Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[sabrinak]

Hello,

which one is grammatically correct?

1. People can choose to walk short distances rather than taking cars.
2. People can choose to walk short distances rather than to take cars.
3. 1. People can choose to walk short distances rather than take cars.


Thank you so much.

[CP]

Either 2 or 3 would be correct; 3 probably more likely to be said in conversation.

It is a matter of parallelism: The verb to walk is the infinitive, so you don't want the second verb to be the present participle, taking. Using to take is parallel, since that is the infinitive, too, but it is all right to use the bare infinitive take, and it sounds more natural.
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