A grammatical error or not?

Question

I'm reading an American novel these days and encountered sentences like "what I try to do is identify the whole fact". As an English teacher I always consider such sentences without a "to" to be wrong, but they are everywhere in that book. I'm puzzled. Is it acceptable in American English or in oral expressions?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]I'm reading an American novel these days and encountered sentences like "what I try to do is identify the whole ... wrong, but they are everywhere in that book. I'm puzzled. Is it acceptable in American English or in oral expressions?[/nq]
A a native speaker (and English teacher) I don't feel that the sentence is wrong, merely more informal than what you suggest.

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

Usenet · Answer

So it's just the difference between formal and informal genres? I see. Thanks very much!

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I'm reading an American novel these days...[/nq]
I think you mean something like "at the moment" or "currently" rather than "these days". The latter indicates an activity that is general or habitual that occurs over a longer period of time than it takes to read a novel.
For instance, "These days I use Colgate toothpaste" or "Nobody says 'please' these days".
BTW, does "snew" imply that you are a Winnie-the-Pooh fan?

Usenet · Answer

Thanks for pointing out that error.

SNEW is an English name given by myself. I even use it in formal classes and sometimes tutors are surprised about it because they have never seen such a name before. ^ ^ In fact it means "south, north, east, west".

A grammatical error or not?

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