TransWikia.com

Usage about the grammar between inf. "To V" and "Ving"

English Language & Usage Asked by Kant Lin on August 16, 2021

It’s my first time to use this platform.

Are the sentences below correct?

  1. The sentence "I decided to quit the job." equal the other sentence "I decided quitting the job."?
  2. The sentence "My aim in life is to become a singer." equal the other sentence "My aim in life is becoming a singer."?
  3. The sentence "She got her husband to clean up the house." equal the other sentence "She got her husband cleaning up the house."?

One Answer

The second part of the first example is ungrammatical. The only way you could make make it work would be to insert 'on' to turn it into "I decided on quitting the job" but this is only approximately the same as "I decided to quit the job." You would use the "decided on" sentence to talk about a choice between two or more options. For instance "I thought about asking for a pay rise or quitting the job, I decided on quitting the job"

The first and second parts of the second example are both grammatical and are very close in menaing but the second one is a bit more clumsy and less likely to be used in my opinion.

Both parts of the third example are grammatical but there is a slight difference in meaning: The first one usually means that she got her husband to clean the house once, the second usually means that she got her husband to clean the house on a regular basis.

On another point you use the sentence "Are these above sentence correct?" to pose your question. This is wrong in two ways: firstly you should use the plural form sentences to refer to more than one sentence and secondly you should only use above in a sentence like this if the things being referred to come first. You should have said "Are the following sentences correct?" or "Are the sentences below correct?"

Correct answer by BoldBen on August 16, 2021

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question

Get help from others!

© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP