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Old 03-May-2005, 15:53
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Default Need advice on adding "to" in a sentence, thanks teachers!

In the following sentence, do we need to add the word "to" or leave it out? Thanks for your help, teachers.

The first thing that Paul does is (to) help the injured people after an accident.
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Old 04-May-2005, 02:10
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Default Re: Need advice on adding "to" in a sentence, thanks teachers!

If the verb before BE (is, are, were, was, and so on) doesn't have 'to', then the verb after BE doesn't take to:

[1] The first thing that Paul does is help the injured people after an accident.

If the verb before BE has 'to', then 'to' is optional after BE:

[2] The first thing that Paul needs to do is to help the injured people after an accident.
[3] The first thing that Paul needs to do is help the injured people after an accident.
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Old 06-May-2005, 16:41
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Default Re: Need advice on adding "to" in a sentence, thanks teachers!

Thank you for your advice, teacher Casiopea!
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Old 09-May-2005, 09:52
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Default Re: Need advice on adding "to" in a sentence, thanks teachers!

You're welocme.
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