Also, as we know, to is a preposition here and the verb following any preposition is always in the - ing form. to buy in the example I went to the shop to buy some food), because to wake up early is not the purpose of I got used. It also isn't meaningful as an infinitive of purpose (e.g. easy, hard, happy, pleased) that are followed by to + infinitive. waking up early).īut get used to + infinitive isn't grammatical because used is not one of the group of adjectives (e.g. That's the underlying meaning of to in get used to + -ing, a movement towards doing the - ing activity (e.g. In more detail, in get used to + - ing, the word to is a preposition and its basic meaning is movement towards something.

isn't correct, the simple answer is that get used to is followed by an - ing form and not an infinitive. The word used is a verb in that sentence (while in get used to, it's an adjective).Īs for why I got used to wake up early. We can see this more clearly if we reorganise the sentence: To understand them, listening to what customers say is the key.įirstly, don't confuse get used to (+ - ing) with used to, which does take an infinitive after it: I used to wake up early in the morning. In the second one, the phrase 'to understand them' (an infinitive of purpose, meaning 'in order to understand them) modifies 'the key' but it is separable from it. There is a slight difference in meaning - in the first one, the phrase 'the key to understanding them' is meaningful together and it can't be divided. Listening to what customers say is the key to understand them.īoth of these sentences are grammatical.Listening to what customers say is the key to understanding them.There may be cases where both the - ing form and the to + infinitive seem possible. His whole life was dedicated to helping other people. (Also many other - ed adjectives, e.g.Listening to what customers say is the key to understanding them. (Other nouns: response, approach, dedication.I got used to waking up early in the morning. (Other verbs: be used to, object, respond.In case 2, some verbs, nouns and adjectives require the preposition 'to', and therefore an - ing form for any verb after it. You can also put 'to' + infinitive after a noun to show what action is done to that noun, e.g. (Also hard, happy, pleased and some other adjectives.) (See this page (linked) for more info about verbs followed by 'to' + infinitive.) I need to wake up early in the morning.In case 1, the infinitive with to is used after many verbs and adjectives. I look forward to hearing from you ('to' is a preposition like all prepositions, if 'to' is followed by a verb it must be in the - ing form).I want to hear from you ('to' is part of the infinitive verb).GapFillDragAndDrop_MTY0NDA= -ing form as a noun or adjective 2 ReorderingHorizontal_MTY0Mzk= Patterns with - ing formsīecause an - ing noun or adjective is formed from a verb, it can have any of the patterns which follow a verb. The commonest - ing adjectives are: amusing

especially after verbs of the senses like see, watch, hear, smell, etc.:.

The boy talking to Angela is her younger brother after a link verb like be, look or sound:.We saw a really exciting match on Sunday. I read an interesting article in the newspaper today. ReorderingHorizontal_MTY0Mzg= - ing forms as adjectives Some people are not interested in learning English. They can be used:Ĭommon verbs followed by an - ing object are: admit ing nouns are nearly always uncount nouns.

Elucidate adjective