syntactic analysis - "to + verb" at the beginning of each bullet point vs. single "to" + multiple verbs
With regard to bullet points stating objectives using verbs, is it better to repeat "to" at the beginning of each of them, or to introduce bare infinitives with a single shared "to"?
In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie, the objectives of the Ring are to:
- Rule them all;
- Find them;
- Bring them all;
- Bind them in the darkness.
vs.
In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie, the objectives of the Ring are:
- To rule them all;
- To find them;
- To bring them all;
- To bind them in the darkness.
Is one form more grammatically correct or common than the others? Someone here is suggesting that since the bullet points are objectives, the "to" structure should be repeated.
Thanks!
Answer
This is more a matter of style than grammaticality, but the whole point of the bulleted list is to explicitly make use of a parallel structure to eliminate repetition, so it seems rather silly to include a repetitive element that you could have pulled out.
Comments
Post a Comment