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sidjameson · Joined: 11 Jan 2004 Posts: 629 Location: osaka

I corrected my students English.

"All I have to do is staying" to "All I have to do is stay"

He told me that in his text "All I have to do is staying" is correct. I told him that this was not so, but to be honest I couldn't explain why.

Now I have never been the most confident teacher in the world when it comes to grammar. But I am correct right? Smile

Also, what is the "stay/staying"? Is it a noun?

What should I tell my student?

Many thanks.

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 8:37 am Post subject:

"All I have to do is..." should be followed by a verb in the correct tense. In this case the verb "stay" is simple present. "Staying" is a gerund, which is basically a verb acting as a noun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerund

Nismo · Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 520

'Staying' is, also, present continuous. You can't presently continue to do something in the future.

It's the same reason you can't say, "I am going to eating." You can, however, say, "I am going to be eating," because the emphasis is thrown onto 'be', and so the context of the sentence is put into an action that you will be currently doing at a point in the future (but at that point the action will be in the present state).

If the student wants to emphasize that the action is continuing from now, he can make a sentence like, "All I have to do is continue to stay."

Also, tell your student to invest less faith in textbooks, especially if the authors are not native English speakers.

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:01 am Post subject:

JonnyB61 · Joined: 30 Oct 2006 Posts: 216 Location: Japan

I haven't looked this up so please don't flame me if it's not quite right.

However, it seems to me that: all I have to do should be followed by a bare infinitive (ie. without to.

eg. All I have to do is be on time.

So, all I have to do is stay. is correct because it satisfies the need for a bare infinitive here.

And now I'm quite sure that I'm going to get torn to shreds by the Japan Board Jackals. Wink

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:41 am Post subject:

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 10:53 am Post subject:

JonnyB61 · Joined: 30 Oct 2006 Posts: 216 Location: Japan

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

All I have to do is (to) stay...

Think of it this way.

markle · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 1316 Location: Out of Japan

furious has explained it simply and concisely can the rest of you shut up and stop muddying the waters with pointless second guessing.

JonnyB61 · Joined: 30 Oct 2006 Posts: 216 Location: Japan

sidjameson · Joined: 11 Jan 2004 Posts: 629 Location: osaka

Thanks.

All I have to do is stay

So the "stay" is a verb? The embarrassing thing is I once knew.

Sweeney Todd · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 2:01 pm Post subject:

JonnyB61 · Joined: 30 Oct 2006 Posts: 216 Location: Japan

Yes, Sid, it's a verb and it's the infinitive of the verb.
Whenever I'm considering infinitives I try to think of an example using Be because it's the only verb in English where the infinitive is not repeated as some other part of the verb.

Consider: All I have to do is be on time.
All I have to do is am on time.

You don't need me to tell you which one is correct.

So, we have deduced that: All I have to do is must be followed by an infinitive.

Consequently, All I have to do is stay is correct for this reason.

I enjoy discussing grammar but sadly on this board it is all too often impossible to do it in a civilised and adult manner.

P.S. How much of this do you think Nonsmoker/Precise can follow?

sidjameson · Joined: 11 Jan 2004 Posts: 629 Location: osaka

Thanks for that.

So if "stay" is a verb in the infinitive, what is the "is".......I thought this must be classified as a verb. But one of the rules etched on my brain is SVO.....never heard of SVVO Smile