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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Vocabulary
TO followed by -ING form
Hi,
I went looking through several websites including this one,
and even though I found some good directions I'm still confused by the "to as a preposition" rule
I understand that when "to" is a preposition then it should be followed by a verb with -ing form,
at least that is for sure for prepositional verbs like:
looking forward to
used to
...
But, what about when to is a preposition, but the there is no verb with a typical prepositional form?
For example:
"I do this to identify that" or
"I do this to identifying that" ?
Thanks for you help, i really appreciate it!
Giovanni
I went looking through several websites including this one,
and even though I found some good directions I'm still confused by the "to as a preposition" rule
I understand that when "to" is a preposition then it should be followed by a verb with -ing form,
at least that is for sure for prepositional verbs like:
looking forward to
used to
...
But, what about when to is a preposition, but the there is no verb with a typical prepositional form?
For example:
"I do this to identify that" or
"I do this to identifying that" ?
Thanks for you help, i really appreciate it!
Giovanni
Top answer
But, what about when to is a preposition, but the there is no verb with a typical prepositional form? - Then in that case, 'to' is not a preposition! Only this one is right: "I do this to identify that" .
- But, what about when to is a preposition, but the there is no verb with a typical prepositional form?
- - Then in that case, 'to' is not a preposition!
- Only this one is right: "I do this to identify that" .
- It is easier just to learn the few verb phrases that take the -ing form: look forward to, be used to, object to, admit to, resort to, consent to, etc.
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4 Answers
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But, what about when to is a preposition, but the there is no verb with a typical prepositional form?- Then in that case, 'to' is not a preposition! Only this one is right: "I do this to identify that" .
It is easier just to learn the few verb phrases that take the -ing form: look forward to, be used to, object to, admit to, resort to, consent to, etc.
It is easier just to learn the few verb phrases that take the -ing form: look forward to, be used to, object to, admit to, resort to, consent to, etc.
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AnonymousI do this to identify thatto in this example is not a preposition, but part of an infinitive.
See .
and follow the links given at the bottom of that post.
CJ
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Hi Giovanni,
You have to be aware of the fact that the same written word can represent different parts of speech, for example, 'can' may be a noun (preceded by an article) or an auxiliary verb (followed by a bare infinitive or other verb forms) or a main verb. It's the same with the word 'to' which stands for a preposition preceding a noun, gerund (ing-form), pronoun or is a particle 'to' in s
You have to be aware of the fact that the same written word can represent different parts of speech, for example, 'can' may be a noun (preceded by an article) or an auxiliary verb (followed by a bare infinitive or other verb forms) or a main verb. It's the same with the word 'to' which stands for a preposition preceding a noun, gerund (ing-form), pronoun or is a particle 'to' in s
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