by RonPurewal Thu May 15, 2014 9:20 am
Here are some more differences between "to+verb" and "in order to + verb". (This is by no means an exhaustive list, or even a particularly good list; it's just a list of whatever I could discover by thinking about the issue for a few minutes.)
"- "In order to + verb" is more appropriate to describe preparatory activities, while "to+verb" is more appropriate for things that are components of an action itself. (This is where the "order" comes from, by the way"”it's a sequence of preparation and then execution.)
E.g.,
In order to run a marathon, one must start training several months in advance.
"Training several months in advance" is not actually part of running a marathon; it's a preparatory activity.
To run a marathon, one must begin at a relatively slow pace.
This is part of the actual running process.
"- "In order to" often suggests that something is essential"”i.e., that, had such an action not been taken, that the consequence would not have occurred.
E.g.,
I took some pills to stay awake.
Here, we know the writer's intention, but we don't know whether the pills were absolutely necessary"”i.e., the writer might have stayed awake without them.
I took some pills in order to stay awake.
This seems to imply a degree of certainty that the writer would have fallen asleep without the pills.
Obviously, the GMAT will never test anything like this. But you asked.
(:
