Confusion between verb-ing form and infinitive

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sungoal: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 93; Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2010 10:52 pm; Thanked: 6 times

by sungoal » Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:39 am

Can anybody explain which sentence is correct from the below written sentences and why?

a) Despite winning multiple Grammys for his Jazz recordings, James decided to experiment with funk in the mid-nineties, before returning to jazz later that decade

b) Despite winning multiple Grammys for his Jazz recordings, James decided experimenting with funk in the mid-nineties, before returning to jazz later that decade

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:39 am

aspirant2011: Legendary Member; Posts: 1574; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 88 times

by aspirant2011 » Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:44 am

sungoal wrote:Can anybody explain which sentence is correct from the below written sentences and why?

a) Despite winning multiple Grammys for his Jazz recordings, James decided to experiment with funk in the mid-nineties, before returning to jazz later that decade------I feel this is correct because intentions are shown by the usage of infinitives such as to

b) Despite winning multiple Grammys for his Jazz recordings, James decided experimenting with funk in the mid-nineties, before returning to jazz later that decade

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sungoal: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 93; Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2010 10:52 pm; Thanked: 6 times

by sungoal » Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:48 am

aspirant2011 wrote:
sungoal wrote:Can anybody explain which sentence is correct from the below written sentences and why?

a) Despite winning multiple Grammys for his Jazz recordings, James decided to experiment with funk in the mid-nineties, before returning to jazz later that decade------I feel this is correct because intentions are shown by the usage of infinitives such as to

b) Despite winning multiple Grammys for his Jazz recordings, James decided experimenting with funk in the mid-nineties, before returning to jazz later that decade

Thanks for the response. Can you explain what is wrong in B?

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aspirant2011: Legendary Member; Posts: 1574; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 88 times

by aspirant2011 » Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:54 am

sungoal wrote:
aspirant2011 wrote:
sungoal wrote:Can anybody explain which sentence is correct from the below written sentences and why?

a) Despite winning multiple Grammys for his Jazz recordings, James decided to experiment with funk in the mid-nineties, before returning to jazz later that decade------I feel this is correct because intentions are shown by the usage of infinitives such as to

b) Despite winning multiple Grammys for his Jazz recordings, James decided experimenting with funk in the mid-nineties, before returning to jazz later that decade
Thanks for the response. Can you explain what is wrong in B?

Decide to/decide that is an idiom.........infinitive to as I mentioned above is used for showing intentions...........

Decide that.........they need to decide that whether Mr. X will lead the seminar..........

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mundasingh123: Legendary Member; Posts: 2330; Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 amFollowed by: 26 members; Thanked: 56 times

by mundasingh123 » Sun Aug 21, 2011 10:04 am

Infinitive is an adverb modifier and modifies the verb close to it .
-ing modifier is an adverb modifier that modifies the verb in the clause before the comma or after the comma

I Seek Explanations Not Answers

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Jim@Grockit: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 641; Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:07 pmFollowed by: 45 members; Location: Madison, WI; Thanked: 162 times; GMAT Score:760

by Jim@Grockit » Sun Aug 21, 2011 7:49 pm

An -ing word following "decide" without a comma would need to be the subject of a dependent clause: He decided (that) running was better than walking.

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sungoal: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 93; Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2010 10:52 pm; Thanked: 6 times

by sungoal » Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:17 am

Jim@Grockit wrote:An -ing word following "decide" without a comma would need to be the subject of a dependent clause: He decided (that) running was better than walking.

I am still not able to understand. Can you explain with another exmaple?

Also could you tell why "experimenting with funk in the mid nineties" cant modify "decided"?

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Jim@Grockit: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 641; Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:07 pmFollowed by: 45 members; Location: Madison, WI; Thanked: 162 times; GMAT Score:760

by Jim@Grockit » Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:57 am

sungoal wrote:
Jim@Grockit wrote:An -ing word following "decide" without a comma would need to be the subject of a dependent clause: He decided (that) running was better than walking.
I am still not able to understand. Can you explain with another exmaple?

Also could you tell why "experimenting with funk in the mid nineties" cant modify "decided"?

"Experimenting" can only be a participle or a gerund; a participle is a verbal adjective and cannot (under any circumstances) modify a verb, and a gerund is a verbal noun, and nouns do not (usually) modify anything. The verb "decide" can be intransitive (no direct object, as in After three years of thinking about what career to choose, I've finally decided) or transitive (with a direct object). When "decide" has an object, the acceptable idioms are "decide to [action]" which requires an infinitive, or "decide" + dependent clause (He decided [that] we should leave early or We will decide whether to have dessert once we've finished dinner). The example I gave with an "-ing" word following "decide" is the latter idiom, where a gerund is the subject of a dependent clause.

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sungoal: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 93; Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2010 10:52 pm; Thanked: 6 times

by sungoal » Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:53 am

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the explanation. Could you tell why below mentioned sentence is wrong?

There were concerns about public health leading to the construction between 1876 and 1904 of three separate sewer systems serving

This sentence is also using the verb-ing form.

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