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I have a problem in comparing these two sentences.

  1. DDP challenges protecting inventor's ideas.

  2. DDP challenges to protect inventor's ideas.

Translation in my book says (1) means DDP opposes protecting of ideas, but (2) means DDP strives to protects.

Firstly, I don't know this translation is right or not.

Secondly, if it is right, why does this difference occur? just from the difference in using ~ing or to behind the verb 'challenge'?

Lee TY
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    What is the source of these sentences? They look like newspaper headlines, which makes it more complicated. – stangdon Feb 02 '18 at 17:38
  • @stangdon It's just from a problem in the test performed in my region. And it is one of the choices that problem gives. So.. the full problem is 'Q. Which is correct according to the talk? (c) DDP challenges protecting inventor's ideas.' – Lee TY Feb 02 '18 at 17:44
  • For reference, the talk says about why the DDP is developed. – Lee TY Feb 02 '18 at 17:53
  • What do you mean by: translation in my book?? I thought it was in English. What is: according to the talk? Do you mean speech? Or a talk given by a person? I find these questions very confusing. – Lambie Feb 02 '18 at 17:58
  • @Lambie My book is one of the English workbook for preparing English test, and it gives translation from English to Korean. And it says like that (in Korean). Because I thought the talks said DDP is made for protecting the inventor's ideas, I chose the choice 'DDP challenges protecting inventor's idea'. But translation says it means (1), not (2). – Lee TY Feb 02 '18 at 18:00
  • I@Lee TY It gives the translation into Korean and you are back-translating it for us? Is that right? – Lambie Feb 02 '18 at 18:02
  • @Lambie Yes, it's right. – Lee TY Feb 02 '18 at 18:04
  • The explanation for 1) is right. As for 2), the explanation would be right if the sentence read: DDP challenges [direct object] to protect inventor's idea. Without a direct object, the sentence is very iffy. to challenge someone or something to [do] something. [please note, fyi: when referring to something someone *just said*, we say: Yes, that's right. and not: It's right. :) – Lambie Feb 02 '18 at 18:05
  • @Lambie Thank you for explanation. I understand why it should be. Because my mother tongue is not English, I have many awkward points in my using English. Thank you for pinpointing that. – Lee TY Feb 02 '18 at 18:10
  • @Lee TY In state of New Jersey, they say: Fuhgeddaboudit! [forget about it], often used as a joke but it comes from people actually saying that. Don't worry about awkward points. Using this/that etc. in speech is kinda [kind of] difficult. I often wonder if these books used overseas are even edited or proofread by actual English speakers. najung-e bwa. :) – Lambie Feb 02 '18 at 18:15
  • @Lambie I wonder that point, too. But I'm just one of the students. Thank you for answer and see you later ! 감사합니다! – Lee TY Feb 02 '18 at 18:32
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    Possible duplicate of 'to' versus 'in order to' – FumbleFingers Feb 02 '18 at 18:40
  • @FumbleFingers Thank you for reference. I'll check. – Lee TY Feb 02 '18 at 18:44

1 Answers1

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Your book is correct, and the sentences mean what it says they do.

But I can understand why this is confusing! Let's look at the parts that are different.

DDP challenges protecting inventor's ideas
DDP challenges to protect inventor's ideas

Usually, the gerund (verb-ing) and the infinitive (to verb) mean very similar things. For example, in

I like reading books
I like to read books

reading and to read mean almost exactly the same thing.

But to can also mean "for the purpose of" or "to achieve". For example, in

Sally exercises to stay fit

to stay fit means "for the purpose of staying fit".

In the first sentence, "DDP challenges protecting inventor's ideas", DDP is challenging something. What is that thing? Protecting, meaning the act of protecting the inventor's ideas. So DDP is challenging that act.

In the second sentence, "DDP challenges to protect inventor's ideas", we see "DDP challenges to", which means that DDP challenges for some reason, or to achieve some purpose. What is that purpose? To protect the inventor's ideas.

stangdon
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  • Thank you for perfect explanation. I understand the meaning of the infinitive (I think). – Lee TY Feb 02 '18 at 18:08
  • We often get people posting here who aren't clear about the difference between a noun phrase and an actual sentence. OP's first example strikes me as somewhat unusual phrasing for a sentence, but it wouldn't be all that odd as a noun phrase in a context such as *DDP challenges protecting inventor's ideas include the Joe Bloggs vs Microsoft case last year, where DDP successfully argued for Mr Bloggs to be recognised as the rightful owner of certain code unlawfully plagiarised by MS.* – FumbleFingers Feb 02 '18 at 18:15
  • @FumbleFingers - Yeah, the examples are still somewhat odd as full sentences, which is why I originally asked about newspaper headlines. But that's another can of worms. – stangdon Feb 02 '18 at 18:17
  • @stangdon: I think your answer is all good stuff, but looking at this page again now I think the question itself might essentially be a duplicate, so I'm gonna flag it up and see if anyone else agrees. (If they do, let that be a lesson to you not to rattle my cage by responding to my comments! :) – FumbleFingers Feb 02 '18 at 18:39