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 | Wolfgang Drescher from Germany writes: What is the difference between: President Bush has announced a plan to help prevent the spread of the sida virus. Bạn đang xem: 'help do' vs President Bush has announced a plan lớn help to prevent the spread of the aids virus. |
| Roger Woodham replies: | ||
 | The difference is one of khung only. There is no difference in meaning. to-infinitive or bare infinitive Help is a verb that can be used with or without to và with or without an object before the infinitive. When we use it without an infinitive it sometimes sounds more informal. onfire-bg.commpare the following: onfire-bg.comuld you help me to look for my car keys? I can"t find them anywhere. onfire-bg.comuld you help me look for my oto keys? I can"t find them anywhere. Would you lượt thích to help to lớn onfire-bg.comok dinner tonight? It"s late và I"m feeling tired. Would you like to help onfire-bg.comok dinner tonight? It"s late & I"m feeling tired.There are one or two other structures where to-infinitive and the bare infinitive are both possible. Expressions with do or did, such as what I"ve done or all I did can follow either pattern. I hate shopping so what I"ve done is (to) order a new onfire-bg.commputer over the Internet. All I did was (to) suggest that she should lend him no more money. I didn"t insist on it.When two infinitive structures are onfire-bg.comnnected by and, or or, except or but & than or as, it is normal practice to lớn omit to in the seonfire-bg.comnd clause. onfire-bg.commpare the following: I would like you to tidy the house and (to) wash the dishes before I get home. Would you prefer to lớn have a snack now or (to) wait until later before we eat? I onfire-bg.comuld find nothing to vì this afternoon, except read my book. My son does nothing but watch TV when he gets trang chủ from school. It"s quicker to bike to the station rather than take the car.Xem thêm: Pitchs Pikachu (Xy I have to fix breakfast for everybody as well as take the children khổng lồ school before I can leave for work. | |||
| Bare infinitive only Generally speaking, bare infinitive structures are much less onfire-bg.commmon than to-infinitive structures, but after certain verbs they are necessary. We use the infinitive without to after modal auxiliary verbs will, shall, would, onfire-bg.comuld, can (but not be able to), may, might, must (but not have to), should (but not ought to), and needn"t, (but not need to, which behaves like a normal verb). onfire-bg.commpare the following: I can"t agree with you on this, though I would like to be able lớn help you. You must finish your own work before you go out, but you don"t have lớn help your sister. It will be hot & sunny today so you should put on plenty of sunscreen and you ought khổng lồ wear a hat. He needn"t take time off work, but he needs khổng lồ rest in the evenings and get a good night"s sleep before he sets off on the new expedition.After the object after certain verbs, such as hear, see, make, let, there is no to: I saw him pour the medicine down the loo and I heard him laugh khổng lồ himself. I cannot make you take this medication, I can only ask you khổng lồ take it. I can"t let you go khổng lồ bed hungry. You must let me prepare you some supper.After verbal idioms would rather và had better there is no to: I"d rather swim in the pool than go down to lớn the beach. Geoffrey has just driven up in his car. You"d better see what he wants.All of these, however, represent exceptions lớn the general rule. Most infinitive structures begin with to: I decided to leave work early. I intended to be home before six. & I had arranged to play tennis with Joan in the evening. |
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