Heading

[Ju]

Heading to somewhere is deliberate. It denotes an intended destination.

Eg. The plane is heading to Dubai.

Heading for somewhere is not always deliberate, and denotes a direction rather than a destination.

Eg. Oh, no! The plane is heading for those mountains!

Questions:

1. I googled the above information. Do you agree?
2. Could I say, "I'm heading Dubai."?

Thanks.

 

[jutfrank]

1. I think the distinction you have stated is a reasonable way to help you remember the difference of use between head to and head for.

2. You've missed a preposition in your sentence. If you follow the rule, which one should you use?

 

[Ju]

1. I think the distinction you have stated is a reasonable way to help you remember the difference of use between head to and head for.

2. You've missed a preposition in your sentence. If you follow the rule, which one should you use?

I should use "to".
Am I right?

 

[emsr2d2]

I should use "to".
Am I right?

Yes. As you showed in your own examples in post 1, you would say "I'm heading to Dubai".

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I should use "to".
Am I right?

Yes. And you can also say "I'm heading for Dubai" and "I'm headed for Dubai."

(British English might be different.)

 

[Ju]

Yes. And you can also say "I'm heading for Dubai" and "I'm headed for Dubai."

(British English might be different.)

May I ask the reason why we use I'm headed", it's passive voice?

 

[emsr2d2]

May I ask [STRIKE]the reason[/STRIKE] why we use "I'm headed"? [STRIKE]it's[/STRIKE] Is it the passive voice?

No. What makes you think it could be the passive voice?

(Remember the great rule - if you can add "by zombies" to the sentence, it's passive!)

 

[Ju]

No. What makes you think it could be the passive voice?

(Remember the great rule - if you can add "by zombies" to the sentence, it's passive!)

As far as I know, verb-to-be followed by pass participle is considered as passive voice. Is it correct, please?

 

[emsr2d2]

As far as I know, the verb "to be" followed by a [STRIKE]pass[/STRIKE] past participle is considered [STRIKE]as[/STRIKE] to be the passive voice. Is [STRIKE]it[/STRIKE] that correct? [STRIKE]please?[/STRIKE]

That's the case sometimes, yes. However, in this case, "headed" is an adjective. See HERE.

 

[Tdol]

2. Could I say, "I'm heading Dubai."?

Not, but you can say that you are heading home.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

May I ask the reason why we use I'm headed", it's passive voice?

Because Dubai is where I'm headed.

(Actually, I can't imagine that I'll ever be headed there.)

 

[Disckstuckinfan]

I am neither a teacher nor a native English speaker.

I've heard quite often people saying head over to.

 

[jutfrank]

May I ask the reason why we use I'm headed", it's passive voice?

Yes, I think you can think of this as in the passive voice.

Don't worry about why. I don't think any explanation will be very helpful. Suffice to say that in some sense, the speaker sees himself as operating passively.

 

[probus]

Yes "head over to" is quite common in American English. Example: let's head over to Joe's place and check out that new car he got.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I am neither a teacher nor a native English speaker.

I've heard quite often people saying head over to.

Yup! That's fine - at least in American English.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

May I ask (delete the reason) why we use "I'm headed", its passive voice?

Yes, you may.

I think of "I'm headed for Dubai" as active voice. How would you make it more active? "I'm Dubai-bound"?

There's nothing wrong with the so-called passive voice. So if you wanted to use a more passive voice, you could say something like:

- Dubai is where I'm headed.
- Where I'm headed for is Dubai.
- The place to which the person who's headed is me is Dubai.

 

[jutfrank]

I think of "I'm headed for Dubai" as active voice. How would you make it more active?

I'm heading to Dubai.

 

[Ju]

That's the case sometimes, yes. However, in this case, "headed" is an adjective. See HERE.

May I know the differences between "is it correct" and "is that correct"?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I'm heading to Dubai.

Hm. They seem the same to me. (And see post #7.)

Ju, this is just another example of English's infinite gray areas. Neither suffix sounds more active than the other to me, but one does to Jutfrank.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

May I know the differences between "is it correct" and "is that correct"?

If you're referring to something outside the question, use that:

- Is that the kid who stole your bike?
- Ari said the test is tomorrow. Is that correct?

If you're refering to something inside the question, us it:

- Is it time to get pizza?
- Is it correct to ask lots of questions?