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Help Me!!

 
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fathak



Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 13

PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 6:25 pm    Post subject: Help Me!! Reply with quote

Hello Teachers,
I always get confused while framing sentences with the words HELP and MAKE.

1. I will help him * do that.
2. I will make him * do that task.

shouldn't it be " I will help him TO do that". "I will make him TO do that work"? I completely don't understand this. Please hep me.

Thanks in anticipation.
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M.N.Fathak Ahamed
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2006



Joined: 27 Nov 2006
Posts: 610

PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 7:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No, 1 and 2 are correct without "to".
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fathak



Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 13

PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the help... Can you explain gramatically why we should not use "TO" in the sentence?
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2006



Joined: 27 Nov 2006
Posts: 610

PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 2:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can add "to" in #1 but it is really not needed, so it is best not to add "to". Native speakers generally don't use "to" in that sentence.

You cannot add "to" in #2! "make him to do..." means that you will make a person, specifically him, for the purpose of having him "do that task". Since no (single) person can make another person, you cannot add "to" in sentence #2.
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lotus



Joined: 25 Jan 2004
Posts: 862

PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 4:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi fathak,

"Help" and "make" are causative verbs which express a causal relationship between the subject, the object and the other verb. Sometimes the "to" is required in front of the other verb, sometimes it is not. With "make", "to" is not used. With "help", "to" can be used, but sounds more natural without it.

Often, English learners will add "to" to the other verb unnecessarily. This is a common error in English speech.


The first link is the most helpful:

http://www.eslgold.com/grammar/causative_verbs.html
http://www.englishpage.com/minitutorials/let.html
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/caus.htm
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/verbs.htm#causative_verbs
http://www.1-language.com/englishcourse/unit70_grammar.htm



--lotus
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Last edited by lotus on Tue Mar 27, 2007 8:21 pm; edited 2 times in total
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fathak



Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 13

PostPosted: Tue Mar 27, 2007 10:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi 2006 and Lotus,

Thank you so much for the great help. Very Happy
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M.N.Fathak Ahamed
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