IELTS Grammar: to + ing

You've probably been taught not to write things like "to having" or "to doing". But this grammar 'rule' doesn't always work.

For example, here's a correct sentence that I wrote in a recent lesson:

• I was always a bit shy when it came to having my photo taken.

"when it comes to + ing" is a normal construction in English, and there are several other constructions that break the rule. Click here to see some of them.

Comments

[G-sol]

I saw your article above its giving a great guidance for the students those who want to learn the ielts. It has a lot of ielts stuffs/information for them who are preparing for the test in future.

[Sashlik]

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=*_VERB+to+doing%2C*_VERB+to+having%2C*_VERB+to+being&year_start=1960&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t2%3B%2C%2A_VERB%20to%20doing%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bused_VERB%20to%20doing%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Baccustomed_VERB%20to%20doing%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bcommitted_VERB%20to%20doing%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bcomes_VERB%20to%20doing%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bopposed_VERB%20to%20doing%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bcame_VERB%20to%20doing%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bdedicated_VERB%20to%20doing%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bdevoted_VERB%20to%20doing%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bcommit_VERB%20to%20doing%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Breduced_VERB%20to%20doing%3B%2Cc0%3B.t2%3B%2C%2A_VERB%20to%20having%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bused_VERB%20to%20having%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Badmitted_VERB%20to%20having%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Baccustomed_VERB%20to%20having%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Badmit_VERB%20to%20having%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bconfessed_VERB%20to%20having%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bopposed_VERB%20to%20having%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Badmits_VERB%20to%20having%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bconfess_VERB%20to%20having%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bobject_VERB%20to%20having%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bobjected_VERB%20to%20having%3B%2Cc0%3B.t2%3B%2C%2A_VERB%20to%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bused_VERB%20to%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Baccustomed_VERB%20to%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bopposed_VERB%20to%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Badmit_VERB%20to%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Badmitted_VERB%20to%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bobject_VERB%20to%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bobjected_VERB%20to%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bconfessed_VERB%20to%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Badmits_VERB%20to%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Breduced_VERB%20to%20being%3B%2Cc0

[Vishaal]

In past museums used to store information about culture and history. However, nowadays this information can be found on the Internet. And, therefore, there is no need for museums.
Do you agree or disagree?

It is argued that museums are unnecessary as most information about past events and traditional practices of various countries is available online. I completely agree with this viewpoint because visiting museums for getting these details is time-consuming as well as costly to most people, and governments need to spend significant financial resources to preserve these buildings.

People today can study the history of any country they want on the internet. Many authors who have been researching the past occurrences of different parts of the world record all their findings on their websites, which means that people can easily access this information for free or by paying a small amount. As a result, they can save a significant amount of time and money which they require to spend in visiting museums located in different cities or even in different states. For example, if Indian people have to visit the US’ famous museums to study American Culture in previous centuries, they will have to spend many days and a large sum to do so.

Apart from this, state authorities can divert more fund on critical areas, such as environmental problems, public transport, and medicine if all museums are closed and information about national and international historical events is made freely available on the internet. This would save a large amount of money that governments have to use for the maintenance of old premises and historical monuments and artifacts every year. For example, a recent survey has found that the Indian Government has to spend millions of Indian Rupees every year for the renovation or refurbishment of museum facilities in India that are visited only by a small number.

In conclusion, it seems logical to me that museums are of no use in the current time as people can get the information they want online, and this enables them to save both time and money and allows politicians to decide to spend more on certain life-threatening issues.

[zsófi]

Vishaal

358 words in forty minutes under exam conditions?

"It is argued that" is often used to foreshadow the writer's own thesis. "It is sometimes argued that" would refer to other people's ideas.

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=It+is+argued+that%2CIt+is+*+argued+that&case_insensitive=on&year_start=1960&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t4%3B%2CIt%20is%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bit%20is%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B.t2%3B%2CIt%20is%20%2A%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3BIt%20is%20sometimes%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20often%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20also%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20further%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20frequently%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20then%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20generally%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20commonly%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20usually%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20therefore%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0#t4%3B%2CIt%20is%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bit%20is%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B.t2%3B%2CIt%20is%20*%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3BIt%20is%20sometimes%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20often%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20also%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20further%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20frequently%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20then%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20generally%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20commonly%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20usually%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIt%20is%20therefore%20argued%20that%3B%2Cc0

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22it%20is%20argued%20that%22&tbm=bks&lr=lang_en

->visiting museums to get/obtain/research these details

"preserve these buildings" -> maintain these facilities. ?

-> time and money which would otherwise be perforce spent on visiting museums

-> American Culture of previous centuries

-> divert more funds to ...

Hmmm... your ideas seem to be repeated. Suggest aim for more substance and more concise style.

[arch1001face]

I have seen its structure in a sentence:

We are committed to ensuring these landscapes flourish as havens for nature and sites.

Hope that help!

[Puneet Singh]

This is regarding the use of to+ing. I understand that this is how gerunds are used. Could you please give some more examples of such constructions. Could that sentence be written as

I was always a bit shy when it came to my photo being taken.