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Philip Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Natives: "to"?
My Comcast homepage this afternoon had an article about "20 chic-flicks your guy can't help but to enjoy". The "to" sounded strange to me, but upon thinking about it I felt it might be just fine. Any ideas?
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6 Answers
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It sounds odd to me too. I would leave it out, thus "can't help but enjoy."
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Hi Philip,
I wouldn't say it's wrong, but it seems unnecessary to me.
When I google 'Can't help but to', I apparently get 62,000 hits. But of course you find all manner of strange stuff there, don't you?
I thought a 'chic-flick' was a French film for intellectuals.
Clive
I wouldn't say it's wrong, but it seems unnecessary to me.
When I google 'Can't help but to', I apparently get 62,000 hits. But of course you find all manner of strange stuff there, don't you?
I thought a 'chic-flick' was a French film for intellectuals.
Clive
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Sorry, everyone! I can't claim that "chic" was a typo on my part: I just don't know how to spell "chick".
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I'd say "wrong". The "help but" pattern takes a bare infinitive.
Expressing myself strongly on this subject is something I can't help but to do.
Google probably counted all manner of combinations where the constituent structure was different as in:
I know she was just trying to help, but to speak so rudely was really not necessary.
Tres chic, n'est
Expressing myself strongly on this subject is something I can't help but to do.
Google probably counted all manner of combinations where the constituent structure was different as in:
I know she was just trying to help, but to speak so rudely was really not necessary.
Tres chic, n'est
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Oui, mon ami, très chick.
Hope you had a great Bastille Day; I did.
Hope you had a great Bastille Day; I did.
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