He is a learned man. He cannot make that mistake. (Combine the sentence by using 'too' – 'to')

The original sentence states: “He is a learned man. He cannot make that mistake.” To combine these sentences using ‘too…to’, we need to express the idea that his learning is the reason he cannot make the mistake. The correct combined sentence is:

Combined Sentence:

He is too learned to make that mistake.

Explanation of the Transformation:

• ‘Too’ indicates an excessive degree of a quality. In this case, the quality is ‘learned’.
• ‘To’ introduces the infinitive form of the verb, indicating the action that is impossible due to the preceding quality.
• The structure ‘too + adjective + to + infinitive’ signifies that the degree of the adjective prevents the action from happening.

Let's break down why this construction works:

• The original sentence implies a causal relationship: his learning prevents the mistake.
• The ‘too…to’ structure directly expresses this causal relationship. His learning is *so great* that it prevents him from making the mistake.

Incorrect attempts might include:

• “He is too learned and cannot make that mistake.” (This simply joins the sentences with ‘and’ and doesn’t utilize the ‘too…to’ construction.)
• “He is to learned to make that mistake.” (Incorrect grammatical structure.)

The ‘too…to’ construction is a common grammatical pattern used to express inability. It’s important to remember that the adjective preceding ‘too’ describes a quality that is excessive enough to prevent the action following ‘to’ from occurring. This construction is frequently used in formal writing and is essential for demonstrating grammatical proficiency.

Example of similar sentence structures:

• The coffee is too hot to drink.
• The problem is too complex to solve easily.
• He is too shy to speak in public.