The difference between 'to' and 'of' in some sentences
I have a quick question regarding some usages of both 'to' and 'of'. Could you please have a look at the sentences below and share your insights with me as to how to make a distinction between them.
- Consider the case of Afghanistan: even though it is an open secret that the United States expects the Chinese military to shoulder some of the burden of maintaining stability there after U.S. troops leave the country, the Chinese government has shown no interest in this idea.
In this sentence, "shoulder some of the burden of maintaining stability" clearly indicated that the US expects China to give him a hand in maintaining stability after they withdraw from Afghanistan. However, is there any chance we can make that sentence "shoulder some of the burden to maintain stability" rather than "shoulder some of the burden of maintaining stability"
- We've never missed a chance to take greater control over our lives. So, I don't think we'll end up setting aside our hard-won power to engineer the genes that shape us.
In this second sentence, can we make the first part as follows: "We have never missed a chance of taking greater control over our lives."
In the second part can we also change the structure as follows: "So, I do not think we will end up setting aside our hard-won power of engineering the genes that shape us."
As you can infer, I am struggling with something and it really annoys me not being able to see the difference.
In my mind, hard-won power to engineer shapes hard-won which is to engineer.
Another example, a chance to take greater control over our lives shapes a chance which is to take greater control.
I am not sure if I have been able to make my problem clear, but mainly the usage of a chance of winning or a chance to win cannot make a distinction in my view.
Any help is appreciated.
Many thanks,
Sercan.
grammar prepositions
New contributor
add a comment |
I have a quick question regarding some usages of both 'to' and 'of'. Could you please have a look at the sentences below and share your insights with me as to how to make a distinction between them.
- Consider the case of Afghanistan: even though it is an open secret that the United States expects the Chinese military to shoulder some of the burden of maintaining stability there after U.S. troops leave the country, the Chinese government has shown no interest in this idea.
In this sentence, "shoulder some of the burden of maintaining stability" clearly indicated that the US expects China to give him a hand in maintaining stability after they withdraw from Afghanistan. However, is there any chance we can make that sentence "shoulder some of the burden to maintain stability" rather than "shoulder some of the burden of maintaining stability"
- We've never missed a chance to take greater control over our lives. So, I don't think we'll end up setting aside our hard-won power to engineer the genes that shape us.
In this second sentence, can we make the first part as follows: "We have never missed a chance of taking greater control over our lives."
In the second part can we also change the structure as follows: "So, I do not think we will end up setting aside our hard-won power of engineering the genes that shape us."
As you can infer, I am struggling with something and it really annoys me not being able to see the difference.
In my mind, hard-won power to engineer shapes hard-won which is to engineer.
Another example, a chance to take greater control over our lives shapes a chance which is to take greater control.
I am not sure if I have been able to make my problem clear, but mainly the usage of a chance of winning or a chance to win cannot make a distinction in my view.
Any help is appreciated.
Many thanks,
Sercan.
grammar prepositions
New contributor
add a comment |
I have a quick question regarding some usages of both 'to' and 'of'. Could you please have a look at the sentences below and share your insights with me as to how to make a distinction between them.
- Consider the case of Afghanistan: even though it is an open secret that the United States expects the Chinese military to shoulder some of the burden of maintaining stability there after U.S. troops leave the country, the Chinese government has shown no interest in this idea.
In this sentence, "shoulder some of the burden of maintaining stability" clearly indicated that the US expects China to give him a hand in maintaining stability after they withdraw from Afghanistan. However, is there any chance we can make that sentence "shoulder some of the burden to maintain stability" rather than "shoulder some of the burden of maintaining stability"
- We've never missed a chance to take greater control over our lives. So, I don't think we'll end up setting aside our hard-won power to engineer the genes that shape us.
In this second sentence, can we make the first part as follows: "We have never missed a chance of taking greater control over our lives."
In the second part can we also change the structure as follows: "So, I do not think we will end up setting aside our hard-won power of engineering the genes that shape us."
As you can infer, I am struggling with something and it really annoys me not being able to see the difference.
In my mind, hard-won power to engineer shapes hard-won which is to engineer.
Another example, a chance to take greater control over our lives shapes a chance which is to take greater control.
I am not sure if I have been able to make my problem clear, but mainly the usage of a chance of winning or a chance to win cannot make a distinction in my view.
Any help is appreciated.
Many thanks,
Sercan.
grammar prepositions
New contributor
I have a quick question regarding some usages of both 'to' and 'of'. Could you please have a look at the sentences below and share your insights with me as to how to make a distinction between them.
