Weiyang Luo
I can do nothing except watch\watching TV? Should I use watch or watching in this sentence? Thank you.
2013년 12월 6일 오후 11:21
답변 · 28
4
My vote is for "watch". Don't be tricked by "except" (which would suggest a gerund)... the keyword is "do". "I can do nothing except watch TV." I did a quick search, and interestingly the results which gave "do nothing except watching" were often full of other terrible mistakes.
2013년 12월 6일
3
You need "except" here. It's like using "but" : I can do nothing except/but watch TV. (I'd use "but" rather than "except" but that is just personal preference).
2013년 12월 6일
The latter, i.e. "watching". It is called "gerund", you can check it out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerund
2013년 12월 6일
"I can do nothing except watch TV." Sometimes substituting another verb can clarify which form you should use. For example, "I can do nothing except play." "I can do nothing except read." "I can do nothing except work." "I can do nothing except clean." Using "-ing" in any of these sentences sounds awkward.
2013년 12월 7일
아직도 답을 찾지 못하셨나요?
질문을 남겨보세요. 원어민이 도움을 줄 수 있을 거예요!