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Thread: Infinite or -ing form?

  1. #1
    dilodi83 is offline Senior Member
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    Default Infinite or -ing form?

    Are they both possible? Do they have the self-same meaning?

    1) It is fundamental to creating well-educated people.
    2) It is fundamental to create well-educated people.

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    nyota is offline Senior Member
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    Default Re: Infinite or -ing form?

    .......................
    I'm not a teacher
    .......................


    I'll have a try. It seems they're both possible:
    1) He added: "These reforms are fundamental to creating a stronger, fairer and more prosperous society." BBC - fundamental to creating

    2) In teaching about the vastness of geological time it is fundamental to create a visual representation for students to better appreciate the magnitude of this time scale and the relative positioning of critical events in the Earth’s history. DEECD - fundamental to create


    Edit: there's something on my mind about the sentences but I'm not quite sure what it is and if it's right, but here it goes:
    It is fundamental to creating well-educated people. - *Something* is fundamental to the process.
    It is fundamental to create well-educated people. HM
    Last edited by nyota; 08-Apr-2011 at 10:40.
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    dilodi83 is offline Senior Member
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    Default Re: Infinite or -ing form?

    Thanks so much for you attempt to explain it
    Are there any native or teachers who can explain it to me?

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    5jj is offline Moderator
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    Default Re: Infinite or -ing form?

    Quote Originally Posted by dilodi83 View Post
    Thanks so much for you attempt to explain it
    Are there any native or teachers who can explain it to me?
    nyota did a pretty good job with a difficult question. I don't know that my response will be any better.

    1) He added: "These reforms are fundamental to creating a stronger, fairer and more prosperous society."

    = (roughly) These reforms are an essential part of the (process of) the creation of a stronger ....

    2) In teaching about the vastness of geological time it is fundamental to create a visual representation for students to better appreciate the magnitude of this time scale and the relative positioning of critical events in the Earth’s history.

    = (roughly) ... it is essential that we create a visual representation...
    dilodi83 and nyota like this.

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