{"id":10297,"date":"2022-01-18T08:41:27","date_gmt":"2022-01-18T08:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/?p=10297"},"modified":"2022-01-25T08:50:07","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T08:50:07","slug":"when-is-the-gerund-used-after-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/when-is-the-gerund-used-after-to\/","title":{"rendered":"When is the gerund used after &#8220;to&#8221;?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When is the gerund used after &#8220;to&#8221;?\u00a0It is very important to remember this basic grammar rule: However,\u00a0<strong>there is always an exception to the rule in English!\u00a0<\/strong>Normally, &#8216;to&#8217; goes with a verb (as part of the infinitive form), not with a noun.\u00a0However, if &#8216;to&#8217; is a preposition that is part of a combination, then it is fine to use a gerund after to.<\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"margin-bottom: 2rem; margin-top: 2rem; background: #F4F4F4;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #fff; background: #FF6868;\">\u00cdNDICE DE CONTENIDOS<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#what\">What can be TO?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#nouns\">TO with nouns<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#exceptions\">Exceptions<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#carry\">Expressions that carry a gerund verb after TO<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#key\">The key question<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#trick\">Trick to better use &#8220;TO&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Probably, on some occasion, you have read or heard the expression \u201cLooking forward to SEEING you\u201d (I want to see you- I look forward to seeing you) and surely you have wondered <strong>how a gerund behind the \u201cto\u201d? <\/strong>Shouldn&#8217;t it be &#8220;to SEE you&#8221;?\u00a0The truth is that no, and it is because &#8220;to&#8221; can fulfill two different functions within the sentence, and this is what we intend to show you, that is why we have prepared this article.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what\">What can be TO?<\/h2>\n<p>Can be:<\/p>\n<p>A pillar of the infinitive, that is, it can be the root of the verb<\/p>\n<h3>Whenever it appears IN FRONT of the verb it has this function<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><em>to work-<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Trabajar<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>to do<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hacer<\/p>\n<h3>A preposition<\/h3>\n<p>Indeed, we have no doubt that &#8220;TO&#8221; is also a preposition.\u00a0It usually indicates direction.\u00a0For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>I\u2019m going to Granada.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Voy \u201ca\u201d Granada.<\/p>\n<p>But &#8220;to&#8221;!\u00a0It can lead to confusion, as we will see later, when the expressions they carry are followed by a\u00a0<strong>gerund verb \u201cing\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0.\u00a0And this happens because in Spanish when carrying out the translation, it is not accompanied by a preposition.\u00a0Even assuming that it is not always \u201ca\u201d or \u201cpara\u201d (to) and it can easily confuse the English learner.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"nouns\">TO with nouns<\/h2>\n<p>As we\u00a0<strong>normally<\/strong>\u00a0know,\u00a0<strong>&#8220;TO&#8221; as a preposition is followed by &#8220;nouns&#8221;<\/strong>\u00a0(objects, things).<\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>I\u2019m looking forward TO the weekend (noun is \u201cweekend\u201d).\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em>Espero con ilusi\u00f3n el fin de semana.<\/p>\n<p>Note: As can be seen, in this case the translation of \u201cTO\u201d as a preposition does not seem possible.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"exceptions\">Exceptions<\/h2>\n<p>Not withstanding the foregoing, there are cases in which there are expressions in which &#8220;TO&#8221;, as a preposition, is followed by a verb. They are expressions in which the verb ends in -ING.\u00a0<strong>By adding -ING, the verb behaves as if it were a noun.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Next, we will give you some expressions in which &#8220;TO&#8221; is followed by a verb in -ING<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"carry\">Expressions that carry a gerund verb after TO<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Addicted TO<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Adicto a<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Be used TO<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Estar acostumbrado a<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Committed TO<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Comprometido con<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Confessed TO<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Confesar<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dedication TO<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Dedicaci\u00f3n a<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Devoted TO<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Comprometido con, fiel a<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Get (a)round TO<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Encontrar el tiempo para hacer algo (phrasal verb)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In addition TO<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Adem\u00e1s de<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Look forward TO<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Tener ganas de<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Object TO<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Objetar algo, oponerse<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Prefer (doing one thing TO do ING another)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Preferir hacer una cosa que otra<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Reaction TO<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Reacci\u00f3n a<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"key\">The key question<\/h2>\n<p>Is there\u00a0<strong>a rule to know when &#8220;TO&#8221; is a preposition<\/strong>\u00a0and, therefore, you have to put the verb in -ING?