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I am looking at a sentence in my thesis, and I am not sure about the usage of "make".

Should I say

In addition, as a result of the xxx principal, the xxx product operation in (1) makes the received signals to have a non-linear structure.

or

In addition, as a result of the xxx principal, the xxx product operation in (1) makes the received signals have a non-linear structure.

?

Thanks a lot!

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    ...or you could change the phrase after (1) to something like "produces [or results in] a non-linear structure in the received signals."
    – Sven Yargs
    Commented Sep 1, 2015 at 7:16
  • It's a good rephrase!
    – user136106
    Commented Sep 1, 2015 at 10:05

2 Answers 2

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You want the bare infinitive here: "makes the received signals have."

The use of the to-infinitive was once more popular, and it survives in religious contexts where it has an archaic feel:

he maketh me to lie down in green pastures

(It's hard to tell what's going on in the sentence because of the "xxx," but I'm willing to bet you want "xxx principle," and not "xxx principal.")

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  • Quite right. I make my son have a bath. I do not make my son to have a bath.
    – WS2
    Commented Sep 1, 2015 at 6:51
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    But something could cause the received signals to have a non-linear structure.
    – Brian Hitchcock
    Commented Sep 1, 2015 at 8:19
  • Thank you for the help! Bare infinitive sounds better to me as well!
    – user136106
    Commented Sep 1, 2015 at 10:04
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I like Brian's proposal the best:

In addition, as a result of the xxx principle, the xxx product operation in (1) causes the received signals to have a non-linear structure.

This language is more formal and better suited to a thesis.

Please note the spelling of principle.

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