He is the first man to land/landing on the moon...
- From: Tacia <outofdejavu@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2009 07:16:02 -0800 (PST)
Hi,
Happy New Year.
I have a question difficult for me to make any conclusion.
My question this time is about
a. He is the first man to land on the moon.
b. He is the first man landing on the moon.
The topic was raised on a Taiwanese forum discussing English.
Some guys on the forum think that (b) is not right or no good, because
there are few examples on google web.
What in the world is wrong with (b)?
I think I am doing an objective translation.
------------
Someone asked about the sentence: He is the first man who landed on
the moon.
A teacher told him that he could only put it in "He is the first man
to land on the moon" as its synonymous sentence.
"He is the first man landing on the moon" is not right.
-------------
I consulted two reference books: /Cambridge Grammar of English/ by
Ronald Carter and Michael McCarthy, published by Cambridge University
Press; /Practical English Usage/ by Michael Swan, published by Oxford
University Press. And I also provided what I found for the guy who
raised this question.
-------------
In /Cambridge Grammar of English/
Both finite and non-finite clauses may follow superlatives. The non-
finite clauses have a similar function to relative clauses.
That's one of the best films I've ever seen.
She's the youngest swimmer to qualify for the Olympics.
They were the fittest team finishing the course.
-------------
In /Practical English Usage/
Superlatives can be followed by an infinitive structure. The meaning
is similar to an identifying relative clause.
He is the oldest athlete ever to win an Olympic gold medal.
( = ... who has ever won ...)
This structure is also common with /first, second, third/ etc, /next,
last, and only/.
Who was the first person to climb Everest without oxygen?
The next to arrive was Mrs Patterson.
She's the only to have won three Nobel prizes.
This structure is only possible when the noun with the superlatives
has a subject relationship with the infinitive.
Is this the first time that you have stayed here?
(Not ... the first time for you to stay here. [The sentence is
crossed out.]
/Time/ is not the subject of /stay/.)
-------------
I also offered what I found on Google books.
-------------
- I was the first person doing camel rides, ....
- I was the first person going from Alaska before Congress to tell
them that the business of depletion was imminent.
- It just so happened that Mr. Corette was the first man going East as
I recall it.
- The instructor gave the signal to start the ascent, and he was the
first man going up.
- She was the first woman coming overland to settle in Oregon and she
bore the first child of white blood.
- The only group qualifying for the unenviable honor is Asian
Americans.
-------------
Another guy was preparing GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test),
and he found a test question which, after correction, goes : George
Sand (Aurore Lucile Dupin) was one of the first European writers to
consider the rural poor legitimate subjects for literature and portray
these with sympathy and respect in her novels.
("...was one of the first European writers to consider" needs no
correction in the test question.)
Thus he concluded that "Someone is the only/first/etc person Verb-
ing ... " should really be avoided, because GMAT treats formal English
writing. (Is it so? I hold a reservation about what he said.)
What in the world is wrong the sentence with Verb-ing?
Regards
Tacia
---
I hope I make myself understood.
.
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