To + gerund

[Nightmare85]

Hello my friends,
It's weekend and this means I'm here again ;-) :-D

I heard such expressions some weeks ago:
Don't you realize how close you('ve) just came to killing yourself?
It's nice to meeting you.
Both scenes:
YouTube - to_gerund
(07 seconds.)

Normally I would have used kill and meet in those sentences.
Is there a good reason not to do that?

Cheers!

 

[orangutan]

In the first case the infinitive would be wrong. The "to" here is an ordinary preposition, and requires either a noun or a gerund:

"...how close you've just come to disaster"
"...how close you've just come to killing yourself"


Your second example is problematic, because it seems to me completely wrong. That is, you are right in thinking that this should be an infinitive. The gerund here is ungrammatical.

 

[orangutan]

Actually, having just listened to your video link, there is no "to" in the second example. It should read, "...nice meeting you".

 

[Nightmare85]

Thank you for your reply, orangutan.

I had some thoughts about the #1, but I was not sure and thought maybe both versions could make sense.
However, I agree with you and I understand your logic.
By the way, I wrote you('ve) because I was not sure what exactly he says, but it cannot be you've because he used came, which is Simple Past.

It's interesting that you don't hear the to in the second example.
That's why I always post video links (if possible) because I'm not always sure whether I hear everything correctly.

Cheers!

 

[Raymott]

It's interesting that you don't hear the to in the second example.
That's why I always post video links (if possible) because I'm not always sure whether I hear everything correctly.

Cheers!

He says "[It was] nice meeting you". Definitely no 'to'.

 

[Nightmare85]

Thanks, but to be honest, it sounds a bit strange to me.
Why not "It was nice to meet you."?

What would you (as native speakers) say in such moments?

Cheers!

 

[Raymott]

Thanks, but to be honest, it sounds a bit strange to me.
Why not "It was nice to meet you."?

What would you (as native speakers) say in such moments?

Cheers!

"Nice meeting you" sounds strange? Not at all.
You could also say, "it was nice to meet you," but that's not what he said.
"It was nice to meet you" = "To meet you was nice."
"It was nice meeting you" = "Meeting you was nice."
They are equally good.
I'd use "Nice meeting you. Hope to see you again soon", or some trivial, polite phrase, like, "We must have dinner sometime.

 

[Ba_mako]

Thanks, but to be honest, it sounds a bit strange to me.
Why not "It was nice to meet you."?

What would you (as native speakers) say in such moments?

Cheers!

Meeting you was nice.

Extraposition of the subject (moving the subject to the end of the sentence) results in a shift of focus in the sentence: the tail end receives heightened prominence.

It (= preparatory 'it') was nice meeting you.

To err is human. -- It is human to err.
Erring is human. -- It is human erring.

Meeting you was nice. -- It is nice meeting you.
To meet you was nice. - It is nice to meet you.