Goldfinger2001 wrote:

Can somebody offer me an expanaition?
What is the difference here between ..forming.. and ..to form?

Thanks again!

Goldfinger2001,

Would be happy to offer you an explanation, I just can't see the picture that you are posting up.

Hi gmatpill,

I think there was a problem yesterday with the btg site. Should work now.

"to form" - shows intent

"forming" - is a cause and effect relationship.

Example:

>> The manufacturer fits it with a special adhesive to form an extra layer of protection.

>> The calcium deposits around the rock forming a natural defense.

Arun

I think it has to do with consistency of tense in the sentence.

Verbs ending in "ing" generally tend to be part of the continuous tense. So in the option you selected, the sentence reads, "forming..., and airing and drying, ... to lay them.." Because of the change in tense between "forming" and "to lay them", the sentence makes it sound like you are forming the mud or clay into bricks IN ORDER to lay them in the wall. That is not actually the case and forming the bricks and then laying them in the wall are just progressive steps in the process of building solid walls.

So it is important to keep the tense consistent when describing a process. Saying "the most consistent method is to form bricks, and after some drying and airing, to lay them into the wall" or something like that, conveys the steps much better.

Does that make sense?

And actually, my explanation does not really contradict Psychodementia's explanation, it just illustrates how the difference in meaning between "forming" and "to form" manifests in this situation.