key to understanding / key to understand

Is it not possible to say that to understand the issue is an infinitive phrase that modifies the key? I guess my Spanish mind doesn't see why in ... Forums Dictionarysearch:  English-Spanish English-French English-Italian English-German English-Dutch English-Russian English-Portuguese English-Polish English-Romanian English-Swedish English-Czech English-Greek English-Turkish English-Chinese English-Japanese English-Korean English-Arabic Spanish-English French-English Italian-English German-English Dutch-English Russian-English Portuguese-English Polish-English Romanian-English Swedish-English Czech-English Greek-English Turkish-English Chinese-English Japanese-English Korean-English Arabic-English Spanish-French Spanish-Portuguese Spanish-Catalan French-Spanish Portuguese-Spanish Englishdefinition Englishsynonyms Englishcollocations Englishusage Italiandefinition Spanishdefinition Spanishsynonyms Catalandefinition Spanish French Italian Login Register What'snew Search Rules/Help/FAQ Members InterfaceLanguage Menu Login Register Installtheapp Install EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Youareusinganoutofdatebrowser.Itmaynotdisplaythisorotherwebsitescorrectly.Youshouldupgradeoruseanalternativebrowser. keytounderstanding/keytounderstand Threadstarter Bilyana Startdate Apr27,2009 B Bilyana SeniorMember Bulgarian Whichoftheseisbetter: [1]Thisisthekeytounderstandingtheissue. [2]Thisisthekeytounderstandtheissue.   E enviedevoyager SeniorMember NiagaraFalls,Canada english-canadian Iwouldchoosenumber1.   HalloweenHJB SeniorMember Indianapolis,Indiana AmericanEnglish,MidwestUSA TomyAEear,bothareperfectlyacceptable,butthereistheslightesthintofdifferencebetweenthem:[1]placesemphasisontheresultofunderstanding(thenominal[noun]form),while[2]placesemphasisontheaction[verb]ofunderstanding.enviedevoyager,doesthatsoundrighttoyou?   Æ Æsop Banned SuburbofWashington,D.C. English--American(upstateNY) "key"isfollowedbyaprepositionalphrasewiththepreosition"to,"whether"key"isusedliterally—keytotheexecutivewashroom,""keytothegarage"—ormetaphorically—"keytoherheart,""thecitadelwasthekeytothedefense."Theobjectofthepreposition"to"mustbeanoun.Averbalnoun,i.e.,agerund,mayserveastheobjectofapreposition,so"keytounderstanding"isapossibleconstruction."key"doesnottakeaninfinitive,so"keytounderstand"isnotacorrectphrase.   Loob SeniorMember EnglishUK IagreewithÆsop.   HalloweenHJB SeniorMember Indianapolis,Indiana AmericanEnglish,MidwestUSA However,thepreposition"to"isoftenashortenedformforthephrase"inorderto"andinthatsense,Iheardthephrase,"Thisisthekey[inorder]tounderstandtheissue"asacceptable.   Wordsmyth SeniorMember Location:MostlySWFrance Nativelanguage:English(BrE) IalsoagreewithÆsop. HalloweenHJB,tocanindeedbeashorteningofinorderto(orinordertoisalengtheningofto?)...but"thisisthekeyinordertounderstand"doesn'tsoundatallrighttomyear—forreasonssimilartothosegivenbyÆsop. 'Inorderto'expressespurpose... "Itookthecarinordertogettherequickly"isOK:mypurposeintakingthecarwastogettherequickly.But"Thisisthecarinordertogettherequickly"doesn'tmakesensetome:thecardidn'tpurposelydecidetoexistsothatsomeonecouldgettherequickly. Ws   Lastedited:Apr28,2009 HalloweenHJB SeniorMember Indianapolis,Indiana AmericanEnglish,MidwestUSA Well,perhapsmynative-speakerintuitionisnotworkingcorrectly,butIamnotbotheredbyeitherofthefollowing: "Tounderstandtheissue,thisisthekey." "Thisisthekeytounderstandtheissue." Bothsoundperfectlyfinetomy(apparentlyflawed)ear.   J JimboFr SeniorMember BritishEnglish ThekeytounderstandingFrenchistoeatlotsofgarlic ItiskeytounderstandthattruemasteryofFrenchonlycomesfromshakingyourfistlikeatrueParisian   J johndot SeniorMember English-England HalloweenHJBsaid: Well,perhapsmynative-speakerintuitionisnotworkingcorrectly,butIamnotbotheredbyeitherofthefollowing: "Tounderstandtheissue,thisisthekey." "Thisisthekeytounderstandtheissue." Bothsoundperfectlyfinetomy(apparentlyflawed)ear. Clicktoexpand... Andterriblyflawedtomyfineear! Hereisthekeytoverb?No,Idon’tthinkso; Hereisthekeytotheverb?Yes,soundsok.   