[Grammar] How long does it take to....

Hello, teachers.

What is the difference between "How long does it take to cook turkey" and "How long does it take to cooking turkey"

and Why?

Thanks

The first is correct; the second is not. "To cook" is an infinitive. Infinitives use the base form of the verb, not the -ing form.

However, if you change the word order of the sentence, you can use "How long does cooking a turkey take?"

chingchangchong said:

"How long does it take to cook turkey"

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How long does it take to cook a turkey works better for me. Without the article, it could be any amount of turkey, which makes the question a bit pointless.

Well, cooking times for turkeys vary by size. Often it is expressed as minutes per pound.

Your sentence is too difficult to me.
But Thank you very much.

Which sentence is too difficult?

Tdol's, Emsr's, and Mike's comments are all correct. As they said:

- Cooking is not a simple verb. It's a gerund - an -ing verb. It is never part of an infinitive. We say "to cook," never "to cooking." To use the gerund, you have to rephrase, as Emsrl did.

- Turkey would be better with an article in front of it: a turkey.

Does that help? If you are still confused, maybe you will get more answers below. The important thing is: no gerunds after the word to!

Charlie Bernstein said:

The important thing is: no gerunds after the word to!

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...except in contexts like 'I prefer gardening to cooking'.

Rover_KE said:

...except in contexts like 'I prefer gardening to cooking'.

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And in "I am to gardening what Beethoven is to clothes designing."

emsr2d2 said:

And in "I am to gardening what Beethoven is to clothes designing."

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I like your example sentence.:-D
I think I'll use it when I teach that construction to my students.
Thank you.

Rover_KE said:

...except in contexts like 'I prefer gardening to cooking'.

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'I have taken to cooking my own food.'
Is it an exception too?

Yes, that works too. There are always so many exceptions to our rules!