english grammar 一條問題

HELP can be followed by an object, an infinitive with to or without to. The structure without “to” is more common in informal style.
Apart from the police, it is also our job to help prevent crimes.

The format for the verb “help”:

(A) help somebody (to) do something
I helped her to carry her cases up the stairs.
She helped him choose some new clothes.

(B) help (to) do something
She was coming to help clean the machines.

verb 後面有時要用 infinitive, 而有時要用 gerund, 少數用 infinitive without to.

(1) Use infinitive (to + base form of the verb) after the following verbs: agree, ask, beg, bother, choose, claim, decide, expect, fail, hope, manage, need, offer, plan, pretend, promise, prove, refuse, want and wish.
I want to swim.
We decide to go home.

There are some infinitives without to. (Bare infinitive)
Let us pray.
This medicine help keep you healthy.
I made them give me the money back.
He didn’t see me come in.

(2) Use –ing form after the following verbs: admit, appreciate, keep, avoid, can’t help, consider, delay, deny, discuss, dislike, finish, imagine, keep, mind, miss, postpone, recall, resist, risk, suggest and tolerate.
Do you mind closing the windows?
I keep telling you, but you won't listen!

(3) Some verbs (begin, continue, hate, like, love, start) can be followed by either an infinitive or –ing form, with little difference in meaning.
He hates jogging.
He hates to jog.

(4) Some verbs such as forget, remember, stop, and try, however, the choice of infinitive or –ing creates a difference in meaning.

After three hours driving on the highway, she stopped to take a rest. (finished one action in order to do another action)
They stopped laughing when the headmaster walked into the classroom. (finished an action).

She didn’t remember to write the report. (She intended to do it, but never did.)
She didn’t remember writing the report. (She did it, but can’t recall that she did!)




2011-09-10 05:39:11 補充：
I cannot help voicing my opinion on this issue

I agree with 回答者: joh******
這個 help 不是解 “幫忙,幫助” 如果是解 “避免,阻止”, 用 verb-ing after "help"

Format: Can’t (or couldn’t) help doing something
I couldn’t help thinking about the past.

你先前例子 的"help" 這個字是解"幫助"

我不太肯定這句是要以純文法解釋，但是按樓上把各種文法模式提供後，你會發現其實help 在這句的to help其實應該是to-infinite來的，而不是bare infinite的模式，你亦觀察到hlep之後是會出現verbing的，這是事實。

那麼要解釋這句必須從文理而不是文法來看

原則上to help後可以有兩種可能出現的寫法
1. verb-ing...
2 to verb...

兩種的意思是不同的-參考文法書看看有沒有效為有系統的解釋，我的認知是verb-ing是指一種help的狀況/行動名稱(e.g ...to help rescuring people in need = 對拯救有需要的人作出的協助)，而用to verb則是指所作出的行動/行為來完成help這個目標(e.g. ... to help to rescure the people in need = 參與拯救有需要的人)

但是這兩種解釋都不是應用在這句，因為它其實把prevent crime看成是一句slogan(或phrase)而不是一句表達help內容的動詞：
apart from the police, it is also our job to help "prevent crimes".
另一種寫法是
apart from the police, it is also our job to help "crimes prevention".

如果我的認識對的話
如果你是對一個人面對面指示/指責/教訓/教育他這種意識的話，應該是
apart from the police, it is also our(your) job to help to prevent crimes.
如果你是客觀地總結這個意識，便應該是
apart from the police, it is also our job to help in preventing crimes.
留意除了preventing作為gerund外，還有個preposition "in"來預示所作的結論名詞。

可能解得多了，但依我看來，這句的問題不在於文法規則，而是文理的習慣和詞組/片語等的結合而產生的情況，不過英語人自然會按理解而把句子分節而明白的。

有啲 verb 後面嘅 verb 要 +ing, 有啲 + to 再 + verb, 有啲就 + 不變嘅 verb

1. Gerund
like / love / enjoy / hate / go / mind / stop... 後面嘅 verb 要 +ing
e.g. I like swimming. / I enjoy reading. / Let's go swimming. / Would you mind lending me your pen? / Please stop talking.

2. To-infinitive
want / ask / decide... + to 再 + verb
e.g. I want to go out. / I ask him to help me. / I decide to go out.

3. Bare infinitive
let / make / *help... 後面嘅 verb 不變
e.g. Let me tell you something. / You make me cry. / Please help me do my homework.

*help 可以 to-infinitive 或者 bare infinitive 都得

2011-09-09 09:42:30 補充：
I cannot help voicing my opinion on this issue.
呢句句子入面嘅 help 唔係解幫助, 而係解阻止, 只係會跟 can't / couldn't
全句解作我不得不在這事上道出我的想法
help 解幫助時就跟 to-infinitive 或者 bare infinitive
而解阻止時就特別啲, 跟 gerund (-ing form)
e.g. I couldn't help laughing when I heard the news.