stating/to state

[idiotmike]

Dear teachers,

"The party wishing to terminate the agreement must give written notice to the other, stating the specific reason why notice is given for termination."

Is it correct to use "stating" in the sentence above? Could I use "to state" instead? Thank you.

[BobK]

Dear teachers,

"The party wishing to terminate the agreement must give written notice to the other, stating the specific reason why notice is given for termination."

Is it correct to use "stating" in the sentence above? Could I use "to state" instead? Thank you.

The words 'to state' could be worked into this sentence, but as the complement of another verb:

The party wishing to terminate the agreement must give written notice to the other, not omitting to state] the specific reason why notice is given for termination.

(This sounds to me pretty clunky - 'inelegant' is probably the word - but I think it's acceptable.)

b

[idiotmike]

could you explain why I must use "stating"? I am sorry, my grammar is very poor.

Thank you

[Raymott]

could you explain why I must use "stating"? I am sorry, my grammar is very poor.

Thank you

"stating" - the notice must state the reason.
"The party wishing to terminate the agreement must give written notice to the other, to state the specific reason why notice is given for termination."
This could imply that the notice by itself, regardless of its contents, is enough to give the reason - which it obviously isn't.
The original sentence states that the notice must state the reason. The sentence above doesn't explicitly say this. It should be understood though, but a sentence with this structure won't always work.

Compare:
"Put a light in the window saying whether you are at home (or not). - The light must somehow contain a message. (cf. original sentence)
"Put a light in the window to say that you are home" - The light is the message. (cf. above)