no point

[4ania4]

Dear Teachers,

I'd like to know if the following sentence is correct.

There is no point to rewriting this text.

If it is correct, then how different is it from the following?

There is no point in rewriting this text.


Thank you for your help,
4ania4

 

[MikeNewYork]

They have the same meaning for me.

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

There is no difference in meaning, but the second one is more idiomatic. I've found an interesting thread on this topic. I completely agree with FumbleFingers' assessment.

 

[MikeNewYork]

The second one is more idiomatic in someone's opinion. I think they are equally idiomatic.

Google: What is the point to -- 335,000,000
What is the point in -- 411,000,000

 

[billmcd]

Dear Teachers,

I'd like to know if the following sentence is correct.

There is no point to rewriting this text.

If it is correct, then how different is it from the following?

There is no point in rewriting this text.


Thank you for your help,
4ania4

Little difference, but I would prefer "point in" which, I believe, would be more common.

 

[bhaisahab]

Do not take the number of Google hits to be an accurate indication of the correctness of anything. I don't find the first one very natural.

 

[emsr2d2]

My gut reaction was that the first was incorrect. However, it is grammatical but uncommon. More frequently you will hear "... no point in V+ing" or simply "... no point V+ing".

 

[MikeNewYork]

Google does not indicate correctness, but it certainly can indicate commonness.

 

[emsr2d2]

Google does not indicate correctness, but it certainly can indicate commonness.

True, but commonness doesn't necessarily suggest correctness either. If you Google "I ain't", you get 740,000,000 hits. Googling "would of" gives 18,700,000 hits. It's something we regularly remind learners.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes, but it this case, neither choice is grammatically incorrect. The only issue was about frequency of usage and being natural. They are both natural for me (in AmE).

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

The second one is more idiomatic in someone's opinion. I think they are equally idiomatic.

Google: What is the point to -- 335,000,000
What is the point in -- 411,000,000

If you had googled "there's no point to/in + V+ing", you would have found a greater difference:

"there's no point to rewriting" -- 12
"there's no point in rewriting" -- 86

"there's no point to arguing" -- 99
"there's no point in arguing" -- 385

"there's no point to spending" -- 101
"there's no point in spending" -- 428

When using Google, you should go the last page to find a realistic number. Otherwise you get raw hits.

 

[MikeNewYork]

If you had googled "there's no point to/in + V+ing", you would have found a greater difference:

"there's no point to rewriting" -- 12
"there's no point in rewriting" -- 86

"there's no point to arguing" -- 99
"there's no point in arguing" -- 385

"there's no point to spending" -- 101
"there's no point in spending" -- 428

When using Google, you should go the last page to find a realistic number. Otherwise you get raw hits.

Obviously, the more words one includes, the smaller the sample number. I don't believe, however, that the particular infinitive is very important to the structure. That said, both versions are relatively common.