Do gerund and infinitive express the same meaning?

Question

Please get me correct If I am wrong.The infinitive is impersonal and time-independent. The gerund often suggests an ongoing and personal action.ExamplesA woman (Janet) who is actively looking for a good man, speaks to her straight friend Michael who is not looking for a man of any sort.Janet: It’s not easy finding a good man. [Implication - I am in the process of looking]Michael: I'm sure it's not easy to find a good man. [Implication - he understands the difficulty but is not personally involved] but here belowa. I find doing gymnastics extremely painful.(gerund). b. I find it extremely painful to do gymnastics.(infinitive). Now my questions are as follows 1. In the case of ''a.'' and "b." above, is the rule of gerund and infinitive (The infinitive is impersonal and time-independent. The gerund often suggests an ongoing and personal action.) applicable or both "a." and "b." carry the same meaning in the same situation and could be used interchangeably? 2. Is it possible to use gerund in the pattern "find + it + adj + ing" such as "I didn't find it dangerous living in the flats." If yes and If I write below a. I find it dangerous living in the flats. b. I find it dangerous to live in the flats. Do these sentences above grammatically correct and carry the same meaning in the same situation and could be used interchangeably?

GPY · Accepted Answer

roky0071a. I find doing gymnastics extremely painful.(gerund).
b. I find it extremely painful to do gymnastics.(infinitive).

These sentences are interchangeable in meaning. The "rule" that you mentioned is weak at best and easily overturned by context.

roky0071a. I find it dangerous living in the flats.
b. I find it dangerous to live in the flats.

I find these sentences very faintly odd. Generally speaking, I think adjectives that go naturally in the "I find it ~" pattern tend to also go naturally with "to"; for example, we would naturally say "I find it easy/difficult/impossible to do something" (though the "-ing" version is not impossible). There may be exceptions though.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

roky0071The infinitive is impersonal and time-independent.

The infinitive is not often used as a noun modifier.

roky0071The gerund often suggests an ongoing and personal action.

The gerund has the same form as a present participle, which is regularly used as a noun modifier.

Both forms are non-finite verbs which have no inflected tense. They depend on a finite verb for that.

Living in the flats, George constantly feels afraid.

roky0071Janet: It’s not easy finding a good man. [Implication - I am in the process of looking]

There is no such implication. Out of any context, it could mean any of the following situations.

Janet may be married. It just took her a while to find her mate.
Janet may be single. She had given up her search for a mate a long time ago.
Janet may be widowed and might want to get married again, but she doesn't want to begin the arduous process of searching for a replacement.
Janet may be single and still looking.

Do gerund and infinitive express the same meaning?

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