(1) I persuaded him to come to the party.
(2) I persuaded him into coming to the party.
Is there any difference in meaning between (1) and (2)?
If both mean the same, which form is more frequently used? :-)
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(1) I persuaded him to come to the party.
(2) I persuaded him into coming to the party.
Is there any difference in meaning between (1) and (2)?
If both mean the same, which form is more frequently used? :-)
The meanings are very close; the 'into + gerund' suggests a more sustained effort at persuading (perhaps over several days):Quote:
Originally Posted by peppy_man
He didn't want to come to the party when I first mentioned it, but I finally persuaded him into coming.
b
Persuade into doing sounds odd to me, though I was able to google it. It sounds as though someone is mixing up "talk into" and "persuade".
.
Is that a common usage in the UK, Bob?
In a way this is the same with try:Quote:
Originally Posted by peppy_man
Try to do it: try one time (attempt)
try doing it: try many times (experiment)
Thus:
Persuade into coming to the party (as BobK already said is a sustained effort ie by trying many times or over many days.
This is because doing sth many times implies experiment and experiment means experience. Experience in turn refers to a retrospective view (gerund) in comparison with infinitive which is prospective in view.
I wouldn 't say it was common Philly, but as the learned Doctor says, it exists.Quote:
Originally Posted by Philly
b
Hi Doc
.
To my American ear, the use of a gerund in this case appears to be due to the simple fact that into is a preposition -- just as the gerund would be necessary if we used "talk into".
.
I doubt that I have ever used "persuade into" myself. As I mentioned, the usage ("persuade into") sounds odd to me. I guess it must be a regional thing...
You are right the gerund follows a preposition. But into implies a sustained effort as already said. The to in persuade to is part of the infinitive. But you can certainly persuade sb to do sth or into doing sth.Quote:
Originally Posted by Philly
Hi Doc
.
I think you may have missed my point. "Persuade into" sounds odd enough to me that it simply sounds wrong and that's probably why it carries none of that "feeling of sustained extra effort" for me. To me, the word persuade (by definition) already indicates some sustained effort.
1. I persuaded him to come to the party.
2. I persuaded him into coming to the party.
I would take "persuade into" in #2 as a phrasal verb, and the underlined portion (the gerund phrase) as its object.
There seem to be two senses of "persuade (someone) into":
i) To induce someone into (a belief, etc.).
ii) To prevail upon someone to do (an action).
For the latter sense, which appears to be that of #2, my dictionary gives this example:
3. To persuade the lady into a private marriage (1771).
MrP
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philly
Well Philly it may sound odd to you (AME) but in (BE) it does exist and it is not regional either. As I said earlier the meaning changes to:
You persuade sb into doing sth by providing good reasons for doing it. Compare the following sentence taken from Oxford English Dictionary:
I allowed myself to be persuaded into entering the competition