English grammar question?

a. We went to shopping/fishing yesterday.

b. We went shopping/fishing yesterday.

"to" shouldn't be there?

I know (b) is right. What about (a)? Doesn't sound right?

Liz2012-03-08T08:44:40Z

Favorite Answer

Yes, (a) doesn't sound right. A participle (ie. shopping, fishing, running, dancing, etc.) can never follow the word "to" (unless the "-ing" word is functioning as a gerund, which it's not in this case).

You could change the sentence to this: "We went to shop/fish yesterday." However, you would slightly change the meaning of the sentence. "We went shopping/fishing yesterday" answers the question WHAT did you do at this place, while "we went to shop/fish yesterday" answers the question WHY did you go to this place.

Lt.2012-03-08T16:34:24Z

a. We went shopping and fishing yesterday.

Anonymous2012-03-08T17:12:00Z

b is the correct form.

you can't use to with ing-form. the verb should in the infinitif. thus, a-sentence would be
we went to do shopping or we went to shop yesterday