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Scw72 Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Easy to be male vs. easy being male
Hi all,
I' m just wondering what is the difference in meaning between the following two sentences.
It's not so easy being male vs. It's not so easy to be male
In particular, is the first sentence grammatical? That sentence reminds me of "nice meeting you!".
Is it safe to say that the first sentence has the same grammatical structure as that of "nice meeting you"?
Thank you for your answer in advance!!
scw
I' m just wondering what is the difference in meaning between the following two sentences.
It's not so easy being male vs. It's not so easy to be male
In particular, is the first sentence grammatical? That sentence reminds me of "nice meeting you!".
Is it safe to say that the first sentence has the same grammatical structure as that of "nice meeting you"?
Thank you for your answer in advance!!
scw
Top answer
I believe that the gerund (being male) indicates the speaker (or, alternatively, it) has been in the state of being male for some time. A female speaker can't say this; she should use the infinitive (to be) to indicate an abstract concept. The gerund usually indicates something real with a duration, while the infinitive indicates something abstract.
- I believe that the gerund (being male) indicates the speaker (or, alternatively, it) has been in the state of being male for some time.
- A female speaker can't say this; she should use the infinitive (to be) to indicate an abstract concept.
- The gerund usually indicates something real with a duration, while the infinitive indicates something abstract.
- I like singing: you like the actual, real action of singing; you sing.
- I like to sing: you like the abstract activity in general; you do not necessarily sing.
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5 Answers
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I believe that the gerund (being male) indicates the speaker (or, alternatively, it) has been in the state of being male for some time. A female speaker can't say this; she should use the infinitive (to be) to indicate an abstract concept. The gerund usually indicates something real with a duration, while the infinitive indicates something abstract. I like singing: you like the actual, rea
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"Being male is not 
easy," is grammatical in my opinion. It's not missing anything, while "Nice meeting you" lacks a subject a
easy," is grammatical in my opinion. It's not missing anything, while "Nice meeting you" lacks a subject a00
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One book says something that may be helpful. Its examples are (a) It is nice seeing you(b) It is nice to see you. The author suggests that -ing refers to the action; to - implies the situation "in general." "It is not easy BEING a male" perhaps (perhaps!) = emphasizes the responsibilities put on males (be the breadwinner, defend his woman, avoid crying, etc.) while "It is not easy TO BE a male
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This is the same old problem: infinitive or gerund?
It's not easy to find a rule of thumb, you just have to follow... your instinct. But I just wrote "It's not easy to find..." and not "It's not easy finding...".
My rule of thumb that is supposed to keep me out of trouble is to use the infinitive, unless it's the subject.
Finding a rule is difficult.
It's difficult to f
It's not easy to find a rule of thumb, you just have to follow... your instinct. But I just wrote "It's not easy to find..." and not "It's not easy finding...".
My rule of thumb that is supposed to keep me out of trouble is to use the infinitive, unless it's the subject.
Finding a rule is difficult.
It's difficult to f
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