'when' versus 'to'

Question

what to go forShe's going to be so happy to see you. or when she see you.They wear heals even when they are at work. or even to work.She looked better when she wasn't a redhead. or looked better not a redhead.

Spindoctorjimbo · Accepted Answer

Hi!

All languages start with small pieces and then build bigger pieces. In an alphabetic language, letters lead to prefixes, suffixes, roots, and words; words lead to phrases and clauses; every sentence is a clause.

Most sentences are more than just a noun and a verb. But a sentence like "He wears shoes" has not problem. It is OK.

However, most times, people add information to the basic idea in a sentence--the subject noun and its relationship with the verb(and if necessary, direct objects, predicate nominatives, and so on).

This adding ideas together is an especially powerful part of English. So someone can say, "He wears shoes to work." That adds an idea of a place or activity that is part of the subject's shoe-wearing.

Someone can also say, "He wears shoes when he goes to work." Both are absolutely correct.

The first is a prepositional phrase--they are extremely common in English. The second is a dependent, or subordinate clause; it has a subject and a verb and may be useful to think of as a dead sentence.

In fact, a way to look at learning English is to imagine assembling puzzles, in which the speaker puts together phrases and clauses that express complex ideas simply, simple ideas richly, and so on. As a listener, learning English involves being able to hear and understand the way the speaker has put the pieces together.

Of course, reading is merely a formal way of listening; writing is just a formal way of speaking.

'when' versus 'to'

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