why to V

Teo1. *I can't understand why to do it. (Practical English Usage)

2. I am wondering why to go at all. (A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language)

According to Practical English Usage, #1 is not acceptable. Why is #2 acceptable?

Hoa ThaiBefore we can decide what to do, we need to understand why to do it.

In a parallel structure, the restriction on why to V is waived.

Teo

Hoa ThaiBefore we can decide what to do, we need to understand why to do it.

In a parallel structure, the restriction on why to V is waived.

How about the bottom three

If the CGEL does indeed list the second sentence as acceptable, I imagine it would only be with the caveat that it has, at best, borderline acceptability. (You will have to return to the page in question and examine the surrounding text carefully in order to verify that.)
In general, however, infinitive-phrases are not introduced by 'why', despite the fact that both 'how' and 'when' are perfe

TeoIf the CGEL does indeed list the second sentence as acceptable, I imagine it would only be with the caveat that it has, at best, borderline acceptability. (You will have to return to the page in question and examine the surrounding text carefully in order to verify that.)
In general, however, infinitive-phrases are not introduced by 'why', despite the fact that bo

I'm baffled why Teo asked a question when he already has the answer. This is not the first time he has done so. He seems to take pride in doing so.

Our forum is for asking questions which pose problems to members, not for asking questions when the posters already know the answers to them, especially when the question has already been been answered by an English authority, in this case, t

Yoong Liat Our forum is for asking questions which pose problems to members, not for asking questions when the posters already know the answers to them, especially when the question has already been been answered by an English authority, in this case, the British teacher from the Englishclub.com.

Are you sure?

Teo

Yoong Liat Our forum is for asking questions which pose problems to members, not for asking questions when the posters already know the answers to them, especially when the question has already been been answered by an English authority, in this case, the British teacher from the Englishclub.com.

Yoong Liat

Teo

Yoong Liat Our forum is for asking questions which pose problems to members, not for asking questions when the posters already know the answers to them, especially when the question has already been been answered by an English authority, in this case, the British teacher from the E

Hi Teo,

Don't get angry. I now have no doubt of your motive. Next time when you question the validity of any statement in a text-book, please share the author's opinion with us so we can all learn.

Best Regards,
HoaThai