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Ing form or infinitive?
Message from raffa971 posted on 27-09-2009 at 11:58:24 (D | E | F)
Hello,
When do I use the verb allow followed by the ing form and when by the infinitive?
example:
her father allowed her to take his car...
he allowed taking the car.
Thank you!!!
-------------------
Edited by lucile83 on 27-09-2009 12:02
Message from raffa971 posted on 27-09-2009 at 11:58:24 (D | E | F)
Hello,
When do I use the verb allow followed by the ing form and when by the infinitive?
example:
her father allowed her to take his car...
he allowed taking the car.
Thank you!!!
-------------------
Edited by lucile83 on 27-09-2009 12:02
Re: Ing form or infinitive? from lucile83, posted on 27-09-2009 at 12:08:44 (D | E)
Hello,
Please have a look here:
Lien Internet
In your examples I would say :
her father allowed her to take his car
But it depends on what you want to say.Both sentences are correct.
Best wishes.
Re: Ing form or infinitive? from cecil_ward, posted on 05-11-2009 at 17:48:10 (D | E)
Unfortunately you just have to take each case individually.
For example
You must go.
*You must go.
You need to go.
?You need go. (note 1)
You want to go
*You want go
Do you mind going
*Do you mind go
*Do you mind to go
The ones marked * are ungrammatical. So unfortunately you have to just look it up in each case. There's no obvious rule.
=
note 1: restricted to archaic, poetic usage, and certain old established phrases involving "you need go no" as in "you need go no further" (archaic)
Re: Ing form or infinitive? from taconnet, posted on 06-11-2009 at 19:08:37 (D | E)
Hello.
However, I'd like to add that some verbs can be followed by either -ing forms or infinitives.
Particularly the verbs advise, allow, permit and forbid.
After these verbs, we use an -ing form if there is no object. If there is an object we use an infinitive.
I wouldn't advise taking the car - there's nowhere to park.
I wouldn't advise you to take the car - there's nowhere to park.
We don't allow/permit people to smoke in the lecture room.
We don't allow/permit smoking in the lecture room.
Hence you can say :
« My father allowed taking his car.»
Re: Ing form or infinitive? from cecil_ward, posted on 17-11-2009 at 17:15:36 (D | E)
No. That is totally wrong.
Unfortunately
*my father allowed taking his car
is completely ungrammatical. (I'm a native speaker. :-) )
Re: Ing form or infinitive? from cecil_ward, posted on 17-11-2009 at 17:17:16 (D | E)
You simply can not make generalizations like this, unfortunately.
Re: Ing form or infinitive? from kenitasanty, posted on 12-12-2009 at 06:11:20 (D | E)
Then how would you say: My father allowed me to take the car?
Re: Ing form or infinitive? from kenitasanty, posted on 12-12-2009 at 06:15:44 (D | E)
Then, you would say my father allowed me to take his car?
Re: Ing form or infinitive? from seb06000, posted on 12-12-2009 at 07:27:09 (D | E)
hello,
Indeed 'my father allowed me to take his car' ( no interrogation mark) is perfect!. The ING form is totally wrong as cecil ward said
English has some rules but numerous exceptions
Regards
sébastien
Re: Ing form or infinitive? from lucile83, posted on 12-12-2009 at 09:40:09 (D | E)
Hello,
We have to take each case into consideration as it depends on the verb following 'allow'.
Here is an explanation by a native (American) :
Both of these are good in the examples you give. There is no real difference in meaning.
But I think the two have slightly different restrictions. One clear difference has to do with the degree of control over the following verb. (This is also called Agency in many sources):
* allow (Noun Phrase) to V can be used for any combination of Noun Phrase and V. This is called the infinitive pattern
* allow (Noun Phrase) V-ing can only be used if the Noun Phrase has control over the activity of the verb. This is called the gerund pattern
So, we have contrasts like the following:
GOOD He allowed the boat to float away.
BAD *He allowed the boat floating away.
GOOD We allowed the snowman to melt.
BAD *We allowed the snowman melting.
Because boats don't control their floating and snowmen don't control their melting, these examples are only good with the [to V] structure.
If the Noun Phrase is in control of the verb, then either is often good:
GOOD We allowed her to sing.
GOOD We allowed her singing
If you are not sure, the infinitive pattern [to V] is a safer bet. It seems grammatical in a wider range of contexts.
from
Lien Internet
Moreover the 2 examples given are correct as they are different:
her father allowed her to take his car...
he allowed taking the car.
Regards.
Re: Ing form or infinitive? from may, posted on 12-12-2009 at 13:51:51 (D | E)
Hello,
According to me, it's always very accurate to put as:
Her father allowed her to take his car
On another hand, you can put the sentence as: He allowed HER taking the car ( we cannot omit the OBJECT in the sentence)
Re: Ing form or infinitive? from seb06000, posted on 12-12-2009 at 13:56:07 (D | E)
hi again,
indeed 'her taking the car' ( in French: nominalisation en ING) is very good too.
I just wonder which form a native speaker would naturally choose
Just for my personal knowledge
Regards
sébastien
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Edited by seb06000 on 12-12-2009 13:56
Spelling mistake
Re: Ing form or infinitive? from jonquille, posted on 12-12-2009 at 18:37:34 (D | E)
Hello! Now, for comments from a native speaker across the ocean (in the USA)
First the previous sentences:
GOOD We allowed her to sing. (Perfect)
GOOD We allowed her singing.
In the second sentence (her singing)..."singing" has effectively become a noun. But there is an underlying context or condition. Perhaps she has never sung before and now she suddenly wants to try it...so we allowed her singing (to continue).
However, the next example:
Her father allowed her to take his car... (Perfect)
He allowed taking the car.
The second sentence is not correct. I think it would sound far more "normal" (though very wordy!) to write: He allowed THE taking OF the car. Adding the word "the" would then, again, change "taking" to a noun.
The other suggestion by may was also good: He allowed HER taking the car. Again, this changes the part of speech of "taking." But, it puts a pre-established condition to the sentence. He allowed her taking the car, because ... maybe she was the only one who needed it at that time
, or because she was the better driver, etc.I hope my explanation isn't too confusing!
jonquille
Re: Ing form or infinitive? from seb06000, posted on 12-12-2009 at 18:44:53 (D | E)
Definitely not! it is as clear as crystal water: 'her taking' would have been pre-established or mentioned before!
So it's not a matter of use or habits => the two have a different meaning or purpose!
Thanks a lot Jonquille
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