Infinitive vs Gerund












4
















The business hoped to devote most of its fund to ______ for new television ads since it wanted more coverage.




Should the answer be "pay" or "paying"? Why and, what difference would it make (if any)?










share|improve this question





























    4
















    The business hoped to devote most of its fund to ______ for new television ads since it wanted more coverage.




    Should the answer be "pay" or "paying"? Why and, what difference would it make (if any)?










    share|improve this question



























      4












      4








      4


      1







      The business hoped to devote most of its fund to ______ for new television ads since it wanted more coverage.




      Should the answer be "pay" or "paying"? Why and, what difference would it make (if any)?










      share|improve this question

















      The business hoped to devote most of its fund to ______ for new television ads since it wanted more coverage.




      Should the answer be "pay" or "paying"? Why and, what difference would it make (if any)?







      grammar usage word-difference






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited 4 hours ago









      Gustavson

      2,800311




      2,800311










      asked 5 hours ago









      JoeJoe

      2714




      2714






















          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          2














          "to" is a preposition there, so a gerund is required.



          The correct sentence is:




          • The business hoped to devote most of its fund to paying for new television ads since it wanted more coverage.


          You devote money, time, effort, etc. to something, and that something needs to be a noun. If it is a verb, its nominal variant (i.e. a gerund) will be required.



          Here you can find more examples.






          share|improve this answer































            2














            What follows to should be a noun (or verb acting as a noun), making this the correct version of your sentence:




            The business hoped to devote most of its funds to paying for new television ads, since it wanted more coverage.




            Note that I used the plural funds on the assumption that you're talking about budget or money rather than an actual fund. I also added a comma after ads.





            Having said that, I would dispense with to paying for altogether. It's redundant.



            A shorter and still understandable sentence is simply:




            The business hoped to devote most of its funds to new television ads, since it wanted more coverage.






            On the other hand, you can rephrase the original sentence so pay can be used rather than paying. To do this, you would remove devote and rearrange things a bit:




            The business hoped to pay for new television ads with most of its funds, since it wanted more coverage.







            share|improve this answer























              Your Answer








              StackExchange.ready(function() {
              var channelOptions = {
              tags: "".split(" "),
              id: "481"
              };
              initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

              StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
              // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
              if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
              StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
              createEditor();
              });
              }
              else {
              createEditor();
              }
              });

              function createEditor() {
              StackExchange.prepareEditor({
              heartbeatType: 'answer',
              autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
              convertImagesToLinks: false,
              noModals: true,
              showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
              reputationToPostImages: null,
              bindNavPrevention: true,
              postfix: "",
              imageUploader: {
              brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
              contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
              allowUrls: true
              },
              noCode: true, onDemand: true,
              discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
              ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
              });


              }
              });














              draft saved

              draft discarded


















              StackExchange.ready(
              function () {
              StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f199593%2finfinitive-vs-gerund%23new-answer', 'question_page');
              }
              );

              Post as a guest















              Required, but never shown

























              2 Answers
              2






              active

              oldest

              votes








              2 Answers
              2






              active

              oldest

              votes









              active

              oldest

              votes






              active

              oldest

              votes









              2














              "to" is a preposition there, so a gerund is required.



              The correct sentence is:




              • The business hoped to devote most of its fund to paying for new television ads since it wanted more coverage.


              You devote money, time, effort, etc. to something, and that something needs to be a noun. If it is a verb, its nominal variant (i.e. a gerund) will be required.



              Here you can find more examples.






              share|improve this answer




























                2














                "to" is a preposition there, so a gerund is required.



                The correct sentence is:




                • The business hoped to devote most of its fund to paying for new television ads since it wanted more coverage.


                You devote money, time, effort, etc. to something, and that something needs to be a noun. If it is a verb, its nominal variant (i.e. a gerund) will be required.



                Here you can find more examples.






                share|improve this answer


























                  2












                  2








                  2







                  "to" is a preposition there, so a gerund is required.



                  The correct sentence is:




                  • The business hoped to devote most of its fund to paying for new television ads since it wanted more coverage.


                  You devote money, time, effort, etc. to something, and that something needs to be a noun. If it is a verb, its nominal variant (i.e. a gerund) will be required.



                  Here you can find more examples.






                  share|improve this answer













                  "to" is a preposition there, so a gerund is required.



