[Grammar] How long does it take to....

[chingchangchong]

Hello, teachers.

What is the difference between "How long does it take to cook turkey" and "How long does it take to cooking turkey"

and Why?

Thanks

 

[MikeNewYork]

The first is correct; the second is not. "To cook" is an infinitive. Infinitives use the base form of the verb, not the -ing form.

 

[emsr2d2]

However, if you change the word order of the sentence, you can use "How long does cooking a turkey take?"

 

[Tdol]

"How long does it take to cook turkey"

How long does it take to cook a turkey works better for me. Without the article, it could be any amount of turkey, which makes the question a bit pointless.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Well, cooking times for turkeys vary by size. Often it is expressed as minutes per pound.

 

[chingchangchong]

Your sentence is too difficult to me.
But Thank you very much.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Which sentence is too difficult?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Tdol's, Emsr's, and Mike's comments are all correct. As they said:

- Cooking is not a simple verb. It's a gerund - an -ing verb. It is never part of an infinitive. We say "to cook," never "to cooking." To use the gerund, you have to rephrase, as Emsrl did.

- Turkey would be better with an article in front of it: a turkey.

Does that help? If you are still confused, maybe you will get more answers below. The important thing is: no gerunds after the word to!

 

[Rover_KE]

The important thing is: no gerunds after the word to!

...except in contexts like 'I prefer gardening to cooking'.

 

[emsr2d2]

...except in contexts like 'I prefer gardening to cooking'.

And in "I am to gardening what Beethoven is to clothes designing."

 

[tzfujimino]

And in "I am to gardening what Beethoven is to clothes designing."

I like your example sentence.:-D
I think I'll use it when I teach that construction to my students.
Thank you.

 

[Matthew Wai]

...except in contexts like 'I prefer gardening to cooking'.

'I have taken to cooking my own food.'
Is it an exception too?

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes, that works too. There are always so many exceptions to our rules!