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C. John suggested helping Jane with the washing-up.

Consider some contexts in which this sentence might occur.

Julie asked John what she could do to speed things up. John suggested helping Jane with the washing-up.

 

Jane pointed out that Julie was old enough now to have some regular chores, and asked John if he had any ideas. John suggested helping Jane with the washing-up.

suggest VERBing does not imply that VERB has any particular subject; specifically, it does not imply that the subject suggests that he should VERB. Consequently, this sentence does not, as the quotation does, imply that John made an offer to help; it at most puts helping Jane forward as a good idea.

C. John suggested helping Jane with the washing-up.

Consider some contexts in which this sentence might occur.

Julie asked John what she could do to speed things up. John suggested helping Jane with the washing-up.

Jane pointed out that Julie was old enough now to have some regular chores, and asked John if he had any ideas. John suggested helping Jane with the washing-up.

suggest VERBing does not imply that VERB has any particular subject; specifically, it does not imply that the subject suggests that he should VERB. Consequently, this sentence does not, as the quotation does, imply that John made an offer to help; it at most puts helping Jane forward as a good idea.

C. John suggested helping Jane with the washing-up.

suggest VERBing does not impute any particular subject to VERB; it merely puts VERBing forward as a good idea. Consequently, this sentence does not, as the quotation does, imply that John made an offer to help.

C. John suggested helping Jane with the washing-up.

Consider some contexts in which this sentence might occur.

Julie asked John what she could do to speed things up. John suggested helping Jane with the washing-up.

Jane pointed out that Julie was old enough now to have some regular chores, and asked John if he had any ideas. John suggested helping Jane with the washing-up.

suggest VERBing does not imply that VERB has any particular subject; specifically, it does not imply that the subject suggests that he should VERB. Consequently, this sentence does not, as the quotation does, imply that John made an offer to help; it at most puts helping Jane forward as a good idea.

C. John suggested helping Jane with the washing-up.

suggest VERBing does not imply any particular subject to VERB; it merely puts VERBing forward as a good idea. Consequently, this sentence does not, as the quotation does, imply that John made an offer to help.

C. John suggested helping Jane with the washing-up.

suggest VERBing does not impute any particular subject to VERB; it merely puts VERBing forward as a good idea. Consequently, this sentence does not, as the quotation does, imply that John made an offer to help.