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#2 (permalink) Thu Nov 04, 2004 21:20 pm Stopped to shine and stopped shining |
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Hi Pita,
Please take a look at these examples:
When Mike saw his old friend Tom he stopped to talk to him. (this means, Mike stopped walking so he could talk to Tom.)
When Mike entered the room Tom stopped talking. (this means, Tom was talking and when Mike entered the room Tom went silent.)
So, obviously the Sun didn't stop moving around in the universe but it stopped shining.
TOEIC listening, talks: Introducing a keynote speaker of business evening event |
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Torsten Learning Coach

Joined: 25 Sep 2003 Posts: 14492 Location: EU
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#3 (permalink) Sun May 25, 2008 12:15 pm Stopped to shine and stopped shining? |
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Hi, the matter is clear to me: some verbs (stop etc.) have to be followed by an -ing, whereas others (want) are followed by a "to". My problem is: is there any grammar rule to know which one needs which one? Or is in this case the very reason for stop to be followed by -ing that it could otherwise be confused with the meaning of stop as "stop moving"? Was my question clear enough? |
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Casafon I'm new here and I like it ;-)
Joined: 11 May 2008 Posts: 48
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#4 (permalink) Sun May 25, 2008 17:56 pm Stopped to shine and stopped shining? |
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Hi casafon
When the word 'to' follows the verb 'stop', it indicates a purpose or reason. In other words, the word 'to' means 'in order to':
- He stopped (in order) to tie his shoe.--> The reason he stopped was to tie his shoe. - He stopped at a gas station (in order) to fill up. --> He stopped at the gas station so that he could fill the tank with gas. . _________________ "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln |
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Yankee I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 8316 Location: USA
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#5 (permalink) Tue Dec 29, 2009 19:48 pm Stopped to shine and stopped shining? |
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My teacher, Could you please tell me further explanation?
When Mike saw his old friend Tom he stopped to talk to him. (this means, Mike stopped walking so he could talk to Tom.) I can't made it clears in my mind. He stopped to talk to him (Tom) is 'he could talk to Tom'? |
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Watie I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 11 Nov 2009 Posts: 162 Location: Indonesia
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