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Jae Soon Kim Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
'from' and 'to'
Hi. This was in our English test (Korea)
Q: Write what best fits the blank below. Use the given words. Change forms if required.
"Precisely because television is so easy to watch, it seems to____."
Words: television, from, analyze, critical, hinder, our efforts
Teachers' model answer: hinder our efforts from analyzing television critically.
My answer: hinder our efforts to analyze television critically.
So, my questions:
1. In my silly brain, I thought that 'from' and 'to' were words of the same form-that they were interchangeable. It doesn't work this way, right?
2. This particular text is modified from our textbook. The textbook said: "...so easy to watch, it seems to resist our efforts to analyze it critically."
Isn't the teachers' answer a bit different from the original text (meaning-wise)? Also, can 'our efforts' perform the action of 'analyzing'? Is it grammatically/meaning-wise correct?
Thank you!
Q: Write what best fits the blank below. Use the given words. Change forms if required.
"Precisely because television is so easy to watch, it seems to____."
Words: television, from, analyze, critical, hinder, our efforts
Teachers' model answer: hinder our efforts from analyzing television critically.
My answer: hinder our efforts to analyze television critically.
So, my questions:
1. In my silly brain, I thought that 'from' and 'to' were words of the same form-that they were interchangeable. It doesn't work this way, right?
2. This particular text is modified from our textbook. The textbook said: "...so easy to watch, it seems to resist our efforts to analyze it critically."
Isn't the teachers' answer a bit different from the original text (meaning-wise)? Also, can 'our efforts' perform the action of 'analyzing'? Is it grammatically/meaning-wise correct?
Thank you!
Top answer
Alas, your teacher is wrong. " "To" and "from" are workhorses in the stable of English prepositions. " In addition, "to" serves to introduce the infinitive form of verbs.
- Alas, your teacher is wrong.
- " "To" and "from" are workhorses in the stable of English prepositions.
- " In addition, "to" serves to introduce the infinitive form of verbs.
- " "Our efforts to analyze" means our attempts at analysis.
- We still perform the attempts.
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1 Answers
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Alas, your teacher is wrong. It's either "hinder us from analyzing" or "hinder our efforts to analyze."
"To" and "from" are workhorses in the stable of English prepositions. The OED gives 15 meanings for "from," and over twice that many for "to." In addition, "to" serves to introduce the infinitive form of verbs. Thus "to analyze."
"Our efforts to analyze" means our at
"To" and "from" are workhorses in the stable of English prepositions. The OED gives 15 meanings for "from," and over twice that many for "to." In addition, "to" serves to introduce the infinitive form of verbs. Thus "to analyze."
"Our efforts to analyze" means our at
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