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Angv21 Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
How to distinguish between Preposition and Tense
Hi there,
I am having a little bit of trouble distinguishing between the preposition 'to' and 'to' as a tense marker.
For eg:
I intend to resign
It's difficult to get Heather to work
I wonder whether to arrive early.
How can I know that 'to' is a preposition and not a tense marker in the sentence.
I am having a little bit of trouble distinguishing between the preposition 'to' and 'to' as a tense marker.
For eg:
I intend to resign
It's difficult to get Heather to work
I wonder whether to arrive early.
How can I know that 'to' is a preposition and not a tense marker in the sentence.
Top answer
Greetings, you most probably want to know the boundary between 'to' as a preposition (as in We went to his house ) and 'to' as an infinitive marker (as in To live is to learn ). If so, the most obvious distinguishing mark between the two is that the preposition to cannot be followed by an infinitive form, so if you see a sentence like I intend to resign , you should know that here is only the infinitive marker. However, if you read this: I'm looking forward to hearing from you , you understand that a preposition 'to' requires a noun or an -ing form after it (as in this case), so there is no infinitive marker.
- Greetings, you most probably want to know the boundary between 'to' as a preposition (as in We went to his house ) and 'to' as an infinitive marker (as in To live is to learn ).
- If so, the most obvious distinguishing mark between the two is that the preposition to cannot be followed by an infinitive form, so if you see a sentence like I intend to resign , you should know that here is only the infinitive marker.
- However, if you read this: I'm looking forward to hearing from you , you understand that a preposition 'to' requires a noun or an -ing form after it (as in this case), so there is no infinitive marker.
- In your sentences: angv21 I intend to resign - 'to' + inf <resign>' --- inf.
- marker; It's difficult to get Heather to work - 'to + get' --- inf.
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4 Answers
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Greetings,
you most probably want to know the boundary between 'to' as a preposition (as in We went to his house) and 'to' as an infinitive marker (as in To live is to learn). If so, the most obvious distinguishing mark between the two is that the preposition to cannot be followed by an infinitive form, so if you see a sentence like I intend
you most probably want to know the boundary between 'to' as a preposition (as in We went to his house) and 'to' as an infinitive marker (as in To live is to learn). If so, the most obvious distinguishing mark between the two is that the preposition to cannot be followed by an infinitive form, so if you see a sentence like I intend
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angv21It's difficult to get Heather to work
It may be worth mentioning that this is ambiguous: the second "to" could mark an infinitive or it could be a preposition, with quite different meanings.
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It is now clear how to distinguish between the both, thank you.
I have one other question in regards to the word 'for'. In English it has been argued to belong to 2 different catgories such as preposition and complementizer. I know that a Complementizer introduces a clause and can act as subjects correct?
For him to resign would cause chaos
I'm anxious for
I have one other question in regards to the word 'for'. In English it has been argued to belong to 2 different catgories such as preposition and complementizer. I know that a Complementizer introduces a clause and can act as subjects correct?
For him to resign would cause chaos
I'm anxious for
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angv21In English it has been argued to belong to 2 different catgories such as preposition and complementizer.- according to another view, the complementizer in these sentences is to, and, personally, I favour this opinion:
For him to resign would cause chaos.<to-clause with to as a complementizer>
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