Timeline for When talking about a broken device, would there be any difference between: "I will get it working." and "I will get it to work."
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28 at 13:54 | comment | added | Lambie | "I'm not American. 'try and' seems off to me. I thought the correct form would be "I will try to get it working." Not so. Ngram search for British English: try and * | |
| Apr 27 at 23:42 | comment | added | Jed Schaaf | @Lambie {"'Get it to work' could sound like a one-off thing". That is not so.} With that phrase on its own, you are correct here. But when it's placed in contrast with "get it working," Astralbee's distinction does appear. | |
| Apr 27 at 22:11 | comment | added | Astralbee | @Lambie I haven't said anything is wrong! Google ngrams uses Google books as its source. Everything is published so ought to be a credible source and have no mistakes. So it's never a comparison of what is right or wrong - only a comparison of how often correctly used words or short phrases are used. How is that useful here? | |
| Apr 27 at 13:19 | comment | added | Lambie | @Astralbee HarryH says "try and [verb]" is not British English. That's wrong. You try it with search term: try and * Look at all those verbs. Personally, I dislike ngrams but it is useful here. Those cannot all be wrong. | |
| Apr 27 at 8:36 | comment | added | Astralbee | @lambie Ngrams only show frequency. That doesn't account for context. How often a word is used does not indicate whether or not it is being used correctly. | |
| Apr 26 at 17:37 | comment | added | Lambie | try and [action] verb is common in English. See Ngrams and enter: try and finish, choose British English. | |
| Apr 26 at 15:12 | comment | added | Lambie | @Astralbee The lemmings went over the cliff with this: "Get it to work" could sound like a one-off thing". That is not so. And I gave an example explaining why that is not so. | |
| Apr 26 at 9:08 | comment | added | Astralbee | It's beginning to look like you've selected an incorrect answer. | |
| Apr 26 at 4:32 | comment | added | HarryH | I'm not American. 'try and' seems off to me. I thought the correct form would be "I will try to get it working." | |
| Apr 25 at 18:40 | vote | accept | Yunus | ||
| Apr 25 at 17:43 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Apr 25 at 14:57 | answer | added | Lambie | timeline score: -1 | |
| Apr 25 at 10:32 | answer | added | Astralbee | timeline score: 12 | |
| Apr 25 at 10:13 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | I think it's the same as I like working / to work (or love / prefer / ...). Basically, a stylistic choice that doesn't [normally?] affect meaning. In your example context, I'm quite sure initial I will try and is syntactically irrelevant. You could just as well compare the two imperatives "Get it to work!" and "Get it working!", or "I want it working / to work". | |
| Apr 25 at 9:39 | history | asked | Yunus | CC BY-SA 4.0 |