<\/p>\n<p>We have an argument that\u00a0<strong>can help you to find out<\/strong>: TO always goes after the verb, never before it, and, secondly, if it goes after TO, you can substitute a noun for a verb, which is the condition for the verb to end in \u2013ING.<\/p>\n<p>Naturally,\u00a0<strong>as it is not a formal rule, it means that sometimes it fails<\/strong>, it is not fulfilled and this makes it best for you to learn the expressions by heart.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"trick\">Trick to better use &#8220;TO&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p>The best trick to use &#8220;to&#8221; is to translate the phrase in which &#8220;to&#8221; appears after a verb.\u00a0A trick that can also help you to better use \u201cTO\u201d is to\u00a0<strong>try to translate the phrase in which \u201cTO\u201d appears after a verb by putting \u201ctowards\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 if you can do it because it fits, then you are dealing with the more common use of \u201cTO\u201d as a preposition .\u00a0Look at the following example: <em>He went TO the bus stop<\/em>. (Fue hacia la parada del autob\u00fas).\u00a0If you CAN&#8217;T translate it as &#8220;to&#8221;, it means that you are facing another structure such as &#8220;TO&#8221; followed by a verb in -ING.<\/p>\n<h3>Some examples:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><em>I\u2019m addicted TO chocolate (noun\/sustantivo).<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Soy adicto al chocolate<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>I\u2019m addicted TO walkING (verb) back home from work.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Soy adicto a volver caminando a casa desde el trabajo.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>I\u2019m used TO this city (noun\/sustantivo).<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Estoy acostumbrado a esta ciudad.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>I\u2019m used TO workING (verb) from home.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Estoy acostumbrado a trabajar desde casa.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>I got used TO the UK (noun).<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Me acostumbr\u00e9 al Reino Unido.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>I\u2019m getting used TO livING (verb)in the UK.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Me estoy acostumbrado al Reino Unido.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>I\u2019m fully committed TO this project (noun).<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Estoy totalmente comprometido con este proyecto.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>I\u2019m committed TO spendING (verb) most of my time in this project.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Me comprometo a emplear la mayor parte de mi tiempo en este proyecto.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>He confessed TO the murder (noun).<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Confes\u00f3 el asesinato.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>He confessed TO murderING (verb) his wife.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Confes\u00f3 que hab\u00eda asesinado a su mujer<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>His dedication TO his family (noun)is an inspiration<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Su dedicaci\u00f3n a su familia es una inspiraci\u00f3n.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>His dedication TO lookING (verb)after his family is an inspiration<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Su dedicaci\u00f3n a cuidar por su familia es una inspiraci\u00f3n.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He is devoted TO his job (noun).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Est\u00e1 comprometido con su trabajo.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-auto kksr-align-left kksr-valign-bottom\"\n    data-payload='{&quot;align&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;10297&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;default&quot;,&quot;valign&quot;:&quot;bottom&quot;,&quot;ignore&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;reference&quot;:&quot;auto&quot;,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;count&quot;:&quot;2&quot;,&quot;legendonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;readonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;3&quot;,&quot;starsonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;best&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;gap&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;greet&quot;:&quot;\u00a1D\u00e9janos unas estrellitas si te ha gustado el post!&quot;,&quot;legend&quot;:&quot;3\\\/5 - (2 votes)&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;24&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;When is the gerund used after \\u0026quot;to\\u0026quot;?&quot;,&quot;width&quot;:&quot;82&quot;,&quot;_legend&quot;:&quot;{score}\\\/{best} - ({count} {votes})&quot;,&quot;font_factor&quot;:&quot;1.25&quot;}'>\n            \n<div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 82px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n                \n\n<div class=\"kksr-legend\" style=\"font-size: 19.2px;\">\n            3\/5 - (2 votes)    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When is the gerund used after &#8220;to&#8221;?\u00a0It is very important to remember this basic grammar rule: However,\u00a0there is always an&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2637,"featured_media":13386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8080,8092,8108,8075,8130],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-level-a2-levels","category-level-b1-levels","category-grammar","category-learn-english","category-learn-language","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10297"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13265,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10297\/revisions\/13265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}