When a series of infinitives relate to the same object, the word to should be used before the first verb and omitted before the others; as, “He taught me to read, write, and cipher.” “The most accomplished way of using books at present is to serve them as some do lords—learn their titles and then brag of their acquaintance.”
The active verbs bid, dare, feel, hear, let, make, need, see, and their participles, usually take the infinitive after them, without the preposition to. Such expressions, as “He bade me to depart,” “I dare to say he is a villain,” “I had difficulty in making him to see his error,” are, therefore, wrong, and are corrected by omitting to.
Such incomplete expressions as the following are very common: “He has not gone to Europe, nor is he likely to.” “She has not written her essay, nor does she intend to.” “Can a man arrive at excellence who has no desire to?” The addition of the word go to the first sentence, and of write it, to the second would make them complete. In the case of the third sentence it would be awkward to say, “Can a man arrive at excellence who has no desire to arrive at excellence.” We therefore substitute the more convenient expression “to do so.”
CHAPTER XI
Participles
Participles relate to nouns or pronouns, or else are governed by prepositions. Those ending in ing should not be made the subjects or objects of verbs while they retain the government and adjuncts of participles. They may often be converted into nouns or take the form of the infinitive.
“Not attending to this rule is the cause of a very common error.” Better, “Inattention to this rule,” etc. “He abhorred being in debt.” Better, “He abhorred debt,” “Cavilling and objecting upon any subject is much easier than clearing up difficulties.” Say, “To cavil and object upon any subject is much easier than to clear up difficulties.”
Omit “of”
Active participles have the same government as the verbs from which they are derived. The preposition of, therefore, should not be used after the participle, when the verb would not require it. Omit of in such expressions as these: “Keeping of one day in seven,” “By preaching of repentance,” “They left beating of Paul,” “From calling of names they came to blows,” “They set about repairing of the walls.”
If the article the occurs before the participle, the preposition of must be retained; as, “They strictly observed the keeping of one day in seven.”