but I mean his coming early

[celine713]

--"The photographer thought he was supposed to arrive after the guests."
--"But I mean_____early."
A for his coming B for him to come C him coming D he would come

which one to fill in?
I believe if there is a choice of "his coming", I will go for it absolutely!

 

[Vikorr]

"But I mean for him to come early" would be the correct choice.

However, the whole sentence sounds rather odd to me. Something along the lines of "But I am making arrangements for him to arrive early (or 'before the guests')" would be better.

 

[Dimcl]

The photographer thought he was supposed to arrive after the guests.
"But I mean_____early."
A for his coming B for him to come C him coming D he would come

which one to fill in?
I believe if there is a choice of "his coming", I will go for it absolutely!

The sentence sounds odd to me as well because what the photographer "thought" is past tense but the response isn't. Using your example, I would say:

"But I meant for him to come early".

 

[celine713]

Thank you Vikorr!
But when I look up some dictionary, it says in an example, "This new order
will mean(us)working overtime."That is really baffling me!

Hi, Dimcl, it indeed sounds odd!
Thank you all the same!