[Grammar] visit

[Nepo]

Which sentences is correct?

1). Once I return home, the first thing I will do is visit you.
2). Once I return home, the first thing I will do is visiting you.
3). Once I return home, the first thing I will do is to visit you.
4). Once I return home, the first thing I will do is to visiting you.

Could you explain the reasons?

TQ

 

[Raymott]

1) is correct, because it's what we say. The others are not correct, in my opinion.
These are also correct:
"The first thing I will be doing is visiting you."
"The first thing I plan to do is [to] visit you."
There's no easy way to use 4).

 

[Barb_D]

I'm okay with #3.
"To visit you is the first thing I will do."

But I do prefer #1.

 

[Raymott]

I don't think you can just rearrange the sentence and have equally good, natural sentences. I would accept "To visit you is the first thing I will do." but I don't like 3.
I'd accept "Visiting you is the first thing I'll do", but I don't like 2."The first thing I'll do is visiting you."

"Going to college is the best thing for you to do." Good.
"The best thing for you to do is going to college." Not Good. " ... is to go to college." Good.
What do you think of rearranged sentences being equally good?

 

[Barb_D]

"The best thing for you to do is going to college." Not Good. " ... is to go to college." Good.

You used the infinitive here.

Fair point about rearranging. But the infinitive works.

 

[Raymott]

Yes, I used an infinitive because the the subject contained an infinitive.
"The best thing for you to do is to go to college."
There are no to-infinitives in "Once I return home, the first thing I will do is visit you."
They are both good sentences.They are parallel in their use of infinitives. On the other hand " Once I return home, the first thing I will do is to visit you" is a different structure.So, while I used an infinitive, I did so in a structural context different from the one in which you used it. I'm not saying that your sentence is wrong - only that it doesn't gain any support from my use of the infinitive, as you seem to be implying.

 

[MikeNewYork]

In many cases, the choice of infinitive versus gerund is personal preference.