Why there is no "to" before "get" in "one thing you could do is get involved in collecting them"?

Answer 1

Languages change over time. Technically, the word "to" should be there in a rudimentary understanding of English because "to get" is an infinitive. However, what we consider acceptable and correct changes over time. One example would be "goodbye" which originally was "God be with ye" and was shortened over time. It's not incorrect to omit the "to," in fact, it is correct now in our understanding of modern grammar as it is a bare infinitive following a modal auxiliary verb (could).

Answer 2

The omission of "to" before "get" in the sentence "one thing you could do is get involved in collecting them" is a characteristic of English infinitive verbs, specifically the bare infinitive.

In English, infinitive verbs are typically formed by using "to" before the base form of the verb, as in "to go," "to eat," or "to study." However, there are instances where the "to" can be omitted, and the verb appears in its base form. This is often the case when the verb follows certain verbs or phrases like "could do," "should do," "must do," "let," "make," and others.

In your sentence, "one thing you could do" is a structure where "could do" serves as a modal verb phrase followed by the base form of the verb "get." This is a grammatically correct construction in English, and the sentence means the same as if you were to say, "one thing you could do is to get involved in collecting them." The use of the bare infinitive (without "to") in this context is idiomatic and quite common in English.

Here are some more examples of sentences where the bare infinitive (without "to") is used following certain verbs or phrases:

1. He should go to the store to buy some groceries.
2. "Should go" is the modal verb phrase, and "go" is the bare infinitive.
3. I must finish this assignment by tomorrow.
4. "Must finish" is the modal verb phrase, and "finish" is the bare infinitive.
5. She lets her children play in the park after school.
6. "Lets play" is the verb phrase, and "play" is the bare infinitive.
7. They made me clean my room before I could go out.
8. "Made clean" is the verb phrase, and "clean" is the bare infinitive.
9. I heard him sing at the concert last night.
10. "Heard sing" is the verb phrase, and "sing" is the bare infinitive.
11. She can't help but smile when she sees her favorite movie.
12. "Can't help" is the verb phrase, and "smile" is the bare infinitive.
13. We should let the cake cool before adding the frosting.
14. "Should let" is the verb phrase, and "cool" is the bare infinitive.

In each of these examples, the bare infinitive is used after certain verbs or modal phrases to indicate actions, intentions, or obligations. Fun stuff!!

Answer 3

I imagine it's because of the word "could." "Could" eliminates the need to use "to" with the verb. Imagine the sentence as this: "You could get involved in collecting them." While you can use a similar construction with "to," such as, "I wish to get involved by collecting them," you would need to get rid of "could."