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Liveinsea Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Which is wrong?

0One grammar books tells me that in some cases the marker of infinitives “to” should be omitted, and another grammar book tells me that in these cases the marker of infinitives “to” can be omitted. I noticed that there is a difference between these two statements, which is between “should be” and “can be”. So I am wondering which of the two sentences in each following pair is wrong? Why? If both cases are acceptable, what are the differences?02br
001. Did you hear him go out?00 02br
02br
00Did you hear him to go out?02br
002. I would have him wait for me.00 02br
02br
00I would have him to wait for me.02br
003. Last night I did nothing but watch TV.00 02br
02br
00Last night I did nothing but to watch TV.02br
004. All we can do is go at once.00 02br
02br
00All we can do is to go at once.02br
005. I can’t but tell her the truth.00 02br
02br
00I can’t but to tell her the truth.02br
006. We had better do it at once.00 02br
02br
00We had better to do it at once.02br
007. Why not go out for a walk?00 02br
02br
00Why not to go out for walk?02br
008. Why do it that way?00 02br
02br
00 00Why to do it that way?02br
009. I must make do with the old suit.00 02br
02br
00I must make to do with the old suit.02br
0010. The old man would rather drink tea than drink coffee.00 02br
02br
00The old man would rather to drink tea that to drink coffee.02br
00Thank you very much!00 02br
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Top answer

0I mostly agree with your 01i 01u 00first02u 02i 00 grammar book. To my ear all should be omitted. "02br 02br 00I looked for synonyms which would definitely require the "to" and only found one: #10 - "would 01i 01u 00prefer02u 02i 00 to drink tea"02br 02br 00(I hope I haven't taken this out of action.

  • 0I mostly agree with your 01i 01u 00first02u 02i 00 grammar book.
  • To my ear all should be omitted.
  • "02br 02br 00I looked for synonyms which would definitely require the "to" and only found one: #10 - "would 01i 01u 00prefer02u 02i 00 to drink tea"02br 02br 00(I hope I haven't taken this out of action.
  • )0-
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3 Answers
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0I mostly agree with your 01i01u00first02u02i00 grammar book. To my ear all should be omitted. Only #4 sounds acceptable to me both ways, and #5 is a maybe.02br
02br
00I think #9 is a fixed idiom "to make do."02br
02br
00I looked for synonyms which would definitely require the "to" and only found one: #10 - "would
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0You won't go wrong by choosing the first of each pair.02br
00The second in example 4 is also possible. In all other cases the second of the two is not a very good choice.02br
02br
00CJ 0-
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0Thank you very much!02br
02br
00So the bottom line of language use is to be free of misunderstanding, and then try to follow the conventions of native speakers as much as possible.0-

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