False purpose

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False purpose is a grammatical construct that inaccurately applies intent to an action. The construct nearly always arises because of the incorrect use of the preposition "to" in place front a verb describing an action in the past. False purpose is considered an error by many grammarians, though it is commonly found in American sportswriting. An example from baseball:

"Adam Varteressian doubled twice to knock in four runs for Saratoga."

The use of false purpose is regarded as an error in this example because it incorrectly suggests that Varteressian's intent in hitting two doubles was to drive in precisely four runs, when in fact his four runs-batted-in are simply a cumulative effect of his general efforts to accumulate hits and runs for his team. The error is easily corrected: "Adam Varteressian doubled twice and knocked in four runs for Saratoga."

[edit] External links

• It just takes a little 'to' to do it a lesson in false purpose from University of Kansas Professor Malcolm Gibson