Quote:
Thanks MikeNewYork,
I always try to make the best of my sentences, but it's still hard. But you said:
helpful for finding things
and I want to know why it's not
helpful to find things
:?
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The word "helpful" is a bit tricky. One can say: "It is helpful to use more than one example in an explanation." The infinitive is used there because it is an abstract statement. It is used as a general rule, not in reference to a specific action. One can also say "A shovel is helpful for digging up treasure". In this case the gerund use is more concrete and more specific. I am not explaining this very well. Hopefully one of the others will have a better explanation.