Wordsmyth SeniorMember Location:MostlySWFrance Nativelanguage:English(BrE) HHJB'smentionofshortenedformsmademere-examinemynative-speakerintuition... Acceptedshortformscanindeedbeungrammaticaluntilthemissingbitsareconsidered. "Thisisthekeytounderstandtheissue"could,Iguess,beashortenedformof... "Thisisthekey[thatyoucanuse]tounderstandtheissue";or... "Thisisthekey[foryou]tounderstandtheissue". But,ifIjudgebythegeneralreactioninthisthread,thisparticularshortening(ifsuchitis)doesn'tseemtohaveachievedwideacceptanceyet.Couldthatbethekeytounderstandingmypreferencefor"thekeytounderstanding"? Ws   J JTR Member Spanish Idon’tunderstandwhymostpeopleinthisthreadconsiderthisisthekeytounderstandtheissuetobeincorrect. Isitnotpossibletosaythattounderstandtheissueisaninfinitivephrasethatmodifiesthekey?IguessmySpanishminddoesn’tseewhyinthissentence“to”mustfunctionasaprepositionandnotaspartoftheinfinitive“tounderstand.” Cananyoneexplainthedifference? (Ihopemyquestionmakessense) Thankyouverymuchinadvance   Wordsmyth SeniorMember Location:MostlySWFrance Nativelanguage:English(BrE) JTRsaid: [...]Isitnotpossibletosaythattounderstandtheissueisaninfinitivephrasethatmodifiesthekey?IguessmySpanishminddoesn’tseewhyinthissentence“to”mustfunctionasaprepositionandnotaspartoftheinfinitive“tounderstand.”[...] Clicktoexpand... JTR,Iwon'tattempttoconfirmordenyyoursuggestion—maybeagrammariancould—butIhaveafeelingthatitsappropriatenessmightbelinkedtowhetherornotthenounbeingmodifiedisthesubjectoftheinfinitive(?) DeviatingalittlebitfromÆsop'sexplanation,IrealisedthatI'dhavenoproblemwith"Thisisthekeytoopenthedoor",or"Thisisthemantosolveyourproblem"—Ithinkthat'sbecausethekeyisdoingtheopening,themanisdoingthesolving.Thesesentencescouldbere-expressedas"Thisisthekeythatopensthedoor",or"Thisisthemanwhocansolveyourproblem". Butinthecaseofthe'understanding'sentence,thekeyisnotdoingtheunderstanding.Youcouldn'treplace"Thisisthekeytounderstandtheissue"by"Thisisthekeythatunderstandstheissue". Similarly,"Thisistheroadtofailure"and"Thisistheroadtofailingyourexams"bothwork(preposition+noun/gerund).Butsincetheroadisn'tdoingthefailing,youwouldn'tsay(wouldyou?)"Thisistheroadtofailyourexams"—becauseyoucouldn'tsay"Thisistheroadthatfailsyourexams". Doesthatmakeanysense? Ws   HalloweenHJB SeniorMember Indianapolis,Indiana AmericanEnglish,MidwestUSA Wordsmyth:Extremelyilluminatingpost.Theissueisclearlymuchmorecomplexthansomeofusmighthavesuspected.Therearealotofunderlyingdeepstructuresthatthesurfaceonlyhintsat.Nicelydone. AsaneducatednativespeakerofAmericanEnglish,Ifound"Thisisthekeytounderstandtheissue"quiteacceptablesimplybecauseIcouldhearanumberofdifferentovertonesthatthesurfacestructuresuggests.Idodisagreewiththosewhoinsistthatthephraseisalwaysentirelyunacceptable.   Lastedited:Apr30,2009 Wordsmyth SeniorMember Location:MostlySWFrance Nativelanguage:English(BrE) Isuspect,HHJB,thatthisisoneofthoseconstructionsthatbecomesmorewidelyaccepted(andthusmoreacceptable?)themoreit'sused. Rendezvoushereatsomefuturedate,toseewhetherthemajorityopinionchanges. Ws   B Bilyana SeniorMember Bulgarian Thankyouallforthisexcitingdiscussion. ThethreadwaspromptedbecauseinatextItranslatedfromBulgarianintoEnglishthephrase"keytounderstanding"wascorrectedto"keytounderstand",althoughmy"acquired"grammaroftheEnglishlanguagewastellingmethat"to"isaprepositionrequiringgerund. Andwhatismore,whenIgoogledbothphrases,"keytounderstand"generated2,980,000occurrences,while"keytounderstanding"just1,360,000.AsWordsmythsuggeststhenormseemstobechanging. Thankyouallagainfortheinput.   Wordsmyth SeniorMember Location:MostlySWFrance Nativelanguage:English(BrE) I'dbeabitcautiousabouttheGooglestats,Bilyana—well,wealwaysare,aren'twe?—butinthisparticularcaseIsuspectthatthe"keytounderstand"figuremightbeinflatedbyincludingsome"keytounderstanding"hits. HowGooglehandlespart-wordsisamysterytome,butitoftenincludessome(butnotall)hitsoflongerderivativewords. Howithandlesexclusionsofphrasesisalsoamystery:ItriedGoogling "keytounderstand"-"keytounderstanding"...andgotonly15700hits! Ws   Youmustloginorregistertoreplyhere. 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