Verbs + preposition

Question

Hi, I'm sure everyone knows that a verb + a preposition takes a noun or a gerund, but what happens if we have "allude to" or "aspire to", both are verbs +´preposition, so can those verbs take a gerund ? can you say allude to talking...? or aspire to being ?:s  explain to me about this please

Fandorin · Accepted Answer

Hi Darkon. We are glad to welcome you to English Forums.

Darkon1703But what happens if we have "allude to" or "aspire to", both are verbs +´preposition, so can those verbs take a gerund ?

Yes they may. Check also this post:
There is a commonly used list for gerunds and to-infinitives. Use a good dictionary to find out plain and unambiguous meaning.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=4337&dict=CALD
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=2246&dict=CALD

Some more examples.

The story alluded to a mystery in his past.

John alluded to his friend, but that guy ignored him.

I aspire to be a good speaker. ("Aspire to" usually takes full infinitive. (aspire to + bare infinitive) ).

CalifJim · Answer

Darkon1703Hi, I'm sure everyone knows that a verb + a preposition takes a noun or a gerund, but what happens if we have "allude to" or "aspire to", both are verbs +´preposition, so can those verbs take a gerund ? can you say allude to talking...? or aspire to being ?:s explain to me about this please

I don't see any reason that the verbs allude and aspire would be different from the others. Yes, you can say allude to talking and aspire to being.

Here are the first two entries I found using Google:

Why does he not mention or allude to talking about origins either in this general description or when he discusses the treatment of those specific symptoms?

Palestinians don't aspire to being a beggar nation.

CJ

Verbs + preposition

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