"… is start …" or "… is to start …"

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Odessa Dawn

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1-"This first thing you must do is start confiding in people close to you – stop protecting this guy."

2-This first thing you must do is to start

Which structure satisfies English grammar rules: an infinitive without the particle "to" or an infinitive with the particle "to?"


Thank you,
 
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bhaisahab

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1-"This first thing you must do is start confiding in people close to you – stop protecting this guy."

2-This first thing you must do is to start

Which structure satisfies English grammar rules: an infinitive without the particle "to" or an infinitive with the particle "to?"


Thank you,

It sounds clunky with "to start".
 

Odessa Dawn

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1-"This first thing you must do is start confiding in people close to you – stop protecting this guy."


2-This first thing you must do is to start

Which structure satisfies English grammar rules: an infinitive without the particle "to" or an infinitive with the particle "to?"

Thank you,

It sounds clunky with "to start".
In the following sentence which verb is correct after "is"? If all are correct, then is there a difference in meaning?
"What one has to do in learning a second language is to learn/learn/learning the differences.


Both 'learn' and 'to learn' are possible. 'Learning' is not.


Dear 5jj says that you can use bare infinitive or infinitive over here. Anyway, from what I understand, both are correct and their usage depends on one’s viewpoint. Thank you, bhai and 5jj, immensely!

 

5jj

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[STRIKE]Dear[/STRIKE] 5jj says that you can use bare infinitive or infinitive over here. Anyway, from what I understand, both are correct and their usage depends on one’s viewpoint.
Indeed I did say here that both were possible. I was making the point that the bare infinitive and the to- infinitive were possible; the gerund was not. I did not address your question about the difference between the two possible forms. Bhaisahab has addressed that point.

It would have been better if you had linked to my initial response in your first post in this thread, rather than dropping it in after bhai had responded.
 

Odessa Dawn

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It's not a good idea to address people you don't know as 'Buddy', unless their name happens to be Buddy.
https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/...-hi-dear-i-really-appreciate-you-correct.html
I see, thank you.


In post #4 in this thread, I got the word dear struck through. Today I learned that we shouldn’t use the word friend unless we know whom we address. Also, I want to know if that applies to the word dear.



P.S.: Please note that 5jj told me not to open a new thread when the follow-up question relates to the original post. So, I prefer not to ignore his advice. Thank you.
 

5jj

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In post #4 in this thread, I got the word dear struck through. Today I learned that we shouldn’t use the word friend unless we know whom we address. Also, I want to know if that applies to the word dear.
In English we do not normally address people as 'dear' unless they are members of our close family. We will accept 'dear' from the staff in some types of pubs and from sales assistants in markets and some local shops, but that's all.
 
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