I said in the last post that when “to” acts as a preposition it is usually followed by an –ing form or a noun/noun phrase.
上一次我们说到,当“to”用作动词时,后面经常会跟着动词-ing形式或者名词/名词性词组。
Now we will look at exceptions to this rule.
现在,我们来看看这个规则有哪些例外的情况。
The most important exception relates to the verb “agree”. You may use an infinitive verb after “agree to”. For example:
这其中最重要的一项是关于动词“agree”的。“agree to”后面要跟动词不定式。
EX. I cannot agree to delete Section 3.7.
例句:我不同意删去第3.7节。
EX. This provision may cause unnecessary difficulties especially in complex matters where the parties do not agree to extend the prescribed time period.
例句:这项规定可能会造成不必要的麻烦,尤其是当双方不同意延长规定期限的复杂情况下。
If you try to use –ing forms in these examples in a document written on Microsoft Word, you’ll find that “deleting” and “extending” are underlined in green. This is because Word’s grammar check knows about this exception.
当你在Word里打字时,要是在以上这些例子后面加上了动词的-ing形式,你会发现你打的“deleting”和“extending”下面有绿色的波浪号出现。这是因为Word的语法检查能查出这些。
“Agree” is not the only verb covered by this exception. Others are “consent”, “entitled” “inclined” and “prone”.
“agree”不是唯一的例外。还有“consent”,“entitled”,“inclined”和“prone”。
Here are some examples:
这里举出了一些例子:
EX. The duchess has consented to open her London house to the public for two months every summer.
例句:公爵夫人已经同意每年夏天开放其住所供群众参观。
EX. The Company is entitled to request that the authority reassesses the circumstances of the case.
例句:本公司有权要求当局重新评估案件的情况。
EX. I am inclined to agree with you.
例句:我倾向于你的观点。
EX. The Employee is prone to suffer from asthma attacks and cannot work in a dusty environment.
例句:这个职员很容易哮喘病发作,所以他不能在尘土飞扬的环境里工作。
More on “agree to”
“agree to”的更多说明
However, there is a difference in meaning between “agree to + -ing” and “agree to + infinitive”. Let’s make a comparison:
但是“agree to + -ing” 和“agree to + 不定式”在意思上还是有区别的。让我们来比较一下这个例子:
I cannot agree to delete Section 3.7.
I cannot agree to deleting Section 3.7.