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#2 (permalink) Tue Sep 05, 2006 10:09 am Gerund vs. infinitive |
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Some English verbs take a gerund as an object and some an infinitive. Some, like ‘try’, take both:
Try to sing them or try singing them.
There may be a difference in meaning, though. For further explanations, see the following link:
'Try + infinitive' versus 'Try + gerund' http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic11938.html |
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Conchita Language Coach

Joined: 26 Dec 2005 Posts: 2826 Location: Madrid, Spain
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#3 (permalink) Tue Sep 05, 2006 10:15 am Sing v singing |
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Hi Krill,
The verb "try" must be followed by either the infinitive "to do" or the present participle "doing".
Thinking about similar verbs like "hope", "want", "learn" these are all followed usually by the infinitive.
Art |
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DOlier You can meet me at english-test.net

Joined: 29 Aug 2006 Posts: 99 Location: Ireland
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#4 (permalink) Tue Sep 05, 2006 10:46 am Infinitive vs. gerund |
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. I agree that there's a difference in meaning between try to do and try doing.
If you say "I tried to sing", that means that you attempted to sing and most likely failed. (You were unable to sing at all.)
If you say "I tried singing", that means you sang as an experiment. (In this case, your singing was a test --- to see if it would help your pronunciation of words.)
Here is another forum link: Try + gerund http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic7209.html . _________________ "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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