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Lv 4
? asked in Society & CultureLanguages · 9 years ago

English grammar question?

a. We went to shopping/fishing yesterday.

b. We went shopping/fishing yesterday.

"to" shouldn't be there?

I know (b) is right. What about (a)? Doesn't sound right?

3 Answers

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  • Liz
    9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Yes, (a) doesn't sound right. A participle (ie. shopping, fishing, running, dancing, etc.) can never follow the word "to" (unless the "-ing" word is functioning as a gerund, which it's not in this case).

    You could change the sentence to this: "We went to shop/fish yesterday." However, you would slightly change the meaning of the sentence. "We went shopping/fishing yesterday" answers the question WHAT did you do at this place, while "we went to shop/fish yesterday" answers the question WHY did you go to this place.

  • Lt.
    9 years ago

    a. We went shopping and fishing yesterday.

  • Anonymous
    9 years ago

    b is the correct form.

    you can't use to with ing-form. the verb should in the infinitif. thus, a-sentence would be

    we went to do shopping or we went to shop yesterday

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