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Want + to be + adj or want + adj

English Language Learners Asked on February 8, 2021

Which one is correct?

  1. I want him out
  2. I want him to be out

Thank you very much

2 Answers

I want X out and I want X to be out have different meanings.

"I want Smith out" might mean...

  • that you want Smith (who is living with you) to go and live somewhere else;
  • that you want Smith (who is a politician) out of office;
  • that you want Smith (who is a colleague) out of their job, or off a comittee

"I want Smith to be out" might mean...

  • that you want Smith (who is living or working with you) to be out of the house or out of the office at a particular time;
  • that Smith is gay and you want them to declare their sexuality publicly.

So "I want X out" carries the implication of forceful, long-term or permanent action (as in the landlord saying "I want the tenant out by Thursday" or the protester saying "I want the prime minister out!"), while "I want X to be out" suggests temporary absence (as in the teenager planning a party and wishing "I want my parents to be out on Saturday" - although "to go out", "to stay out", "to be away" might be more likely choices of phasing, as would "I hope they are out").

Answered by rjpond on February 8, 2021

I want him to be out is not very idiomatic. I want him out is a blunt way of saying, either that you want someone thrown out of a gathering of people, or that you want some official to lose their position.

In the first case you might say I want him to get out or I want him thrown out.

In the second case you might say I want him voted out.

Answered by Kate Bunting on February 8, 2021

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