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I am wondering if there could be any difference in meaning between these?

A. I can get it from the tap and save you pumping.

B. I can get it from the tap and save you from pumping.

C. I can get it from the tap and save you to pump.

Do you really make a distinguish between A and B? or is there any situation which make you distinguish one over the other? I cannot yet get the explanations.

Many thanks

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    Yes... the last one is wrong.
    – Catija
    Commented Jul 17, 2015 at 16:42
  • (C) could be made grammatically correct with the addition of just two words: I can get it from the tap and save you from having to pump.
    – J.R. ♦
    Commented Jul 17, 2015 at 20:55

1 Answer 1

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All are saying that "I" can get it from the tap to do something, and the something is what differs between each of the statements. For the first statement, "you" are saved pumping. That is, "I" get "you" a discount of some sort on pumping (which somewhat makes sense for gas). The second, or B, says that the action of getting it from the tap makes "you" not have to pump any more. It saves "you" the effort of pumping. The third just makes no sense and is wrong, as Catija says.

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  • If I had to guess, this would be about someone on a municipal water system able to just get water out of a faucet by turning it on offering to help someone who has a well with a pump that has to be worked to get water.
    – Catija
    Commented Jul 18, 2015 at 0:17
  • @Catija I think you are correct, I said gas because you don't usually pay for pumped water in the same sense as paying for something you can save (like at a store, not usually with gas, water, and electrical bills).
    – Blubberguy22
    Commented Jul 20, 2015 at 13:47
  • I think it means save the exertion or work, not money.
    – Catija
    Commented Jul 20, 2015 at 13:49
  • @Catija I know, I meant if you say it like A ("save you pumping") it makes a little bit of sense if it was saving money, but since that is not what the sentence intends, it is a bad way of saying it.
    – Blubberguy22
    Commented Jul 20, 2015 at 13:50
  • The third one means that "I" am going to "get it from the tap" so that "you" can pump, either now or in the future. It seems so totally wrong because it means almost exactly the opposite of the other two.
    – Perkins
    Commented Oct 5, 2015 at 18:01

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