinitive-phrase:

The little girl hopes {that her mom buys her a doll}.

The little girl hopes {__ her mom buys her a doll}.

The mother hopes {to buy her daughter a doll}.

want is completed with an infinitive phrase and with something else. It gets very convoluted, and I would need to use my lifeline, and place a virtual phone call to @StoneyB or @Araucaria.

The little girl wants {her mom to buy her a doll}

The little girl wants {that her mom should buy her a doll}. marginal

The mother wants {to buy her daughter a doll}.

P.P.S.

want can take a direct object; hope cannot:

He wants snow. He likes to ski.

not OK He hopes snow.

OK He hopes for snow.

P.P.P.S.

The little girl wants {her mom to buy her a doll}

The little girl hopes {her mom buys her a doll}.

Why is "her mom" a subject with hopes but not a subject with wants?

I think it is because the underlying idea of want is to lack<object> and the underlying idea of hope is to await<event>.

TimR
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    I see we've previously had I hope you are right/you to be right here on ELL. I must admit that although She hoped him to buy it for her doesn't sound to me like it was ever "valid", I can easily get my head around, say, She hoped him to be generous as something that might reasonably have been said a couple of centuries ago. I've no special knowledge here, but I have the impression it makes (perhaps I should say made :) all the difference if the "hoped-for" clause involves a form of TO BE. But *why* doesn't hope work like want? – FumbleFingers Feb 09 '16 at 21:21
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    but him is (IMO) not a subject in "She hoped him to be generous". I can think of examples like "He was not as generous as we hoped him to be" but not "We hoped him to be generous". – TimR Feb 09 '16 at 21:39
  • It sounds archaicky? :) – TimR Feb 09 '16 at 21:45
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    Just icky would probably do! :) Seriously, I don't disagree with a single word you've said above, but I was kinda hoping my comment might prompt you to dig a little deeper (and by implication I'm kinda hoping there actually is some "buried treasure" hereabouts). I'm specifically influenced by OP's Don't say that it is a custom. There is no sentence that has no reason. It would be nice if we could come up with an answer involving some principle a bit more generic than That's just how this verb works. Don't try to understand why, all you can do is learn* it.* – FumbleFingers Feb 09 '16 at 21:53
  • I thought the issue was that in this context, the person is a doll. I hope you buy me, a doll. I hope you buy a doll for me is better. – Hannover Fist Feb 09 '16 at 21:55
  • This answer points out something useful for the OP in the future. Native speakers prefer to state why the "correct" version is "correct," rather than state why the "wrong" version is "wrong." You'll note that TRomano's answer doesn't mention the invalid sentence at all. Asking a native speaker to explain why a "wrong" sentence is "wrong" can be quite difficult. The reason is simple: language does not follow rules. We adapt the rules to fit the language. A negative rule (we don't do X because of Y) limits language, but a positive one (we do X because of Y) doesn't. – Cort Ammon Feb 09 '16 at 23:47
  • @Cort Ammon: "rules" are synthesized from language in the wild. They're descriptive, not prescriptive. – TimR Feb 10 '16 at 00:13
  • @Hannover Fist: "Hush, little baby, don't you cry; Papa's gonna sing you a lullaby. Hush little baby don't say a word;Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird. And if that mockingbird won't sing, Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring, And if that diamond ring turns brass, Papa's gonna buy you a looking glass" – TimR Feb 10 '16 at 11:25