Accustomed .....(?)

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tzitziki

#23339 Tue, 24 Feb 04 09:48 AM

Accustomed ____ , he was surprised he had fallen so far behind with the deadline.
a. to working hard
b. to work hardly

Can you explain what is the difference in the meaning between (a) and (b)? (pls)

tzitziki

Joined on Sun, Feb 22 2004

New Member (27)

rommie

#23368 Tue, 24 Feb 04 01:52 PM

a is closest, but neither is correct. It should be:
Accustomed though he was to working hard, he was surprised...

The part before the comma needs to be be a complete clause.

Rommie

rommie

Joined on Mon, Jan 26 2004

Earth orbit

Regular Member (606)

Clauses, Commas

whl626

#23380 Tue, 24 Feb 04 02:48 PM

Because ' to ' is a preposition, it should be followed by a ' noun ' or ' gerund '. So ' to working hard ' is the choice Smile [:)]

whl626

Joined on Sun, Aug 24 2003

Regular Member (882)

Learn English every day

Prepositions, Nouns, Gerunds

mask

#23708 Thu, 26 Feb 04 08:36 PM

Why does the part before the comma need to be a complete clause?

mask

Joined on Sun, Feb 22 2004

Junior Member (56)

Clauses, Commas

rommie

#23744 Fri, 27 Feb 04 07:25 AM

It doesn't, it needs to be an adverb, or a phrase which acts as an adverb. "Working hard" isn't a clause, nor is "Accustomed to working hard", nor is "Accustomed though he was to working hard". All of these phrases parse as adverbs, because the verb, "working is a participle (it ends in -ing), which changes it - together with its subject and object if they are supplied - into an adjective or an adverb; in this case, an adverb.

I don't think I explained that very well. Maybe someone else can add something. If it's still not clear, ask more.

Rommie

rommie

Verbs, Clauses, Adverbs