I can to go

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poedgar
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2005 3:47 pm

I can to go

Postby poedgar » Wed Mar 02, 2005 4:14 pm

I really wonder why there is no need to insert 'to' between 'can' and 'go'. Who's gonna reveal to me the reason?

Guest

Postby Guest » Sat Mar 12, 2005 10:17 am

My dear,

Just take any English course and you will find out that a few other verbs such as 'may' do not use the infinitive particle 'to'. For example, 'I may visit my friend anytime.' Every language has some exceptions to the rules. English is my second language as well, and as you MAY KNOW, the grammer is very simple as compared to some other languages. This is the reason why it was chosen as a business language. Easy grammer to learn. Have a lot of fun learning!

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nikita
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Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2004 10:52 pm
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Re: can go

Postby nikita » Thu Nov 24, 2005 4:51 pm

Hello,

"Can/could" is a modal verb, like "must", "should", "will/would", "may/might", and "ought to". They are never followed by "to", except "ought to", which is an exception.

There is also no need to worry about the third person singular.
I swim. - He swims.
I can swim. - He can swim.

But there are some other verbs that are followed by so called "bare infinitive" (infinitive without to).

For example:

Make sb do something.
They made me lie on the floor.
The smell of roses makes me think of you.

Let sb do something.
Let’s go. (Let us go)
Please, don’t let him do it.

"Help" can be followed by either infinitive or a bare infinitive. I don’t know about any difference in meaning.
Help sb [to] do something.
She helped me to cross the road.
She helped me cross the road.

Any other questions are welcome.

Nikita Kovalyov
www.eclecticenglish.com



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