43
votes
"I told you DON´T go" vs. "I told you NOT TO go"
The second sentence is correct, all of the tenses are in agreement.
In the first sentence, "I told you" refers to a past event, but "don't" refers to a future event. You could make the sentence ...
- 5,656
38
votes
Accepted
Why does this sentence use "to writing" instead of "to write"?
Both those sentences are grammatically correct, but they have very different meanings, and Hemingway's version is the correct one for the intended meaning.
This portion of the quote can have two ...
- 48.8k
38
votes
Accepted
Why do commit title sentences start with an infinitive without to?
Commit messages for version control systems often use a particular grammar that's a little different from regular English sentences. As @TimR and @MichaelHarvey said, they use the imperative: similar ...
- 4,434
25
votes
Why is "I let him to sleep" incorrect (or is it)?
Yes, I let him sleep is correct while I let him to sleep is incorrect.
Certain verbs take a bare infinitive, and "let" is one of them. Here's a link that discusses the issue more.
- 11k
22
votes
When is "seems to be" used instead of "seems"?
Seem used as a link verb can be followed by an adjective,to be +an adjective,
You seem (to be )angry with something,
noun phrases,
She seems (to be) a nice girl.
infinitives,
They seem to ...
- 7,075
21
votes
Accepted
"On their way to killing". Does it sound right?
Not every "to" marks an infinitive:
on their way to the store
on their way to victory or defeat
on their way to doing something
This is the ordinary preposition "to". In general,...
- 13.3k
21
votes
Accepted
Is saying "I am excited to eat grapes" correct to imply that you like eating grapes?
Short answer, no. You're right, "I am excited to X" usually means that you are doing X right now or are going to in the future, and that prospect excites you.
Now, the whole thing is a bit ...
- 9,941
20
votes
Accepted
Looking forward to see you vs Looking forward to seeing you?
There's two different things going on here, both of which use the word to, which is probably what's confusing you.
The rule your teacher taught you applies to infinitives, in the context of sentences ...
- 977
18
votes
"... to apply for a visa" or "... and applied for a visa"?
They are both pretty much fine, but have slightly different meanings due to tense:
'and applied for a visa' suggests that the process was completed, though conversely this may not have been the main ...
- 6,335
18
votes
Accepted
Why is "I let him to sleep" incorrect (or is it)?
It is incorrect simply because the idiom is "Let someone [bare infinitive]". In some situations, a "to-infinitive" is used, and in other the bare infinitive is correct. This is one of those times ...
- 202k
17
votes
Why does this sentence use "to writing" instead of "to write"?
I don't like the Merriam-Webster explanation that is given by another answer, because it is completely opaque even to me (a native speaker). All you need to know is that the phrase in question means:
...
- 1,365
16
votes
Accepted
"It can contain" or "It can contains"?
As a native speaker I would say
1) it can contain
To use contains, the word "can" must be dropped, e.g.
2b) it contains
Only the modal verb (in this case, can) has to be in third person ...
- 1,269
14
votes
Is there any reason why we can't use "I hope you to buy me a doll."
If there is a subject in the complement, the verb in the complement is finite (tensed):
The little girl hopes {her mom buys her a doll}.
and when there is no subject in the complement, the verb in ...
- 121k
14
votes
"get used to cycle" or "get used to cycling"
No, this aspect of grammar has not changed, but the rule you state only applies to one usage of used to. But in fact "used to" has two definitions.
When used to is used as a verb, then your ...
- 1,759
14
votes
infinitive telling the purpose
I wouldn't say it's incorrect. But it's rather verbose. It doesn't change the meaning. It doesn't add anything to it.
I think in order to would make more sense at the beginning of the sentence.
In ...
- 12.1k
14
votes
If a legatee receives a legacy, what is the legacy giver called? Maybe legateer?
The legal term here is...
testator - a person who dies leaving a will or testament in force
...but you'd rarely hear that in normal conversational contexts. Ordinary people don't have a word for &...
- 68.6k
12
votes
"I told you DON´T go" vs. "I told you NOT TO go"
Consider a simpler sentence:
I like ice cream.
When we want to negate this, in English, we need "do", which is called an auxiliary verb. Just adding "not" is not enough.
*I not like ice cream.
...
- 7,351
12
votes
"... to apply for a visa" or "... and applied for a visa"?
They're both perfectly valid and "natural", and in most cases they'd be equivalent and interchangeable.
But potentially there could be a difference. If it turned out the Chinese consulate ...
- 68.6k
12
votes
Accepted
"To <verb> a <noun>"
None of those three phrases is a sentence.
In those phrases, the word to means that the following verb is an infinitive. It prevents the reader from interpreting the word as an imperative verb. For ...
- 27.5k
11
votes
Is "sing" a noun or a verb in this quote by Samuel Beckett?
In A Practical English Grammar by A. J. Thomson & A. V. Martinet (the section on bare infinitives, section 246K) the authors claim:
K. The to is optional in sentences such as: The only thing ...
- 1,699
10
votes
"It can contain" or "It can contains"?
The modal verbs in English have a very strict grammar. The main members of this category are:
Can, could, shall, should, will, would, may , might, must
These are the most important things to know ...
10
votes
Which sentence is grammatically incorrect?
This may be a regional thing (I'm from London) but I definitely find sentence 3 odd:
This is a deep lake to swim
As another answerer has already mentioned, I would generally expect to see:
This ...
- 1,187
10
votes
"the sun goes down" vs "the sun go down"
In the second sentence, "go" is in the infinitive (the form without "to") following the verb "watch" (I don't know what the proper term for that is). Infinitives are not conjugated to match a subject, ...
- 1,225
10
votes
infinitive telling the purpose
He used his disability (in order) to win our votes , which is an evil way to win the election.
In many cases, it's optional, and a matter of style, though it is a useful test for determining whether ...
- 15.8k
9
votes
Use of "have to" vs "am to"
"Be to", oddly enough, means that you have been directed or destined to do something by someone else.
I can't. My mother says I am to clean my room.
I am to go to London in a fortnight and ...
- 12.7k
8
votes
Which sentence is grammatically incorrect?
All five sentences are grammatically correct. Sentences #3 and #4 are the trickiest.
These two sentences are perfectly idiomatic:
. 2. Do you have something to eat?
. 5. She lived to be ninety.
...
- 24.1k
8
votes
When is "seems to be" used instead of "seems"?
STRAIGHT TO THE POINT - SHORT ANSWER -
The baby seems happy/comfortable.
The baby seems to be happy/comfortable.
They both are correct, and there is no difference in meaning.
DIGGING ...
- 10.8k
8
votes
"also has been" vs "has also been"
If the acceptability of the both is taken for granted, I think that the place of also in a sentence will depend upon the context, that is whether it means "like someone already mentioned" (He also has ...
- 9,495
8
votes
infinitive telling the purpose
I don't think it must be omitted in this case, but I think your teacher's edit constitutes an improvement.
Not every correction from a teacher happens because something is "incorrect." Teachers ...
J.R.♦
- 109k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible