ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: against time to overcome

Tanit — Sat, 17 May 2008 12:29:39 GMT

Hi,
Stay reassured.
You haven't confused me at all.

Re: against time to overcome

New2grammar — Sat, 17 May 2008 11:10:51 GMT

Tanit, I see 'race against time' and 'overcome all difficulties' as two somewhat different tasks, maybe they are a bit overlapped or at most 50%. If you race against time, you'll probably accomplish overcoming SOME or MOST difficulties, not ALL. Using 'to' makes the sentence sounds like the act of racing against time will achieve "overcome ALL difficulties". I think most likely I have confused myself and maybe you too.

Re: against time to overcome

Marius Hancu — Sat, 17 May 2008 10:54:34 GMT

MM is right. Just learn this meaning.

Re: against time to overcome

Tanit — Sat, 17 May 2008 10:48:36 GMT

Hi N2G,

May I ask you why you're not satisfied with the answer? That's exactly how I read it.
This usage of the infinitive is called "infinitive of purpose" and answers the question "why?"

"We must race against time to overcome all difficulties."
    Why must we race against time?
    (In order to) overcome all difficulties

Compare:
    I went to that shop to buy a skirt.
    I had to read that sentence twice to understand it.

What would happen if you used "and"? This would change the meaning of the sentence, linking "overcome" to "must":
"We must race against time and overcome all difficulties."
    What must we do?
        no. 1: we must race against time
        no. 2: we must overcome all difficulties
However, does this make sense? Hmm, I'm not quite sure and leave the question to others.

Re: against time to overcome

New2grammar — Sat, 17 May 2008 08:28:36 GMT

MM, I'm very satified with your answers to all my posts except this one.
Thanks a lot. I know you don't normally post twice in a thread and don't even know if you check the thread again.
I guess, I'll have to figure this out on my own. That's fair.

I really appreciate your replies to all my posts.

Re: against time to overcome

Mister Micawber — Sat, 17 May 2008 08:13:14 GMT

.
to = in order to

against time to overcome

New2grammar — Sat, 17 May 2008 07:59:57 GMT

"Saving lives is still the top priority," Chinese President Hu Jintao said Friday, as he arrived in the quake zone. Hu described the current situation as "the most crucial phase" of the rescue effort. "We must race against time to overcome all difficulties."

Why is 'to' used? It doesn't make much sense to me. I would use 'and'.

Thanks in advance!