Here’s another post in the test your English series. This one focuses on the use of the gerund or infinitive after the word to.
Look at the sentences below. Would you use go or going to complete each one?
1. No, you didn’t wake me up. I am used to _____ to bed late. Don’t worry.
2. I attempted to _____ from my existing diet to one containing no carbs and nearly died.
3. I need to find something (or someone!) that will help me stay committed to _____ to the gym.
4. I like Starbucks, but I wouldn’t like to limit myself to _____ there only.
5. A certain celebrity, who shall remain nameless, recently admitted to _____ under the knife. Who could it be?
6. I am so looking forward to _____ on vacation.
7. Quote of the day: “In order to _____ up, one must go down, first.” Yeah, whatever.
8. I was offered an initial short-term contract with a view to _____ permanent.
9. When I was younger, I didn’t object to _____ to church. Now I kind of wish I had.
10. I am slowly getting accustomed to _____ to work on foot. It will take a little getting used, though.
11. My father’s company came dangerously close to _____ out of business.
Ready for the answers?
1. No, you didn’t wake me up. I am used to going to bed late. Don’t worry.
2. I attempted to go from my existing diet to one containing no carbs and nearly died.
3. I need to find something (or someone!) that will help me stay committed to going to the gym.
4. I like Starbucks, but I wouldn’t like to limit myself to going there only.
5. A certain celebrity, who shall remain nameless, recently admitted to going under the knife. Who could it be?
6. I am so looking forward to going on vacation.
7. Quote of the day: “In order to go up, one must go down, first.” Yeah, whatever.
8. I was offered an initial short-term contract with a view to going permanent.
9. When I was younger, I didn’t object to going to church. Now I kind of wish I had.
10. I am slowly getting accustomed to going to work on foot. It will take a little getting used, though.
11. My father’s company came dangerously close to going out of business.
To is a preposition is all the sentences above, except 2 and 7. Now, the twenty-million-dollar question is:
How can we tell whether to is a preposition or part of the infinitive? Here’s a simple rule of thumb:
If you can put a noun (or a noun phrase) after to, it’s a preposition. Look:
I’m looking forward to going on vacation / I’m looking forward to my next vacation.
I object to being treated like that. / I object to that sort of treatment.
I should try to limit myself to ten cigarettes a day. / I should try to limit myself to smoking ten cigarettes a day.
The company is committed to the environment. / The company is committed to protecting the environment.
To make a long story short: the use of the gerund or infinitive depends on whether or not to is a preposition and you can find that out by trying to use a noun in the sentence.
Thanks for reading.
If you enjoyed this post, try this one.
I thought the sentences were easy, but the rule of thumb bit on prepositions or infinitive was golden. One of the reasons I come here so often is that there are always things to be learned.
That’s very nice of you, Ricardo. Thank you.
I worked for a school where one teacher thought, “I am liking it,” was a correct sentence. He explained that he is loving it now but may or may not change his mind in the future. I wonder how many people think this is correct. Just because Mc Donald’s coins a phrase, “I’m loving it,” doesn’t mean we can write in the grammar books. If this phrase IS correct, and I am wrong, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. 🙂
“I’m liking”, in my book (no pun intended) is wrong, wrong, wrong. But I’ve been hearing (!) “I’m wanting” and “I’m loving” more and more. Check out the number of google occurrences:
“I’m wanting” – 20 million (though I expected more)
“I’m liking” – 24 million (of which at least half must come from websites saying that it’s wrong)
“I’m loving” – 92 million
Now when and whether any of these forms will get an official nod of approval from grammar books is another story, right?
Thanks for reading, Ely.
YES! Thank you!! Ahhh all is right with the world once again! 🙂
When we say I wouldn’t like to limit myself going there only, why are we using ing instead of bare infinitive?
The sentence doesn’t seem correct.
I wouldn’t like to limit myself to only going there. = This would be a better way to write the sentence. We say ‘only going there,’ because we are talking about the action (ing) of going to one specific place.
I’m not sure how you are using this sentence or where you’ve seen it. Maybe with more details and the context in which it is used, I might be able to explain it.