"there's nothing special in noticing"

Question

I should have just said "it's nothing special to notice" but for whatever reason I said "there' nothing special in noticing". Is that a problem? (I know that "there's nothing special to noticing" would probably still have been better than "in", but that doesn't matter.)

GPY · Accepted Answer

The situation in which you are envisaging saying "it's nothing special to notice" is not immediately obvious to me. "there's nothing special in/to noticing" seems to mean that the ability to notice things is common or normal, but I wonder whether that is really what you want to say. I think more context is needed.

Mathiashm · Answer

Thanks for the reply. There is not much to explain, since it's really mostly a question of the correct use of a preposition, or of a valid expression. I don't see the problem with whatever I might mean, people can mean many things: yes, I mean, that it's nothing special to notice "something". However, I see no reason to infer that this is a "general" statement of some kind.
The reason for the statement is a kind of rejoinder, saying that, yes, something is the case, however, this doesn't automatically mean that something else is the case (it is against a simplified interpretation).

Perhaps it's more helpful to say:

"there's nothing special in noticing that" + clause
"it's nothing special to notice that" + clause

The question is basically about "something special" + to or in notice/-ing. It seems that "something special to" or "about" is the correct use of form. But I used "in", connecting it with the verb.

I ask whether this is a correct use of "special" + preposition + non-finite verb.

Mathiashm · Answer

So again, is it normal/possible to use the form in the headline?

CalifJim · Answer

Mathiashm"there's nothing special in noticing that" + clause"it's nothing special to notice that" + clause

Both patterns are correct. Personally, I would probably use the first.

CJ

GPY · Answer

MathiashmThe question is basically about "something special" + to or in notice/-ing.

In the right context, three of the four combinations are possible:

something/nothing special to notice
something/nothing special to noticing
something/nothing special in noticing

"nothing special in notice" doesn't seem possible, certainly not with "notice" as a verb.

"there's nothing special in noticing"

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