Sentence explanation and difference

Question

he stopped to call her back.he stopped calling her back.please tell me the difference between these two sentences and also the explanation for the same.

Clive · Accepted Answer

he stopped to call her back. This means he was doing something, but he stopped doing it in order to call her back.

he stopped calling her back. This means he was calling her back but he stopped calling her back.

(Please note that every English sentence has to start with a capital letter.)

Clive

AlpheccaStars · Answer

surbhighe stopped to call her back.

E.g. He was washing his car, but he was not finished. He interrupted this activity to call her back.

surbhighe stopped calling her back.

E.g. She was very angry at him. Every time he called her, she hung up the phone. After 20 times, he did not call back any more.

CalifJim · Answer

surbhig
he stopped to call her back.
he stopped calling her back.

please tell me the difference between these two sentences and also the explanation for the same.

Strictly speaking, stopped calling is a catenative construction (a chain of verbs). What did you stop doing? I [stopped complaining about the noise].

And stopped to call is not a catenative construction. It's the act of stopping without saying what is being stopped, followed by an infinitive of purpose saying why the stopping occurred. Why did you stop? I [stopped (something)] [to complain about the noise].

Because these are two different aspects of stopping (what was stopped and why the stopping occurred), you can have both in one sentence. If so, the -ing form comes first.

Fran [stopped setting the table].
Fran [stopped] [to call the kids in for dinner].

Together,
Fran [stopped setting the table] [to call the kids in for dinner].

CJ

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