Is there any difference among “intention to do sth”, “intention of doing sth” and “intention that…”?
I think there must be because I’ve read this grammar note in the Longman Dictionary:
GRAMMAR
!! Do not say ‘have no intention to do something’ or ‘not have the slightest intention to do something’. Say have no intention of doing something or not have the slightest intention of doing something : He had no intention of paying me the money.
!! Do not say ‘with the intention to do something’. Say with the intention of doing something : He left Manchester with the intention of finding a job in London.
However I still have no idea about when to use which.
Please shed some light on this.
But why do you think I’m right? I don’t remember stating any ideas that “have no intention of doing sth” is a fixed expression. Please have a look at this:
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary:
intention
noun
[C, U] ~ (of doing sth)
~ (to do sth)
~ (that …) what you intend or plan to do; your aim: I have no intention of going to the wedding. ◆ He has announced his intention to retire. ◆ It was not my intention that she should suffer. ◆ He left England with the intention of travelling in Africa. ◆ I have every intention of paying her back what I owe her. ◆ The original intention was to devote three months to the project. ◆ She’s full of good intentions but they rarely work out. ◆ I did it with the best (of) intentions (= meaning to help), but I only succeeded in annoying them.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English:
intention
in·ten·tion
W2 /ɪnˈtenʃən/ n [U and C]
a plan or desire to do something
→intend
have no/every intention of doing sth
I have no intention of retiring just yet.
They went into town with the intention of visiting the library.
intention to do sth
It is our intention to be the number one distributor of health products.
good intentions/the best (of) intentions
(=intentions to do something good or kind, especially when you do not succeed in doing it)
He thinks the Minister is full of good intentions which won’t be carried out.
→ well-intentioned
GRAMMAR
!! Do not say ‘have no intention to do something’ or ‘not have the slightest intention to do something’. Say have no intention of doing something or not have the slightest intention of doing something : He had no intention of paying me the money.
!! Do not say ‘with the intention to do something’. Say with the intention of doing something : He left Manchester with the intention of finding a job in London.
But in a nutshell, is there any difference among “intention to do something”, “intention of doing something” and “intention that”?
Please help.
Many thanks in advance
Nessie.
In your examples I think you have to see the uses of ‘intention’ in examples. Mostly ‘intention’ is used in the negative sense and followed by ‘ing’ forms as in: I have no intention of continuing this discussion any further. You wouldn’t use this construction with the infinitive but you could use it with the verb ‘be’ in this way: It isn’t my intention to continue …
