Help me with this sentence, please. I read in a book this sentence: 1. I also devoted myself to working. My doubt is why does the verb work go in the "ing" form and not in its regular form "work"?

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Daniel Maduro H

Help me with this sentence, please. I read in a book this sentence: 1. I also devoted myself to working. My doubt is why does the verb work go in the "ing" form and not in its regular form "work"? Thank you beforehand :)

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Help me with this sentence, please.

I read in a book this sentence:

1. I also devoted myself to working.

My doubt is why does the verb work go in the "ing" form and not in its regular form "work"?

Thank you beforehand in advance:)

Both are correct, however if you used "work" it would be a noun, not a verb. In this case "devoted" is the verb. What (thing) was the person devoted to? Work.

However here he has used the gerund form "working". A gerund is a verb which acts as a noun. (Most gerunds end with "ing" in English).

In other words, you can use either one as the noun which represents the object of the sentence. (That is, the thing that the verb acts on.)

Is there any difference between the two?

Probably not. I would be more likely to use "work" if I was dedicated to the work itself. For example, if I was trying to find a cure for cancer, it is the work itself that is important, and I would be dedicated to it.

If on the other hand I was less interested in the work and just wanted to escape whatever was on my mind by doing work, any kind of work, I'd probably say "working" to indicate that the process of working was more important to me than the work itself.

However this is not a hard and fast distinction, and different writers may have different intentions.

Thank you Richard :D

I think you are asking why the author of the sentence "I also devoted myself to working" chose to use "working" and not "work". In my opinion: In this sentence, both "working" and "work" are grammatically correct/acceptable ... I think the author chose to use "working" simply as a "style" choice, if that makes sense. In this sentence, using "working" gives the sentence more sense of action, than if the author had chose to use "work". I hope my answer makes sense, and helps.

Ohhh my friend thank you very much for your kindness :D

You're welcome. With regard to your question about "beforehand", the word itself is fine; it simply wouldn't be used in that context. (It was at one time and you may see it in this sense in very old English writing, but it's considered archaic now.) These days it is only used as an adverb to indicate when an action was or will be done. For example "I went to Paris last month, but I made sure to book a room BEFOREHAND". Or alternatively "I will be having my party on the 15th, but I'll make sure that I book a table at the restaurant beforehand". When you are thanking someone you would say "in advance" or "in anticipation of your reply", etc.

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