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I came across the following multiple-choice question:

She devoted herself to ( ) for poor people.

The choices are:

  1. caring
  2. care
  3. be caring
  4. have cared

As the preposition "to" can be followed by either noun or gerund (...ing), the most suitable answer is #1, "caring." And I am OK with this.

However, some of my students chose #2 care, as the word can be noun. Is "She devoted herself to care for poor people" an acceptable sentence? I feel it a bit odd, and feel like adding something like "the" to make "the care," but I'm not pretty sure.

I'd appreciate it if anyone could give me some advice on this from native speaker's point of view.

Barmar
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Melway
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  • I think this really depends on the intended meaning. Devoting herself to caring should be used when she is performing the care herself. Devoting herselt to care should be used when she is an activist working in the field of care for poor people- for example fundraising, raising awareness etc. – Jim Apr 10 '15 at 16:06

2 Answers2

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"Caring" seems more correct but as I think about it I'm having trouble precisely enunciating why. Part of it is that it's an active verb; it more accurately depicts an ongoing process. "Care" seems to be more timeless; she might care at some points and not at others. "Care" also seems more generic. This goes hand-in-hand with the phrase "don't care for" being a nonchalant method of expressing displeasure with. I know that's not the meaning here but I think it carries over; if someone truly prefers something and intends to do good, you should use "caring" over "care".

Kurt Tappe
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1 is definitely the best choice for your context, of that you can be confident.

Search at Google Books (not at vanilla Google) for the core expressions:

"devoted herself to caring for" About 3,400 results

shows up in clear majority, while

"devoted herself to care for" About 35 results

is quite rare and shows up mostly in 19C samples, but also in this academic work written by native speakers:

The Franciscan Tradition: Franciscan Tradition - Page 128 Regis J. Armstrong, ‎Ingrid J. Peterson, ‎Phyllis Zagano - 2010

With her sisters, she devoted herself to care for and to improve the lives of those suffering from Hansen's disease, or leprosy as it was known in Mother Marianne's time.

thus I for one would accept it, but not recommend it.

And, yes, your students, when using "care" as a noun, should have used "the" and "of" ("for" is not really accepted in this pattern):

"devoted herself to the care of" About 34,800 results

is in considerable use.

Marius Hancu
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