2

We can say:

I have enough money to go to Italy.

Which means:

I have money which is enough to go to Italy

But why does the following sentence not work?

I have a ready machine to run for 10 hours.

Why is it not the same as:

I have a machine which is ready to run for 10 hours.

Improve this question
  • I don't have a ready answer to give you. – Tᴚoɯɐuo Jun 16 '18 at 15:47
  • Does it mean that we can use that structure as well? – Jawel Jun 16 '18 at 18:46
  • Why should they work the same way? enough as used is a determiner, while ready is an adjective indicating a state, not a quantity. This kind of basic research should be in your question. – user3169 Jun 16 '18 at 22:22
  • No need for "enough" to be an adjective. Even if "eager" is an adjective, I see some examples like "Louis County seeking an eager person to join our Front Desk team." Please be careful at the point of "an eager person to join our team". It means that we can use it on this way as well. – Jawel Jun 16 '18 at 22:34
  • The most common abbreviation for "something" is sth, I think the abbreviation you used in the question title is confusing for non-native and native speakers alike – Mari-Lou A Jun 17 '18 at 11:45
1

You have some interesting examples, but they might hve different meanings.

Your first example talks about amount

I have enough money to go to Italy.

Whereas your second example talks about a usable state

I have a ready machine to run for 10 hours.

However, ready machine is not idiomatic. A native might say

I have a machine ready to run for 10 hours.
I have machines ready to run for 10 hours.

However, you could say

I have money enough to go to Italy. (sufficiency)
I have money ready to go to Italy. (preparation)

Hope these help.

Improve this answer
1

The house of cards was ready to tip over.

When ready refers to incipience, its complement is an infinitival clause. When it has that meaning, a noun cannot be interposed between ready and that clause; ready cannot function as a simple adjective in front of the noun when it has this meaning.

It was a ready house of cards to tip over. NO

It was a house of cards ready to tip over.

When the meaning of ready is "willing and able" its complement is an infinitival clause, and when it has that meaning ready cannot function as a simple adjective in front of the noun.

The fixer was ready to break the law for his rich client.

The rich man had a fixer ready to break the law for him.

The rich man had a ready fixer to break the law for him. NO

The only way that last sentence is idiomatic is if ready has another meaning, such as "competent, prudent, able".

When referring to incipient action, or to being willing and able to perform some action, ready works like the past participle prepared.

The fixer was prepared to break the law for his rich client.

The rich man had a fixer prepared to break the law for him.

The rich man had a prepared fixer to break the law for him. NO

Improve this answer
  • First of all thank you very much for what you wrote. She is very nice to hang out with. If I say: "I met a nice girl to hang out with", does it mean that "I met a girl nice to hang out with" or "I met a girl to hang out with, who is nice." ? – Jawel Jun 17 '18 at 13:56
  • and "what was the most difficult book to read?" I think that it can't mean "what was the book to read which is the most difficult" because it makes no sense. Every book is for reading, not doing something else. What do you think? – Jawel Jun 17 '18 at 13:58
  • The structure of your "nice girl" sentence is ambiguous. The infinitival complement qualifies the noun, and the adjective nice could apply to the noun-as-qualified or to the unqualified noun. I found a nice car to race in the demolition derby. The car could be a "bucket of bolts", a junk-heap, and nice only in respect to its suitability for demolition racing. Or you could be a billionaire who demolishes luxury cars in demolition derbies just for kicks. nice and difficult are different types of adjective. difficult implies some effort (and thus looks ahead to a verb). – Tᴚoɯɐuo Jun 18 '18 at 10:45
  • Look up tough in a grammar. – Tᴚoɯɐuo Jun 18 '18 at 10:50

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.