                  The correct sentence is:




                  • The business hoped to devote most of its fund to paying for new television ads since it wanted more coverage.


                  You devote money, time, effort, etc. to something, and that something needs to be a noun. If it is a verb, its nominal variant (i.e. a gerund) will be required.



                  Here you can find more examples.







                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer










                  answered 4 hours ago









                  GustavsonGustavson

                  2,800311




                  2,800311

























                      2














                      What follows to should be a noun (or verb acting as a noun), making this the correct version of your sentence:




                      The business hoped to devote most of its funds to paying for new television ads, since it wanted more coverage.




                      Note that I used the plural funds on the assumption that you're talking about budget or money rather than an actual fund. I also added a comma after ads.





                      Having said that, I would dispense with to paying for altogether. It's redundant.



                      A shorter and still understandable sentence is simply:




                      The business hoped to devote most of its funds to new television ads, since it wanted more coverage.






                      On the other hand, you can rephrase the original sentence so pay can be used rather than paying. To do this, you would remove devote and rearrange things a bit:




                      The business hoped to pay for new television ads with most of its funds, since it wanted more coverage.







                      share|improve this answer




























                        2














                        What follows to should be a noun (or verb acting as a noun), making this the correct version of your sentence:




                        The business hoped to devote most of its funds to paying for new television ads, since it wanted more coverage.




                        Note that I used the plural funds on the assumption that you're talking about budget or money rather than an actual fund. I also added a comma after ads.





                        Having said that, I would dispense with to paying for altogether. It's redundant.



                        A shorter and still understandable sentence is simply:




                        The business hoped to devote most of its funds to new television ads, since it wanted more coverage.






                        On the other hand, you can rephrase the original sentence so pay can be used rather than paying. To do this, you would remove devote and rearrange things a bit:




                        The business hoped to pay for new television ads with most of its funds, since it wanted more coverage.







                        share|improve this answer


























                          2












                          2








                          2







                          What follows to should be a noun (or verb acting as a noun), making this the correct version of your sentence:




                          The business hoped to devote most of its funds to paying for new television ads, since it wanted more coverage.




                          Note that I used the plural funds on the assumption that you're talking about budget or money rather than an actual fund. I also added a comma after ads.





                          Having said that, I would dispense with to paying for altogether. It's redundant.



                          A shorter and still understandable sentence is simply:




                          The business hoped to devote most of its funds to new television ads, since it wanted more coverage.






                          On the other hand, you can rephrase the original sentence so pay can be used rather than paying. To do this, you would remove devote and rearrange things a bit:




                          The business hoped to pay for new television ads with most of its funds, since it wanted more coverage.







                          share|improve this answer













                          What follows to should be a noun (or verb acting as a noun), making this the correct version of your sentence:




                          The business hoped to devote most of its funds to paying for new television ads, since it wanted more coverage.




                          Note that I used the plural funds on the assumption that you're talking about budget or money rather than an actual fund. I also added a comma after ads.





                          Having said that, I would dispense with to paying for altogether. It's redundant.



                          A shorter and still understandable sentence is simply:




                          The business hoped to devote most of its funds to new television ads, since it wanted more coverage.






                          On the other hand, you can rephrase the original sentence so pay can be used rather than paying. To do this, you would remove devote and rearrange things a bit:




                          The business hoped to pay for new television ads with most of its funds, since it wanted more coverage.








                          share|improve this answer












                          share|improve this answer



                          share|improve this answer










                          answered 3 hours ago









                          Jason BassfordJason Bassford

                          15.8k22237




                          15.8k22237






























                              draft saved

                              draft discarded




















































                              Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language Learners Stack Exchange!


                              • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                              But avoid



                              • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                              • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                              To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                              draft saved


                              draft discarded














                              StackExchange.ready(
                              function () {
                              StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f199593%2finfinitive-vs-gerund%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                              }
                              );

                              Post as a guest















                              Required, but never shown





















































                              Required, but never shown














                              Required, but never shown












                              Required, but never shown







                              Required, but never shown

































                              Required, but never shown














                              Required, but never shown












                              Required, but never shown







                              Required, but never shown







                              Popular posts from this blog

                              Fluorita

                              Hulsita

                              Península de Txukotka