robosc9 wrote:
Hi,
What is the key difference between
"pigeons can be trained to help"
"pigeons can be trained for helping"
How do we decided which choice is better (considering everything else in the sentence is the same)
In this sentence "to help" is correct. In this sentence the inherent meaning that you want to communicate is "purpose" or "intention". Pigeons can be trained - trained to do what - trained to help. You are telling the purpose of "training".
"for verb-ing" is NOT always INCORRECT. Do not eliminate an answer choice just because you see this construction. You need to evaluate this on a case by case basis.
When is "to verb" better than "for verb-ing" - When the intended meaning explicitly states the intention or purpose.
Example: In this sentence, it is apparent that the PURPOSE of reducing software prices is TO decrease the incentive for pirating. Thus, in this sentence "to decrease" is correct.
Now lets see a correct usage of "for verb-ing"
OG12# 40: Dr. Tonegawa won the Nobel Prize for discovering how the body can constantly change its genes to fashion...
In this sentence, "to discover" will be incorrect since it will change the intended meaning of the sentence. The sentence implies that Dr. Tonegawa won the Nobel Prize. It then explains what for he won the Nobel Prize. He won it for discovering how the body changes...
If we replace for verb-ing with "to verb" here, then the sentence will imply that the purpose of Dr. Tonegawa to win the Nobel Prize was to discover how body changes...
Thus, if the context of the sentence requires you to express an INTENT, then you should use "to verb".
Now some words require use of "to verb" because of their inherent meaning. This is tested in Questions 51 & 73.
In #51: ability for distinguishing is incorrect. It should be ability to distinguish. This makes complete sense. When we express the idea of "ability", automatically we think "ability to do something" - So the idea of INTENT comes in and hence we should use ability to verb and not ability for verb-ing.
Similarly in #73 - when we say the word "equipped",the meaning is such that we know that there is an intent involved. People are equipped to do something. There is an intent behind getting equipped. And hence "equipped to verb" is more appropriate.
Also check out Question #15. In this question, "to take" is correct and "for taking" is incorrect. This is because the intended meaning here is to show the purpose.
Here are some OG12 questions in which "for verb-ing" is correct:
6, 106, 107
Take-Away Message
We should use "to verb" in place of "for verb-ing" when the meaning has show "intent". In certain other cases, "to verb" will not make sense since "intent" is not the correct meaning. In certain other cases, both to verb and for verb-ing will be correct. Go with the context...
Let me know if you have any doubts about this.
Payal
