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Youngbuts Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
fail in getting into vs fail to get into
Hi, everyone.
I was wondering if there could be a difference between 'fail in ~ing' and 'fail to verb'. So I have made some sentences. Would you take a look at them?
I failed in getting into the art school. (It is a fact which happend in the past.)
I failed to get into the art school. (It is a fact which happend in the past.)
I would/want to fail in getting into the law school.(His father wants him to go there, not him)
I would/want to fail to get into the law school..(His father wants him to go there, not him)
I could fail in getting into the art school. (Now he is arfaid of not getting into the school.)
I could fail to get into the art school. (Now he is arfaid of not getting into the school.)
Are they interchangeable in all the cases? Or is there some difference in meaning?
Many thanks in advance.
I was wondering if there could be a difference between 'fail in ~ing' and 'fail to verb'. So I have made some sentences. Would you take a look at them?
I failed in getting into the art school. (It is a fact which happend in the past.)
I failed to get into the art school. (It is a fact which happend in the past.)
I would/want to fail in getting into the law school.(His father wants him to go there, not him)
I would/want to fail to get into the law school..(His father wants him to go there, not him)
I could fail in getting into the art school. (Now he is arfaid of not getting into the school.)
I could fail to get into the art school. (Now he is arfaid of not getting into the school.)
Are they interchangeable in all the cases? Or is there some difference in meaning?
Many thanks in advance.
Top answer
To my ear the more normal sounding version is "fail to get", which suggests to me a complete trial ending in failure. The version with "fail in getting" seems to me to be a less used variant, and it suggests to me an incomplete trial ending in failure. In "fail to get" I sense that the trial went to completion, and the final result was failure.
- To my ear the more normal sounding version is "fail to get", which suggests to me a complete trial ending in failure.
- The version with "fail in getting" seems to me to be a less used variant, and it suggests to me an incomplete trial ending in failure.
- In "fail to get" I sense that the trial went to completion, and the final result was failure.
- In "fail in getting" I sense that the trial was in progress, and failure was already certain so the project was aborted.
- Strangely, in these specific cases, I also have a tendency to think of "fail to get" as a failure to be admitted to art school because of a failure to meet the entrance requirements, whereas I almost begin to think of "fail in getting" as a failure to enter the physical building itself, as in, say, an attempt to steal something.
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1 Answers
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To my ear the more normal sounding version is "fail to get", which suggests to me a complete trial ending in failure.
The version with "fail in getting" seems to me to be a less used variant, and it suggests to me an incomplete trial ending in failure.
In "fail to get" I sense that the trial went to completion, and the final result was failure.
In "fail in getting" I sense that th
The version with "fail in getting" seems to me to be a less used variant, and it suggests to me an incomplete trial ending in failure.
In "fail to get" I sense that the trial went to completion, and the final result was failure.
In "fail in getting" I sense that th
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