- Consider the case of Afghanistan: even though it is an open secret that the United States expects the Chinese military to shoulder some of the burden of maintaining stability there after U.S. troops leave the country, the Chinese government has shown no interest in this idea.
In this sentence, "shoulder some of the burden of maintaining stability" clearly indicated that the US expects China to give him a hand in maintaining stability after they withdraw from Afghanistan. However, is there any chance we can make that sentence "shoulder some of the burden to maintain stability" rather than "shoulder some of the burden of maintaining stability"
- We've never missed a chance to take greater control over our lives. So, I don't think we'll end up setting aside our hard-won power to engineer the genes that shape us.
In this second sentence, can we make the first part as follows: "We have never missed a chance of taking greater control over our lives."
In the second part can we also change the structure as follows: "So, I do not think we will end up setting aside our hard-won power of engineering the genes that shape us."
As you can infer, I am struggling with something and it really annoys me not being able to see the difference.
In my mind, hard-won power to engineer shapes hard-won which is to engineer.
Another example, a chance to take greater control over our lives shapes a chance which is to take greater control.
I am not sure if I have been able to make my problem clear, but mainly the usage of a chance of winning or a chance to win cannot make a distinction in my view.
Any help is appreciated.
Many thanks,
Sercan.
grammar prepositions
grammar prepositions
New contributor
New contributor
New contributor
asked 9 mins ago
Sercan AltunSercan Altun
1
1
New contributor
New contributor
add a comment |
add a comment |
0
active
oldest
votes
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "97"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sercan Altun is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
var $window = $(window),
onScroll = function(e) {
var $elem = $('.new-login-left'),
docViewTop = $window.scrollTop(),
docViewBottom = docViewTop + $window.height(),
elemTop = $elem.offset().top,
elemBottom = elemTop + $elem.height();
if ((docViewTop elemBottom)) {
StackExchange.using('gps', function() { StackExchange.gps.track('embedded_signup_form.view', { location: 'question_page' }); });
$window.unbind('scroll', onScroll);
}
};
$window.on('scroll', onScroll);
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f481551%2fthe-difference-between-to-and-of-in-some-sentences%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
0
active
oldest
votes
0
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Sercan Altun is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sercan Altun is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sercan Altun is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sercan Altun is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
var $window = $(window),
onScroll = function(e) {
var $elem = $('.new-login-left'),
docViewTop = $window.scrollTop(),
docViewBottom = docViewTop + $window.height(),
elemTop = $elem.offset().top,
elemBottom = elemTop + $elem.height();
if ((docViewTop elemBottom)) {
StackExchange.using('gps', function() { StackExchange.gps.track('embedded_signup_form.view', { location: 'question_page' }); });
$window.unbind('scroll', onScroll);
}
};
$window.on('scroll', onScroll);
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f481551%2fthe-difference-between-to-and-of-in-some-sentences%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
var $window = $(window),
onScroll = function(e) {
var $elem = $('.new-login-left'),
docViewTop = $window.scrollTop(),
docViewBottom = docViewTop + $window.height(),
elemTop = $elem.offset().top,
elemBottom = elemTop + $elem.height();
if ((docViewTop elemBottom)) {
StackExchange.using('gps', function() { StackExchange.gps.track('embedded_signup_form.view', { location: 'question_page' }); });
$window.unbind('scroll', onScroll);
}
};
$window.on('scroll', onScroll);
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
var $window = $(window),
onScroll = function(e) {
var $elem = $('.new-login-left'),
docViewTop = $window.scrollTop(),
docViewBottom = docViewTop + $window.height(),
elemTop = $elem.offset().top,
elemBottom = elemTop + $elem.height();
if ((docViewTop elemBottom)) {
StackExchange.using('gps', function() { StackExchange.gps.track('embedded_signup_form.view', { location: 'question_page' }); });
$window.unbind('scroll', onScroll);
}
};
$window.on('scroll', onScroll);
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
var $window = $(window),
onScroll = function(e) {
var $elem = $('.new-login-left'),
docViewTop = $window.scrollTop(),
docViewBottom = docViewTop + $window.height(),
elemTop = $elem.offset().top,
elemBottom = elemTop + $elem.height();
if ((docViewTop elemBottom)) {
StackExchange.using('gps', function() { StackExchange.gps.track('embedded_signup_form.view', { location: 'question_page' }); });
$window.unbind('scroll', onScroll);
}
};
$window.on('scroll', onScroll);
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown