Why signing them why not sign them?

[Kirill]

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #211 "What Comes Next? (5)", question 10

If you can't actually say the words then why don't you try ..........

(a) sing them
(b) singing them
(c) to have sung them
(d) having sung them

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #211 "What Comes Next? (5)", answer 10

If you can't actually say the words then why don't you try singing them.

Correct answer: (b) singing them

Your answer was: incorrect
If you can't actually say the words then why don't you try sing them.
_________________________

why signing them why not sign them?

Kirill

[Conchita]

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

[dOlier]

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

[Yankee]

.
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
.
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English