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I've asked this around and I'm RACKING MY BRAIN trying to figure it out.

Which one is the correct verb form in the following sentence?

The craziest thing I've ever done is go / to go / going scubadiving in Belize

Some people say that both the to + verb and the ing forms are correct, because you need a noun there and the bare form is a verb; other people say only the to + verb is the correct one here, because the ing form only applies when you reverse the sentence (going scubadiving is yadda yadda) and not when you place the subject in the end.

I know many people would use the bare infinitive to be quicker while speaking, but that just sounds wrong to my ears as it's a verb!

Can you please tell me, once and for all, which is the correct verb form?

Dan Bron
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Lavinia Raspelli
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1 Answers1

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The answer here is "go". Consider the sentence...

The craziest thing I've ever done is ...

Progressive Usage

The conjugation, "going" is considered progressive/continuous. In your sentence, you are not in the process of scuba-diving in Belize. Or giving a specific description of what it's like scuba-diving in Belize. So you want to cross this one off and not use it.

Infinitive Redundancy

Now... We consider using "to go". Hmm... Well isn't that just the infinitive of "go"? Yes, so in this case remove the redundant "to" What are we left with now? Go.

Infinitive Usage

We will use go here. We are not interested in describing what scuba-diving in Belize was like (within this exact sentence). We are only saying that... It happened.

Snoop
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  • @LaviniaRaspelli take a gander at http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/verb-tenses-adding-ed-and-ing – Snoop Mar 20 '16 at 23:53
  • @LaviniaRaspelli you are confusing infinitive verbs with indefinite pronouns... http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/nounphrase.htm – Snoop Mar 20 '16 at 23:58
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    The reasoning for avoiding the to-infinitive is unsound. "[The only] solution is to lower the standards" is idiomatic (98 200 Google hits for the 6-word string), whereas "[The only] solution is lower the standards" is not (1 Google hit for the 5-word string). With OP's example, there are 28 500 Google hits for "ever done is go" (showing that it is acceptable, I'd say) but 391 000 Google hits for "ever done is to go" (showing that this is the preferred option). – Edwin Ashworth Mar 21 '16 at 00:25
  • @EdwinAshworth go and say "ever done is to go" out loud to yourself. There is something not right about the way it sounds. Let me know what you think when you say it aloud. – Snoop Mar 21 '16 at 00:27
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    The reason I commented was because I was at least as happy with 'The craziest thing I've ever done is to go scuba diving in Belize' than with The craziest thing I've ever done is go scuba diving in Belize'. And the Google results would seem to go further in showing the preferred variant. // Many contributors to ELU could say 'I am a native English speaker with a lot of language experience'. But most of us have come to understand that this is not usually adequate authority. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 21 '16 at 00:37
  • @EdwinAshworth in either case you're using the infinitive. I think this enters into the territory of verbal linguistics, one of the answers doesn't work well when spoken and that is "to go". – Snoop Mar 21 '16 at 00:39
  • @EdwinAshworth http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2008/multipleintel/lingfr.html – Snoop Mar 21 '16 at 00:53
  • '... one of the answers doesn't work well when spoken and that is "to go" .' In your humble opinion. With which I disagree. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 21 '16 at 00:54
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    "My favorite exercise is swimming." is fine.  "My favorite exercise is to swim." is awkward.  "My favorite exercise is swim." is just plain wrong. – Scott - Слава Україні Mar 21 '16 at 00:56
  • @Scott When you say "swim" it is proper to say "going swimming" when you say "going" it should be "go scubadiving". It's verbal-linguistics... Inexpressible nuances of the language. The solution here would be to omit "go" altogether. – Snoop Mar 21 '16 at 01:05
  • @Scott But there isn't a simple general rule here. "solution is lowering the standards" shows only 1 relevant Google hit, "solution is lower the standards" also 1, but "solution is to lower the standards" 98 000. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 21 '16 at 01:06
  • @EdwinAshworth I know you keep going back to that... But how many of those things will actually be verbalized? I think the verbalization must get factored into constructing the sentence properly. – Snoop Mar 21 '16 at 01:09
  • You are giving your opinion about what sounds better. This doesn't tally with my opinion, or, it seems, with the majority of those choosing between various variants as shown in a Google search. As tchrist has said, 'We are looking for more substantial answers with documented references, not merely [statements that may possibly be no more than] personal opinion. Those are just comments, not answers.' – Edwin Ashworth Mar 21 '16 at 01:14
  • @EdwinAshworth I agree with you that (in the comments) I am giving only an opinion, but in the answer above I don't say anything about the verbal correctness. That is why we are here in the comments having this debate. If you read the answer, I do talk in terms of how the verb's state behaves in the situation in a manner that I believe answers the question. – Snoop Mar 21 '16 at 01:16
  • @EdwinAshworth: Your 'was going' comment is spot on, but I respectfully disagree with the inference you draw from 'solution is to lower the standards'. IMHO 'to go' in the OP does not equate to 'to lower' in your search phrase, in that the latter is used in a forward-looking statement (i.e., standards have not yet been lowered). To my mind, 'to go' also belongs in forward-looking statements, which relates to why 'going' would begin the sentence after one has gone. When we change the word order, 'is going' sounds off but 'was going' works beautifully. – Egox Mar 21 '16 at 13:30
  • @Egox I was addressing the answer (hence a comment under the answer) and pointing out the false 'deduction'; I was not addressing the OP directly (which would have required an answer or a comment under the question). – Edwin Ashworth Mar 21 '16 at 15:36
  • My second comment above; please read 'as' for 'than'. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 21 '16 at 15:55