grammaticality - "Recommend you to" vs. "recommend that you"



I recommend you to define those parameters beforehand.
I recommend that you define those parameters beforehand.



Are both sentences grammatically correct? If yes, do they mean the same thing? If yes, which one should I use?



Answer



The following variant is correct:



I recommend that you define those parameters beforehand.



You can also omit the word that, giving the following:



I recommend you define those parameters beforehand.



However, the variant with to is incorrect. The verb recommend always takes either a noun object or a subordinate clause as a complement, never an infinitive.


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