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Please look at the following:

Having advised many of your colleagues (yet having had no one stand up for me when the shit hit the fan)... and

Having advised many of your colleagues (yet having had no one to support me when I faced adversity)...

I do not get that - why is "to" missing in the first sentence?

Also what is the difference between

1a) Having advised many of your colleagues (yet having had no one stand up for me when the shit hit the fan)

1b) Having advised many of your colleagues (yet having had no one to stand up for me when the shit hit the fan)

2a) Having advised many of your colleagues (yet having had no one support me when I faced adversity)

2b) Having advised many of your colleagues (yet having had no one to support me when I faced adversity)

What is the difference between 1a and 1b and also 2a and 2b? Are they same or is there any difference? Please tell me what the difference is.

Thank you.

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  • Put simply, "having no one stand up" = "people who could have stood up might have been there, but they didn't stand up"; "having no one to stand up" = "there was no one there at all that could have stood up". It's similar to the difference between being ignored and being alone.
    – Lawrence
    Commented Apr 20, 2016 at 13:53

2 Answers 2

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There is only a subtle difference between "having [someone] to [do something]" and "having [someone] [do something]".

The first means that there is someone around suitable for that purpose; the second means there is someone actually fulfilling the purpose.

If there is a friend who would take your side, you "have him to stand up for you", even if the need never arises. If a stranger just happens to defend you at some point, you "had someone stand up for you".

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    Pls revert the edit if you disagree, but apart from the straightforward typo even if the need never arises, I think you were on shaky ground with have in the final sentence. Picture the scene if you're addressing a group of thugs about to attack you. You might reasonably say I advise you to back off, because I have Mungo to stand up for me, but it simply wouldn't make sense without the preposition. (I don't see it as necessary for the tense to agree with preceding happens - that aspect is fine either way.)
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Apr 20, 2016 at 12:43
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Having advised many of your colleagues (yet having had no one stand up for me when the shit hit the fan)... and

This is a form of Causative Form, not as an order, but as an incident that happens to you. Here's a similar example: I've never had my nails break. = My nails have never broken. No one stood up to me.

Having advised many of your colleagues (yet having had no one to support me when I faced adversity)...

This is not Causative Form. 'to' = who would

The first sentence could also have this construction:having had no one to stand up for me

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