Gerunds are the -ing form of a verb, and infinitives are the to + base form. These words can be confusing; they combine the meaning of a verb with the grammar of a noun. My father asked me to phone ...

LAST week, in answer to a question from English teacher Farhad H., in Iran, I started laying out the basis for why the full infinitive “to take” is the correct answer choice in this test statement: ...

Reader Don in Los Angeles County wrote recently with a question about a well-known grammar issue called a “split infinitive.” “I learned about them 50 years ago and I am somewhat sensitive about them ...

In the second part of this discussion last week, we saw that the following sentence with the full infinitive phrase “to run away” doesn’t sound right: “Rather than to run away from a difficult ...

John Rentoul: Well, this is a bit awkward. Having read your book, I agree with much of it. A lot of grammar pedantry is mere fussiness and some of it is ignorant. I share your impatience with people ...