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Chrishemingway Posted 6 years ago
Grammar

'untie to take off' or 'untie and take off'

Hi

Please could you help me understand which is the correct sentence and why?

(a) 'He couldn't untie his laces and take off his shoes'

or

(b) 'He couldn't untie his laces to take off his shoes'


Although the difference is just 'and' and 'to', (a) doesn't sound correct to me but I cannot explain the grammatical reason as to why.

Can anyone assist?

Thanks

Chris

  

Top answer

" This does not indicate the two actions are absolutely connected. " Many native speakers will say a) He couldn't untie his laces and take off his shoes. But just because native speakers will say this, it does not make it correct!

— EnglishUSA

  • " This does not indicate the two actions are absolutely connected.
  • " Many native speakers will say a) He couldn't untie his laces and take off his shoes.
  • But just because native speakers will say this, it does not make it correct!
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3 Answers
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Nor correct:

"He couldn't untie his laces and take off his shoes."

The implied sentence is "He couldn't untie his laces and he couldn't take off his shoes."

This does not indicate the two actions are absolutely connected. You could easily say "He couldn't untie his laces and (he couldn't) play the piano."

Many native speakers will say a) He couldn't

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chrishemingway(a) 'He couldn't untie his laces and take off his shoes'

If you must start the sentence that way, this is right. Sequence is implied by "and". "To" drives the tack with a sledgehammer.

https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/americ

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chrishemingwayAlthough the difference is just 'and' and 'or'

Actually, the difference is just 'and' and 'to'. Typo? Where? In the header or in the example?

chrishemingwayPlease could you help me understand which is the correct sentence and why?

Both are correct. (Or all three are correct.) It depends what you

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