[Grammar] Rules of to +ing verb usage.

[Yiagos]

I am starting reading some English books of my library today. Because I have forgotten many things, I decided to start from beggining, a total revision is not a bad friend....
First book epilogue (English grammar for ESL learners by Ed Swick) says:

English grammar is not necessarily a chore. Indeed, it can be the key to unlocking the very rich treasure.

Of course I understand the text. It does not have any complex words or idioms. But I am impatient to know right now; to unlocking or to unlock??
As I remember we say do you want to eat a cake and NOT do you want to eating a cake

Am I missing something??
Although I could search on Raymond Murphy's grammar book, I prefer to ask here, because it is not a suitable book for begginers.

 

[bhaisahab]

I am starting reading some English books of my library today. Because I have forgotten many things, I decided to start from beggining, a total revision is not a bad friend....
First book epilogue (English grammar for ESL learners by Ed Swick) says:

English grammar is not necessarily a chore. Indeed, it can be the key to unlocking the very rich treasure.

Of course I understand the text. It does not have any complex words or idioms. But I am impatient to know right now; to unlocking or to unlock??
As I remember we say do you want to eat a cake and NOT do you want to eating a cake

Am I missing something??
Although I could search on Raymond Murphy's grammar book, I prefer to ask here, because it is not a suitable book for begginers.

"Do you want unlocking the very rich treasure" would be incorrect to. Can you see why?

 

[Yiagos]

As I knew (I checked Raymond Murphy's grammar also) some verbs such as want, ask, help are followed by to and infinitive.
Searching on the Internet I read Winston Churchill's proverb here and I am getting more confused....

 

[bhaisahab]

As I knew (I checked Raymond Murphy's grammar also) some verbs such as want, ask, help are followed by to and infinitive.
Searching on the Internet I read Winston Churchill's proverb here and I am getting more confused....

I'm afraid I don't understand your confusion.

 

[Yiagos]

Focus on the context question only:
To unlock or to unlocking??
Of course the answer is to unlocking because my book says it, but I cannot understand why....
Unlocking is a noun?
If not, what is it?

Second example:
Our complete guide to running, for beginning runners and intermediate runners alike.

Why to running and not to run?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Focus on the context question only:
To unlock or to unlocking??
Of course the answer is to unlocking because my book says it, but I cannot understand why....
Unlocking is a noun?
If not, what is it?

Second example:
Our complete guide to running, for beginning runners and intermediate runners alike.

Why to running and not to run?

Your confusion seems to be about the use of 'to". It confuses many learners. Sometimes "to" is a preposition and, as such, it is followed by a noun. In other uses "to" is a particle used to introduce a "to infinitive", which is "to" + a base verb form.

He found the key to unlock the phone. (infinitive)
He found the key to unlocking the phone. (preposition + gerund [noun])

 

[Yiagos]

That's it!

:up: Thanks Mike!
Greek language does not have gerunds, that's why many Greeks we confused sometimes, wondering is it a noun or an adjective or something else??
Obviously, for some words it is clear, for example interesting is an adjective.
englisch-hilfen.de site here explains all very well. Actually I was thinking yesterday if it is a gerund, but I did not chech any grammar book either site, because in school days I was not very familiar with this stuff.
Gerund in various languages here is a list

 

[MikeNewYork]

Re: That's it!

:up: Thanks Mike!
Greek language does not have gerunds, that's why we confused many times, wondering this is a noun or an adjective or something else??
englisch-hilfen.de site here explains all very well. Actually I was thinking yesterday if it is a gerund, but I did not chech any grammar book either site, because in school days I was not very familiar with this stuff.
Gerund in various languages here is a list

In English, "verbals" include gerunds, participles, and infinitives. Present participles (often used as modifiers) and gerunds (always used as nouns) are confusing because they are both -ing forms. Their usages in sentences are the only way to determine their names.

 

[Yiagos]

I am seeking on some sites for more information. Well in modern Greek gerund (γερούνδιο) could be defined as an active participle or a noun which "behaves" like a verb but in ancient Greek gerund usage was very common.

 

[Rover_KE]

Please post your research results on the Other Languages forum, Yiagos, which I notice you have already contributed to.