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Stevenlien Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
About the verb tense after 'to'
Does anyone know why following sentence is correct?
-dedicate ourselves "to starting" our own business.
normally, we have native verb tense after "to"
what i thought is
-dedicate ourselves "to start" our own business.
so which one is correct?....this kind of question always annoyed me, but
i just can't find any rule using it.
any help will be appreciated
-dedicate ourselves "to starting" our own business.
normally, we have native verb tense after "to"
what i thought is
-dedicate ourselves "to start" our own business.
so which one is correct?....this kind of question always annoyed me, but
i just can't find any rule using it.
any help will be appreciated
Top answer
Hi, The verb "dedicate" is always followed by the preposition "to". So in this case "to" is not the first part of a to-infinitive, it is a preposition. That is why you use the ing-form after it.
- Hi, The verb "dedicate" is always followed by the preposition "to".
- So in this case "to" is not the first part of a to-infinitive, it is a preposition.
- That is why you use the ing-form after it.
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3 Answers
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Hi,
The verb "dedicate" is always followed by the preposition "to". So in this case "to" is not the first part of a to-infinitive, it is a preposition. That is why you use the ing-form after it.
The verb "dedicate" is always followed by the preposition "to". So in this case "to" is not the first part of a to-infinitive, it is a preposition. That is why you use the ing-form after it.
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Hello Stevenlien
'Starting' here is a verbal noun. Sometimes it's called the gerund; sometimes, as Miche says, the '-ing form'.
Try this webpage – you have to scroll down to 'infinitives and gerunds':
http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/verbs.htm#gerunds
'Starting' here is a verbal noun. Sometimes it's called the gerund; sometimes, as Miche says, the '-ing form'.
Try this webpage – you have to scroll down to 'infinitives and gerunds':
http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/verbs.htm#gerunds
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Welcome to English Forums!
This construction amounts to using a gerund ("-ing" word) as the object of the preposition "to". You don't have any aversion to using gerunds, do you? Eventually you'll get used to seeing this construction, especially if you get around to paying close attention to reading carefully every day. It really all comes down to finding good examples. Of course, I'm
This construction amounts to using a gerund ("-ing" word) as the object of the preposition "to". You don't have any aversion to using gerunds, do you? Eventually you'll get used to seeing this construction, especially if you get around to paying close attention to reading carefully every day. It really all comes down to finding good examples. Of course, I'm
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