... stop your car and wait/waiting for the train to go by.

[sitifan]

1. That flashing red light means to stop your car and wait for the train to go by. (my bold, Prof. Zhao Zhencai)
2. That flashing red light means stopping your car and waiting for the train to go by.
Is #2 also correct?

 

[5jj]

Neither is correct.

Who is Prof. Zhao Zhengcai?

 

[sitifan]

Neither is correct.
Who is Prof. Zhao Zhencai?

He is a professor of English at Harbin Institute of Technology.
Would you please give me the correct version of either sentence?

 

[teechar]

@sitifan , where did you find those sentences? Please give us the source/link.

 

[sitifan]

@sitifan , where did you find those sentences? Please give us the source/link.

#1 is quoted from A Dictionary of Answers to Common Questions in English, page 830.
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1696028510678107980&wfr=spider&for=pc
#2 is my sentence.

 

[emsr2d2]

#1 is quoted from A Dictionary of Answers to Common Questions in English, page 830.
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1696028510678107980&wfr=spider&for=pc
#2 is my sentence.

All source information should have been put in post #1. You have been on the forum long enough to know that.

 

[teechar]

1. That flashing red light means to stop your car and wait for the train to go by.

That is grammatical, but it does not make sense. It says:
That flashing red light intends to stop your car and (it intends to) wait for the train to go by.

2. That flashing red light means stopping your car and waiting for the train to go by.

That is also not well phrased.

Would you please give me the correct version ...?

That flashing red light means you must stop your car and wait for the train to go by.
You can also use "pass" instead of "go by" if you wish.

 

[Tarheel]

I would put it more simply, thus:

The flashing light means, "Stop! Wait" (Wait for the train to pass.)

 

[tedmc]

What about "That flashing red light tells you to stop your car"?

 

[jutfrank]

I agree with the others that Professor Zhao's sentence is poor, if not incorrect. Here are two corrections:

That flashing red light means 'stop your car and wait for the train to go by'. [similar to Tarheel's correction]
That flashing red light means you must stop your car and wait for the train to go by. [teechar's correction]

 

[Tarheel]

I find "stop your car" a bit odd. I haven't driven in a while, but when I would stop at a red light I would simply stop. Then when the light would change I would go.

 

[Tarheel]

You could argue that the flashing red light simply means STOP. The waiting part is built in. There are the flashing lights, the bells, those bars that swing down, and, of course, the train. Those things tell you to wait.