Are you willing that he <be><should be> our leader? [AE vs BE]

[homotopy07]

(1) Are you willing that he be our leader?

(2) Are you willing that he should be our leader?

[Both from Wisdom English-Japanese Dictionary.]

[Q1] Is (1) American English?

[Q2] Is (2) British English?

 

[JulianStuart]

"Are you willing that ..." is not correct English for such questions.

 

[Enquiring Mind]

The use of "willing that ..." is probably out of place here in present-day English. In what context is the question being asked?
Normal parlance: Do you want him to be our leader?

 

[homotopy07]

"Are you willing that ..." is not correct English for such questions.

We are willing that he (should) join us.
[From Shogakukan Random House English-Japanese Dictionary.]

Is this sentence correct?

In what context is the question being asked?

(1) and (2) are example sentences from Wisdom English-Japanese Dictionary.

 

[JulianStuart]

It's the "Are you willing that ..." that is the problem for me. It has been used but is completely eclipsed by "Are you willing to ...". The examples for the "that" version do sound very formal or archaic and it had dropped in frequency from earlier times. (I have a couple of old Japanese dictionaries and they have some "interesting" entries too )

 

[Hermione Golightly]

I could accept "Are you willing for him to be our leader?"

 

[elroy]

Neither "Are you willing that..." nor "Are you willing for..." sound idiomatic to me.

Are you okay with him being our leader?

 

[Enquiring Mind]

The relevant Ngram speaks volumes, with "are you willing that he ..." scraping its undercarriage along the tarmac. It doesn't fly. The fact that a construction (here, "are you willing that ...") occurs out of context in a dictionary doesn't validate the construction for today's usage.
It apparently went viral in 1651 though!

 

[dojibear]

I could accept "Are you willing for him to be our leader?"

Sounds idiomatic (in AE) to me. I agree that "willing that" does not.

 

[kentix]

"Are you willing for him to be..." sounds okay to me. But there are better ways to say it, I think.

"Would you agree to him being our leader?"