Sentence: Tom wishing to tell everybody...

[Tom]

Hi

Could you please tell me if the given sentence sounds normal in everyday English?

1- Tom wishing to tell everybody what to expect the next day bugged me badly.

Tom

[Yankee]

.
In everyday written English, I'd definitely add a pair of commas, Tom. ;)

Tom, wishing to tell everybody what to expect the next day, bugged me badly.

The sentence might turn up in spoken English, but I'd say probably not often. ;)

Amy
_________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Tom]

Thanks, Amy! :lol:

By the way, I took it as one long subject or a noun phrase.

Tom wishing to tell everybody what to expect the next day

Amy, could we discuss this sentence a bit more please? I mean the commas? My unserstanding of the given sentences was:

1- Tom,wishing to tell everybody what to expect the next day, bugged me badly.

(Tom bugged the speaker for whatever reason. The middle part is just extra information)

2- Tom wishing to tell everybody what to expect the next day bugged me badly. (Tom bugged the speaker because of his wish)

You have already given your opinion, but I would request you to discuss this part a bit more.

Tom

[Yankee]

Hi Tom

To do what you want to do, you shouldn't use a specific name (Tom). Using a specific name guarantees that the information in the middle of the sentence is "extra" because the subject has already been clearly identified.

"The man trying to tell everybody what to do really bugged me."

Amy
_________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Conchita]