It is impossible for her to come

Question

It is impossible for her to come

It is impossible that she comes

Do they mean the same?

As others have said "Is it imposible that she come?" Subjunctive - so easy in English - just the base verb unless you are using Modals. - ian-hill, ABR 3, 2010

Answer 1

I agree with Samdie here regarding the need for a subjunctive verb tense in your second statement. In English, the subjunctive mood is often expressed by the use of a suitable modal auxiliary or by use of the infinitive verb form. This preference is especially evident in the reaction of most of the respondents to your second sentence.

Modal auxiliary

She can not come right now

Infinitive verb form

She is not able to come right now

It is impossible for her to come right now

Subjunctive verb form [only evident in 3rd person sing]

It is impossible that she come right now

(Here the subjunctive verb form would be far less common than the other options).

Less common but really "cool". - samdie, ABR 3, 2010

Answer 2

The first is correct. It is impossible for her to come. It is not present tense as "It is impossible that she comes" would be imply. It is future tense. "It is impossible for her to come" = "It will be impossible for her to come."

Or, "She won't be able to come..." - lagartijaverde, ABR 3, 2010

Or she "can't come right now" which avoids the future tense and maintains the sense of her original statement - Izanoni1, ABR 3, 2010

Answer 3

It is impossible that she comes to have dinner

Strictly speaking, it should be "that she come ..." (for the same reason that it is 'venga' in Spanish). A fairly common alternative "It is impossible for her to come to have dinner" avoids the problem of not knowing how to use the subjunctive (for those who are even aware that there might be a problem).

Answer 4

Nila:

You need something more to your sentence to make your meaning clear.

It is impossible for her to come to dinner.

It is impossible for her to come shopping with me.

It is impossible for her to come to the party.

Now that's the additional context you need. - Eddy, ABR 3, 2010

Answer 5

Jeezles got it. I'd like to note that in my area if you said that sentence as is it's sort of dirty...

In oder to differentiate. - ian-hill, ABR 3, 2010

I believe that is only for the noun. - samdie, ABR 3, 2010

Answer 6

Yes, and what about the other sentence?

It is impossible that she comes to have dinner

Answer 7

As chesseisyumn says. without further context, the examples given do have a severe sexual connotation.