to be dedicated to serving the people...

[sylvierhugenda@yahoo.fr]

I have read the following sentence in a brochure:
Our bank is dedicated to serving the people who serve the world.

I am wondering as:
- I wasn't expecting the -ing form just after the to.
- I was thinking of writting 'people' instead of 'the people'.

Is there any mistake in "Our bank is dedicated to serve people who serve the world". Does it have the same meaning?

Please advice.
Sylvie

 

[susiedqq]

This is an advertising slogan, so you have to expect the phrase to sound "catchy." This is a play on words.

"serving people who serve the world" means that this bank wants to service (provide services for) the type of people who are world savvy.

Your revision does mean the same, but it sounds better to keep the "dedicated to serving"

 

[David L.]

to be
to run
to serve
BUT...don't be mislead by the "to serve" construction here - the infinitive is not being used in this slogan. The phrase is:
'dedicated to'... as in:
"This statue is dedicated to all those who fell in battle in the Great War."
in the advert:
...is dedicated to ...(whom or what)?...and so it takes the verbal noun "serving"

Advertising appeals to people's egos, and their vanity.
9 out of 10 movie stars use Lux toilet soap. Ipso facto, if I use Lux, I'll be as glamorous as a movie star.
A Prime minister serves in public office. Tycoons serve to keep the cogs of high finance and industry turning. These are the important people in the world, the movers and shakers. and this bank has such people as their clients! Each day, the people they 'serve' (have as 'customers') with their bank are very people who keep the economies, this world, turning...so if I bank there, I'm hob-nobbing and as if mixing with them, with the people of influence, the real power-brokers in the world - I won't just be a nobody. Let me open an account, quick!
...and the pity of it is, it works on people!

"quick" = for learners, this is a colloquial use of bad grammar - it should be 'quickly' (lol)

 

[sylvierhugenda@yahoo.fr]

Hi David,

As per your explanation, I can understand there are some cases (like 'dedicate to') where the 'to' is already part of the phrase so the verbal noun is required.

Let me reformulate it in a more practical way for me:
If the verb can be replaced by a noun [is dedicated to ...(whom or what)?...] it is an indicator showing that the 'to' is part of the pharse and then infinitive shouldn't be used.

Am I right?