You'd be so nice to come home to.

[sus4]

Hello,

Today I came across the following enigmatic sentence:

"You'd be so nice to come home to."

I believe this is the title of a famous jazz song. I was wondering whether or not this sentence was grammatically correct. It sounds awkward to me.

Could anyone explain the structure and then paraphrase it so I can clearly understand its meaning?

Thank you.

 

[se16teddy]

It is idiomatic, though some prescriptive grammarians sometimes disapprove the use of a preposition at the end of a sentence. http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/050.html

As to 'parsing', maybe the following will help. 'It is nice to see you' is about the same thing as 'You are nice to see'. Thus 'It would be nice to see you' means about the same as 'You would be nice to see'. And 'It is nice to come home to you' is about the same as 'You are nice to come home to'.

 

[sus4]

Hi se16teddy,

Thank you for answering my question! I was about to misinterpret the sentence. I appreciate your help.

sus4

 

[justin]

Hello,

Today I came across the following enigmatic sentence:

"You'd be so nice to come home to."

I believe this is the title of a famous jazz song. I was wondering whether or not this sentence was grammatically correct. It sounds awkward to me.

Could anyone explain the structure and then paraphrase it so I can clearly understand its meaning?

Thank you.

You'd be so nice to come home to
You'd be so nice
You'd be paradise
To come home to, and love.

That's all I am allowd to post, sorry. Oh, your question! Quite a regular construction in English and not out of the ordinary. Winston Churchill once mocked a scholar who objected to ending a sentence with a preposition by saying: "This is a preposition up with which I shall not put", by which he was exaggerating to make a point.

 

[cuchuflete]

"You'd be so nice to come home to."

Could anyone explain the structure and then paraphrase it so I can clearly understand its meaning?

Hello Sus4,

Try thinking of it this way:

It would be so nice to come home to you.

 

[sus4]

This sentence sounds awkward to me, not because of the preposition, but because of the use of the "be verb."

"Be" is a linking verb and used to link the subject of a clause to a complement in order to give more information about the subject. The function of "be" is like that of "="(equal).

e.g.
I am a guitar player. ---> I = a guitar player
She is pretty. ---> She = pretty

Now, look at the two sentences:

1. You'd be so nice to come home to.
2. It would be so nice to come home to you.

Sentence 1 sounds like, you would be nice (you = nice); on the other hand, sentence 2 shows "to come home to you" would be nice ("to come home to you" = nice). Hence, it appears contradictory (at least to me anyway). This is why I got confused.

I guess I just need to memorize this sentence pattern.

 

[timpeac]

Yes - English can make the indirect object in to the subject of the sentence in this way, although I can understand why it might look strange.

It's similar, is it not, to the way it works with the common verb "give"

I gave the ball to Paul = Paul was given the ball by me
It is nice to give the ball to Paul = Paul is nice to give the ball to.

 

[coconutpalm]

hey, everybody, please forgive me for asking this question:
What's the meaning of the whole sentence?

I feel so happy to have you come to my home.
You would feel at home at my home.
??????

 

[timpeac]

hey, everybody, please forgive me for asking this question:
What's the meaning of the whole sentence?

I feel so happy to have you come to my home.
You would feel at home at my home.
??????

It means "it would be so nice for me to have you waiting at home when I return there".

 

[coconutpalm]

Thanks, timepeac!
I have never seen such a sentence, and it really seems awkward in my eyes!
Is this kind of construction still in wide use? In literature? Poetry? Journal?

 

[timpeac]

Thanks, timepeac!
I have never seen such a sentence, and it really seems awkward in my eyes!
Is this kind of construction still in wide use? In literature? Poetry? Journal?

It's rather colloquial, but very common, I'd say!

 

[coconutpalm]

I see！Thanks ,timepeac!
And thank you all for giving me the chance to learn something that is completely new for me!
I　will carefully store it in my mind!

 

[suzi br]

Hi there -

If I heard this, with no other context, I would take it as a marriage proposal!

The idea of coming home to someone is suggestive of domestic harmony, and the "would be" bit places it in the future as a hope that the speaker wishes to make a reality.