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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

The craziest thing I've ever done is inf/ to + inf/gerund

The craziest thing I've ever done is to run/run/running a marathon. Which one is the correct alternative, ESPECIALLY in written English, and why?

I've asked around but everyone has given me a different answer! Some people say you're supposed to use the -ing form or the to + inf, because the bare inf is neither a noun nor a verb. Others have said I'm supposed to use the bare inf because the -ing form would apply to a habit, something I do regularly as opposed to only once in my life! Others have said you can only use the -ing form if it's at the beginning of a sentence (like "Smoking is bad").
As you can see, it is SUCH a divisive topic!
  

Top answer

The craziest thing I've ever done is to run a marathon. The craziest thing I've ever done is run a marathon. The craziest thing I've ever done is running a marathon.

  • The craziest thing I've ever done is to run a marathon.
  • The craziest thing I've ever done is run a marathon.
  • The craziest thing I've ever done is running a marathon.
  • Every one of those is grammatical.
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2 Answers
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The craziest thing I've ever done is to run a marathon.
The craziest thing I've ever done is run a marathon.
The craziest thing I've ever done is running a marathon.

Every one of those is grammatical.
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None of the reasons people gave you are correct.

The craziest thing I've ever done was run/to run/running a marathon.

These are all good.

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