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Given this sentence:

I look forward to learning new subjects and contributing to teaching them, (to?) facing new and diverse challenges, and (to?) producing outstanding work.

My instinct is that I can omit the second and third to, but can someone please confirm and explain?

Edwin Ashworth
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SCinSF
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  • Yes, you can do it, but stylistically it can make your writing more difficult to read. –  Aug 14 '15 at 01:52
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    possible duplicate of Single Preposition/descriptor for Multiple Subjects versus Multiple Ones – tchrist Aug 14 '15 at 02:02
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    Does that matter if there's not a satisfactory answer to the "original"? That aside, is it strange that I think SCinSF's sentence should begin, "I look forward to learning new subjects and to contributing to teaching them..." (although I think "contributing to teaching them" is an oddly worded phrase and idea)? – Jake Regier Aug 14 '15 at 02:08
  • The inclusion of the 3rd and 4th to's introduces an ambiguity (context disambiguates here, but it's still clumsy, garden-pathy). Omitting them introduces a different ambiguity. Have they been omitted? (I used to look forward to standing in the Stretford End, watching United, and eating a hot dog.) – Edwin Ashworth Aug 14 '15 at 10:59
  • Thanks for the feedback! I edited the sentence as follows: "I look forward to learning new subjects, contributing to teach them, and producing outstanding work." – SCinSF Aug 14 '15 at 15:12

2 Answers2

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The problem here lies in the depth and complexity of ideas. In your enthusiasm to impress you get unnecessarily complex. Isolating an example:

I (1) look forward (2) to contributing (3) to teaching them.

You could simplify by getting rid of level 2, which adds little to your meaning. The isolated example becomes:

I (1) look forward (2) to teaching [new subjects].

That already sounds much better. How will the whole thing sound with this change?

I look forward to learning new subjects, teaching them, facing new and diverse challenges, and producing outstanding work.

Leaner and meaner.

Feralthinker
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0

Yes, you can omit the extra instances of to. Here's an example sentence:

I'm looking forward to going whitewater rafting, climbing a mountain, running a marathon and hiking the Appalachian Trail from one end to the other.

If I had used to for every single verb, it would sound tedious and stuffy.

aparente001
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