idea to/idea of

Dobrý den

Lze nějak vysvětlit rozdíl mezi použitím idea of + ing a idea +to ?

Also, he had plenty of opportunities to turn but he didn´t. He was still behind us, keeping his distance. Eventually, my mother had the idea of running/to run through a field of nettles which was now near. I didn´t like the idea but there wasn´t much else we could do.

V tomto kontextu nahoře mi bylo původně řečeno učitelkou i jedním rodilcem, že of+ing je jedinou správnou volbou.

Na jednom fóru mu mi však bylo následovně řečeno, že ne vždy “idea to” bude správně. Proč tomu tak je? Ve větě dole nevidím na "idea to " nic špatného 

• The idea of playing in front of that many people excites me.
• The idea to play in front of that many people excites me.

Děkuji!

The idea of -ing je jediná možnost v těchto větách (idea of running, idea of playing) – see the Ngram.

The gerund is preceded by “of” after the nouns advantage, art, chance, cost, custom, danger, fear, feeling, habit, hope, idea, illusion, importance, intention, joy, luxury, misery, necessity, opportunity, pain, pleasure, possibility, process, prospect, question, risk, sensation, task, thought.

Idea to + inf je možné v jiném syntaktickém kontextu – it would be a good idea to run over to the shop before it closes, it would be a good idea to play the first verse again.

Děkuji. Nicméně je zde tento příspěvek od rodilce z WRF fóra:

1a – The idea of playing in front of that many people excites me.

1b – The idea to play in front of that many people excites me.

In AE, 1b would not be said. But 2b would be said in AE:

2a – Joe thought up the idea of putting wings on the vacuum.

2b – Joe thought up the idea to put wings on the vacuum.

2b mi přijde svojí konstrukcí naprosto totožné s mojí " The idea to play in front…"

Navíc souhlasí s tím, že “the idea to run through…” z mé eseje by bylo také OK. Samozřejmě, nejlepší by bylo se zeptat přímo tohoto rodilce. Jsem však z jeho příkladů zmatený a proto se chci nejdříve zeptat ještě tady abych případně věděl jak formulovat otázku na WRF. Děkuji

And in your example, I would be comfortable in AE with either version:

3a …my mother had the idea of running through a field of nettles…

3b …my mother had the idea to run through a field of nettles…

Anyone can write anything on the internet. It doesn't mean it's correct. Here's another WRF thread where two experienced (11,000+ posts) AE speakers say “idea to” sounds “very wrong” and “completely unnatural”. The Ngram shows it's not used, the grammar books say it's incorrect.

Thank you very much I will stick to your advice.

Nebudu řešit každé slovíčko, ale ještě mě napadlo “chance of/to”

1. His chances to win the match were minimal.
2. His chances of winning the match were minimal.

Zde by již šlo obojí s tím rozdílem, že “of winning” bude vyšší styl?

Díky!

“Chance” has (at least) two meanings in English, but both of them can be covered by možnost in Czech, so perhaps that's where the confusion between chance to + inf (= přiležitost) and chance of + -ing (= pravděpodobnost) arises, and that's why (in my experience) Czech speakers sometimes tend to use these two different constructions wrongly in their two different senses.

1. chance (opportunity): an occasion that allows something to be done: I didn't get/have a chance to speak to her. [ + to infinitive ] If you give me a chance to speak, I'll explain.

2. chance (possibility): the level of possibility that something will happen: You'd have a better chance/more chance of passing your exams if you worked a bit harder. [ + (that) ] There's a good chance (that) I'll have this essay finished by tomorrow. (Cambridge)

In your sentence, the sense is “level of possibility/prav­děpodobnost” (not “opportunity/při­ležitost”), so you must use “chances of winning”, not “chances to win”.

He had a chance (opportunity/při­ležitost) to win (of winning) the match before it began, but by the third set he was 6–4, 6–4, 5–1 down, and he no longer had any realistic chance (possibility/prav­děpodobnost) of winning (to win).