1

Is it better to say "is to" or "is how to"? For example:

A challenging problem is to analyse the runtime effects.

or should it be:

A challenging problem is how to analyse the runtime effects.

Also, I know that it would sound more natural if I structured the sentence as "Analysing the runtime effects is a challenging problem.", but I want to emphasise that I am stating the challenges this way.

I tried searching for similar questions, but I couldn't find any (kind of tough terms to search for).

metakermit
  • 203
  • 1
    "A challenging problem is analyzing the runtime effects." If you want to emphasize the challenges by bringing them forward, go ahead and emphasize the challenges by bringing them forward, but leave the poor participle in peace. What you are now actually inverting instead is "To analyze the runtime effects is a challenging problem", which is not something a native speaker would produce. Consequently, the same can be said of your inversion. – RegDwigнt Jun 12 '14 at 10:07
  • Thanks, your suggestion does sound more natural. You can suggest it as an answer if you like, so that I can mark it as accepted. – metakermit Jun 12 '14 at 14:46

1 Answers1

3

"is to" implies the analysis itself is challenging, but the analytic process exists. "is how to" implies the process has yet to be determined, and it is challenging to develop the process.

DrRandy
  • 339