COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH III

COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH III

 In a way, this is the 3^rd chapter. If you haven't yet gone through the previous two write-ups, don't forget to check them out.

COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH I

COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH II

11. 'I look forward to read her book.' ❌❌❌

You know why this
sentence is grammatically inaccurate! Let me give you a hint. There is something wrong with the two highlighted words. 

If you have ever observed how the word, 'to', is used in English, you would be quick to recollect that it plays two roles. 'T-O' (TO) PLAYS 'T-W-O' (TWO) ROLES. 

First, it forms the infinitive (e.g. I want to play chess. ✅✅✅). In this case, you cannot just call it a preposition. The infinitive, 'to play', is an inseparable construction in itself. 

Secondly, it is also a preposition. It implies that it sits before a noun/pronoun/noun phrase (e.g. I wrote a letter to her.). 
Now, let's come back to the sentence concerned.

'I look forward to read her book.' ❌❌❌

The correct version:
"I look forward to reading her book." ✅✅✅

Why? It is because 'to' is a preposition in this sentence. How did I come to that conclusion? Just replace "read her book" with the pronoun, 'that'. So, now we have "I look forward to that." ✅✅✅ Is it a grammatically correct sentence? Of course, it is! It implies that 'to' is a preposition in this sentence. After all, we used it with a pronoun. Still, it did not become a grammatically inaccurate expression. It means we cannot use it with a verb in this sentence. So, we need to add '-ing' to the verb in order to make it a gerund. 
"I look forward to reading her book." ✅✅✅ Now, it's not a verb any more.

Does the same logic apply to the following sentence? 

"She wants to dance." ✅✅✅ 

Replace 'dance' with 'it/that'. And, you'll have
"She wants to that." ❌❌❌ 
IS THIS STILL CORRECT? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Then, what does it imply? It implies that 'to' can only be a part of an infinitive in this sentence . 

 "She wants to sing." ✅✅✅ 

It's perfect now.
I hope you understand what I'm talking about. In this way, you can recognize the identity of 'to' in a sentence. Today, I am not going to talk about anything else in this write-up. If it's possible, read this article again. I know it can be a bit difficult to comprehend. 

Anyhow, I hope you learnt something new today. 
Until next time, this is RB, signing off.



© RB