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Cup cake Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
to +ing
Hi Everyone,
Could someone please check that I'm on the right track with the following sentence:
'The chef used a knife to cut up the beef.'
My guess is that 'to' is a preposition in this sentence, meaning that it would better read as:
'The chef used a knife for cutting up the beef.'
Many thanks
CC
Could someone please check that I'm on the right track with the following sentence:
'The chef used a knife to cut up the beef.'
My guess is that 'to' is a preposition in this sentence, meaning that it would better read as:
'The chef used a knife for cutting up the beef.'
Many thanks
CC
Top answer
Cup cake The chef used a knife to cut up the beef. OK. Cup cake My guess is that 'to' is a preposition in this sentence As it stands, it is not, though it is equivalent to the phrasal preposition 'in order to'.
- Cup cake The chef used a knife to cut up the beef.
- OK.
- Cup cake My guess is that 'to' is a preposition in this sentence As it stands, it is not, though it is equivalent to the phrasal preposition 'in order to'.
- ' No, that is worse.
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4 Answers
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Cup cakeThe chef used a knife to cut up the beef.OK.
Cup cakeMy guess is that 'to' is a preposition in this sentenceAs it stands, it is not, though it is equivalent to the phrasal preposition 'in order to'.
Cup cakeit would better read as:'The chef used a knife for cutting up the beef.'
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Oh really?
OK, thanks Mr. M.
I actually do think the first sentence is right. The use of 'to' as a preposition versus the infinitive is a bit hairy at times.
I know if you replace the 'to' with another preposition you can easily answer the question.
It's still slightly mysterious though...
OK, thanks Mr. M.
I actually do think the first sentence is right. The use of 'to' as a preposition versus the infinitive is a bit hairy at times.
I know if you replace the 'to' with another preposition you can easily answer the question.
It's still slightly mysterious though...
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Actually, if it's OK, I have one more example:
'The doctor sent Peter instructions to inhale the drops as prescribed.'
Is 'to' a preposition in this example?
I'm assuming it is, because you can say:
'The doctor sent Peter instructions for inhaling the drops as prescribed.'
Gosh....not that easy.
'The doctor sent Peter instructions to inhale the drops as prescribed.'
Is 'to' a preposition in this example?
I'm assuming it is, because you can say:
'The doctor sent Peter instructions for inhaling the drops as prescribed.'
Gosh....not that easy.
00
Look—just because the paraphrase uses a preposition does not mean that the original does. There is often more than one grammatical way to say the same thing. 'To' seems quite infinitival there...since it is followed by an infinitive.
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