[Grammar] Why hoping and not to hope

[quemilagro]

Hi,
My student asked me why "hoping" is correct and not "to hope" in the following:

They called in an electrician hoping he could put a finger on the cause of the short circuit.

I need help in explaining.

Many thanks.

 

[Barb_D]

Welcome to Using English.

THANK YOU for Giving your thread a good title, using proper capitalization, and using proper punctuation.

"Hoping" describes them, when they called in the electrician. They were hoping he could do something, and in that state of hopefulness, they called him.

You can't use "to hope" to describe them as they made that call.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Quemilagro:

(1) May I most respectfully and gently remind you that you really need a comma after "electrician"?

(a) As Barb told us, "hoping he could put a finger on the cause of the short circuit" modifies (belongs to) "They."

(2) Without the comma, "hoping he could put a finger on the cause of the short circuit" could possibly be interpreted as

modifying "electrician."


HAVE A NICE DAY!

 

[Rover_KE]

Before some comedian points it out, I'd like to say that if he put his finger on the cause of a short circuit he might electrocute himself.

You could say 'identify the cause, 'pinpoint the cause' or 'determine the cause'.

Rover

 

[quemilagro]

Thanks for your answers.