0
Enchanted Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Verb+ing

Happy Sunday:

A question about verb+ing:
"So for the next 24 hours, we guarantee a safe passage to all the aliens leaving our solar system"

Why leaving instead of to leave is used here?

thanks

Ench
  

Top answer

Enchanted "So for the next 24 hours, we guarantee a safe passage to all the aliens leaving / who/that [will] leave our solar system" The participle is used as a relative clause equivalent. Similar examples: The man entering the building looked old. (= who/that entered) The boys playing tennis are very skillful.

— Cool Breeze

  • Enchanted "So for the next 24 hours, we guarantee a safe passage to all the aliens leaving / who/that [will] leave our solar system" The participle is used as a relative clause equivalent.
  • Similar examples: The man entering the building looked old.
  • (= who/that entered) The boys playing tennis are very skillful.
  • (= who/that are playing) (US spelling: skilful ) If next, last, only or an ordinal occurs in the antecedent, an infinitive is used instead of a participle: The next train to arrive was a little late.
  • Roger Bannister was the first man to run the mile in under four minutes.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

2 Answers
0
Enchanted"So for the next 24 hours, we guarantee a safe passage to all the aliens leaving / who/that [will] leave our solar system"

The participle is used as a relative clause equivalent. Similar examples:

The man entering the building loo
0
0
EnchantedHappy Sunday:

A question about verb+ing:
"So for the next 24 hours, we guarantee a safe passage to all the aliens who are leaving our solar system"

Why leaving instead of to leave is used here?

I believe by inserting 'who are' in the sentence, it should be clear to you why 'to leave' cannot be used.
0

Related Questions