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Lucas21c Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Could you help me?

So far, I thought we could change a gerund in the subject position into to-infinitive like "Seeing is believing. => To see is to believe." However, today I found the sentence which was not included in this case.

Bathing is a family affair in Japan because many Japanese families take baths together.

In the aboved-written sentence, I couldn't change "Bathing'" into "To bathe."
Could you explaing to me why I can't do that?

Thank you.
  

Top answer

I just know that some verbs can be followed by both gerund and infinitives but the meaning is different and some with no change in meaning. About your sentence I just couldn't tell you ,lets wait if someone knows about it . Byebye

— Tinker Val

  • I just know that some verbs can be followed by both gerund and infinitives but the meaning is different and some with no change in meaning.
  • About your sentence I just couldn't tell you ,lets wait if someone knows about it .
  • Byebye
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8 Answers
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I just know that some verbs can be followed by both gerund and infinitives but the meaning is different and some with no change in meaning.
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I don't really know the specific answer to your question, but the use of the "to-infinitive" as a subject at the start of a sentence is not very common in everyday English. Plenty of cases exist where it sounds wrong or weird:

"Parking is not allowed" (fine); "To park is not allowed"
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lucas21cIn the aboved-written sentence above, I couldn't change "Bathing'" into "To bathe."
Could you explaing to me why I can't do that?
An infinitive subject i
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I agree with Mr Wordy. Using the infinitive as the subject of a clause may not be common but it does occur when the infinitive has an object:

To see the sun rise is an unforgettable experience.
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Cool Breezeit does occur when the infinitive has an object
Good point.

CJ
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I agree with Mr. W. It's not very common to start a sentence with "to infinitve". This type of structure typically sounds very stiff. But I think there are few examples which may be considered acceptable. i.e.

To become a professional golfer like Tiger woods is a life long dream of John.

To survive the unexpected freezing snow storm in the Canadian wild,
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dimsumexpressTo become a professional golfer like Tiger woods is a life long dream of John.

To survive the unexpected freezing snow storm in the Canadian wild, the expedition had dug a snow cave for shelter while waiting for help to arrive.
OK on the first one, but unfortunately the second one isn't within the class the structures
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Thanks Jim, I must have gotten too carried away trying to dream up a sentence starting with "to+ infinitive". Your observation is perfectly pointed out.
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