To or for

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tufguy

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Hi guys,

Do we need to say "I was thinking of calling him" or "To call him"?
 
tufguy said:
Hi guys.

Do we need to say "I was thinking of calling him" or "... to call him"?
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In BrE, only "I was thinking of/about calling him" works.

I believe that "thinking to" works in other variants. My yoga teacher, who is from New Zealand, frequently says things like "I am thinking to organise a class next week". She also uses "If you feel to repeat that move another three times, that's fine", instead of "If you feel like repeating that move ...".
 
In this case, AmE and BrE are in sync.
 
So both can be used.
 
tufguy said:
So both can be used.
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No. Did you actually read the previous answers? If not, I really can't see the point in answering your questions.
 
Unless a speaker of another variant comes along and says that "think to" is OK, then the contents of post #4 are incorrect. Tufguy, read post #2 again - very carefully. Tell me what I said.
 
To my knowledge, after such phrasal verbs, a noun/gerund should be used.

Not a teacher.
 
To be honest, I don't like "I'm thinking" at all. Do you actually say it?
I've been taught by myself :-D that it's not a natural way.

I'd got for "I think about calling him".
Although, I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker.
 
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In post 2 it is written that in british english "thinking of doing something" is common. In other areas' english people also use "thinking to do something". The example of a yoga teacher is also given who is from new zealand and uses "Thinking to do" a lot.
 
Boris Tatarenko said:
To be honest, I don't like "I'm thinking" at all. Do you actually say it?
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I am not a teacher.

'I'm thinking...' is perfectly natural. It's the same as 'I am considering'. It's what is going through my mind at the time of speaking.
'I think about calling him' on its own doesn't work. 'I think about calling him every day', does.
 
tufguy said:
In post 2 it is written that in British English "thinking of doing something" is common. In other areas' English people also use "thinking to do something". The example of a yoga teacher is also given who is from New Zealand and uses "Thinking to do" a lot.
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(Note: bhaisahab - I have undeleted this thread because I did specifically ask tufguy to re-read post #2 and then tell me what I had said. That's what he did in this post.)

Tufguy - I can only give you an answer for BrE. I said "I believe that "think to" might be possible in the NZ variant" only because my yoga teacher uses it. For all I know, she might be wrong! If another NZE comes along and says it's fine, then it's fine and you can say "So both can be used". At the moment, you have only been told that "I'm thinking of/about calling ..." is correct.

Please remember to capitalise proper nouns.
 
Matthew Wai said:
To my knowledge, after such phrasal verbs, a noun/gerund should be used.

Not a teacher.
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Sorry Matthew, but my post (#7) was wrong, so I have edited it. I meant "Thinking + to + Infinitive".

And I would like to ask again about the correctness/usage of this construction in British English.
 
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No, I am talking strictly about the usage of the two expressions in BrE:

1. I was thinking of/about + Gerund.

2. I was thinking to + Infinitive.
 
Thanks tufguy, but I had already read that post.

By the way, I see that you are a Hindu. I am passionate about languages. I have read some of your posts. Am I wrong If I say that Hindi has no capital letters?
 
Thanks bhaisahab.

In any case, I read something about a possible difference in meaning between these two forms. Somewhere. I do not remember where exactly.

It refered to "Thinking of + Gerund" as having the intention or decision to do something, while "Think to + Infinitive" would refer to a mere idea.

I would appreciate any comment on it.
 
And for the third time (at least) in this thread: "Think(ing) to + infinitive" is not natural in BrE.
 
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