I remember I learned a structure like the one that this post’s title mentions:  All I {need to do | have to do | must do} is do something.  But is it correct to use &quot;to do something&quot;  after the &quot;is&quot; —  as compared with just plain &quot;do something&quot; without the &quot;to&quot;? Or to be more specific, which of the following sentences in each pair is correct, or are both version correct?  The second one in each case adds &quot;to&quot; to the formula:  Pair #1:   All I must do is prepare myself for the test.  All I must do is to prepare myself for the test.     Pair #2:   What we should do is teach children how to think. What we should do is to teach children how to think.    As far as I could remember, both forms should be fine.  But it seems that all the materials, texts, and articles I've read so far use the first form only. Furthermore, I'd really appreciate it if you could show me some references, like webpages or some book, where I could find more information about this point.
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I was speaking to an English learner and said, “All you have to do is read a lot.” And they thought that sentence wasn’t grammatically correct because I dropped the word to between is and read.  They thought it should be “All you have to do is to read a lot.” That sounds weird to me.   How do I explain to them the reason you drop the to? Or am I incorrect and it really should have a to?
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Where to use "must/should/might/may/could/shouldn't  have "in a sentence?  We had in our book that "must+perfect infinitive" is used when we feel sure about sth in the past.And "might/may/could+perfect infinitive" should used when we think sth was possible but we aren't sure.And we should use "should+perfect infinitive" when we talk about past events that did not happen.  Now we had exercises about choosing them.Now I have some question.     1.How can we decide which one is  "may/might/could+perfect infinitive" when they are the same?      2.We had an exercise "Nobody answered the phone at the clinic.It................ closed early"      Here the answer written is "must have" instead of being probable we aren't sure then why did we use it?      And also we had "Sarah looks really pleased with herself.She ...............passed her driving test this morning" which gives the answer "must have"but we aren't sure.
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While I was answering a question on ELL, I got confused with a  from a fellow user. After I indicated that:     "Do you have any idea to prove it?'   is grammatically correct, the OP commented that "ideas" should be used in place of "idea".  The comment befuddled me. I thought until now that "any" should be followed by singular noun and not plural. So I searched Google and saw it's a huge debate going on and there is no end to it. I got no perfect and trustworthy source. So I thought to post the question here.  So what is the right rule? Should singular or plural be used after "any"?
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Source:  by Douglas Crockford (2008) Example:  My goal here is to help you to learn to think in JavaScript. I will show you the components of the language and start you on the process of discovering the ways those components can be put together.  Although it is usually the case that you mostly hear people say something like &quot;this will help you become a better person&quot;, is there any particular reason as to why he chose not to leave out the to and say help you to learn instead? If you've got something interesting to say, could you please elaborate on it as well? I would very much like to receive some coherent explanation and get this thing finally straight. The only time I know of, though, that you would use the to is when you say it like this:  It helps a lot to think of the rather difficult concept of classes used in modern software development as mere blueprints that architects and builders use to build houses. In life, it really helps to know your times tables by heart because not all the time do you have a calculator on you.  Because the aspect of the verb &quot;help&quot; is a little bit different here. But in all other cases, help do or help you do something is by far more common.
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What is the difference between "should" and "must"?  e.g. "They should have called the police." Can I use "must" in that sentence or not?  e.g. "You should read his new book." How about this sentence?
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I have been around on Twitter for awhile and I regularly find people using "Please to retweet this" or "Please to help me", etc. Is this proper English? I do not think prefixing the infinitive form with a 'to' is necessary here at all.
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I'm trying to pass a test on "Articles exercise" as they call it . Reviewing my answers I got stuck about the two I posted on the picture below.  As I understand both words are uncountable (according to the ), so it looks like (or said for example ) I can't say a/an with an uncountable noun.  But this test says the opposite. Is there some trick? Or am I just dumb? Please help me to understand why I need to use "a" article in these cases?        We need a secretary with ____ good knowledge of English.          a  (marked as the correct answer)   the     a / the     no article is needed (the answer I think is correct)        We're having ____ terrible weather.         a (marked as the correct answer)     the     a / the     no article is needed (the answer I think is correct)
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I tend to use should when it's a suggestion I don't have a strong opinion on, i.e. it could be done in many other ways than the one I'm suggesting and it can still happen.     You should stop by that gas station to go to the bathroom.   On the other hand, I usually use must for things that have to happen in a certain way; any other way would make that thing not to happen. The problem is that some people find this usage harsh, as they receive it like if I'm giving them an order.      You must cross the street to get to that store.   To me, it's just a depiction of reality, not an order. But I'm neither a native speaker nor a regular person. :-)  So, what's the proper use for must and should? Does this use differ among the English dialects?
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Actually I should be working on my bachelor report (it's due tonight), but hey, there are more important things like: Can I omit the to in the following sentence?     ... foster behaviour that would help the robot population (to) adapt to the MONEE environment.
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What is the correct way to convert "used to do" into a question? Since I want to emphasize that the action is not on-going any more, so simple past tense is not a good idea here. Could I say "do xxx use to do" or "did xxx use to do"? Both sound weird to me.  If there is no way to do it. Do you suggest any other alternatives?
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Which of the following are grammatical?        I cannot help but think.     I cannot but think.     I cannot help thinking.        I was taught (1) is not correct. Is it true? Or are they all correct? Is there any other way(s) to express what the speaker is trying to say using the words "help" and "think" apart from the three ways I mentioned?
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A student has written:     Still, I have already been aware of most of the information even    before watching the video.   It doesn't feel right and I would normally use a past simple here. I'm on my two hundredth script and losing my ability to reason, or to adequately explain to myself why it should be past simple (I think it's 'before' as this puts the time as completed, so he can't use the present perfect notion of unfinished time). What I need to know is:   Should it be simple past of present perfect here, or doesn't it matter?  Why/why not?   All help gratefully received.
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I have a feeling that maybe you use one preposition with people, and the other with situations. For example, you might relate with a student who's nervous about an exam, whereas you relate to test anxiety. Am I correct in assuming this? If not, what grammatical rules determine whether you use "to" or "with" following the verb "relate"?
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I read the following sentence in book (App).     I will try and answer any questions you ask.   Why don't they use the following? (it is much common):     I will try to answer any questions you ask.   Is there any difference in meaning?  Update:  I noticed that a lot of books and news websites are using this phrase:        Although Katty will try and answer as many questions as she can.    He puller would have a chance to try and answer the question on her own ...
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How does he does that?      How does he do that?   Which one is correct? This type of sentence sounds a little odd because of two do/does in a single statement. Is there an alternative which has the same meaning?
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Which one of this two sentences is correct?   I need you to help me do this job I need you to help me to do this job   Can you also provide me some explanation?
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Is it grammatically correct to use "did" like this?     On June 18th, I did experience my first earthquake in Japan.   I'm an ALT in Japan and on our exam for our students they had to write the statement above but without “did" but the teachers are wondering if it’s ok because they think it puts emphasis on experience. But, I dont think it is right and I cannot explain why. Any help would be appreciated.