Korean Job Discussion Forums

[GreenlightmeansGO]

My wife must teach a student for his tests and here is an example question:

Choose the sentence that uses 'to' differently to the example:

Example:
I want to talk about my best friend.

1. I try to study hard.
2. Her plan is to teach children.
3. I hope to see you soon.
4. This book is easy to read.
5. To get up early is good for your health.

Apparently, the correct answer is 4, because it is 'being used as an adverb', which I don't see.

I would have chosen 5, where the verb phrase is the main subject.

Can someone please try shed some light on how to explain this to a student?

Thanks in advance.[/b]

[Hotwire]

4 is the correct answer coz all the others use a verb before to and it's following verb.

I'm sure that could be put more technically correct

[tatertot]

OP, I thought it was number 5, too, for the same reason as you. I didn't even know that you could use a verb as an adverb.

My "adverb test" is to ask a "how?" question about the sentence. So, I guess you could say, "How is the book easy?" -> "The book is easy to read." So I guess the book may be technically correct, but it seems awkward to native speakers.

Also, keep in mind a couple of things.

1) In academic works, questions and answers are sometimes written by different people (so the person who wrote the answer sometimes makes mistakes and chooses the wrong answer for the wrong reason).
2) The question is too general because numbers 4 and 5 are both correct. Number 5 is definitely different from the others in that it is the only sentence where "to ..." is being used as the subject. Number 4 is (maybe) different in that "to ..." is being used as an adverb.
3) Even if a book is written by a qualified individual (not guaranteed), an unqualified editor may introduce mistakes during editing.

[Louis VI]

The infinitive verb 'to read' is functioning adverbially, modifying the adjective 'easy'.

A simple way to explain it to an English language learner without using any grammar terms: The book is thin, old, expensive, interesting and 'easy to read' with 'to read' as part of the description 'easy to read' (not added on, but goes together), NOT communicating an action. The sentence is not saying anything has, is, or will happen.