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Specter Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
gerund / infinitive = hobby?
Hi,
This really troubles me. Please refer to the sentences.
1) I like eating ice cream.
2) I like to eat ice cream.
Some of the web sites that I have been to suggest no difference in meaning, however I was told that using a gerund as the direct object of the verb 'like' denotes a habitual action.
What if I like to eat ice cream but I don't do it as often as possible...?
I know that using a gerund after 'like' tells us that we are talking about an actual event not necessarily hobbies, whereas an infinitive tells potential events.
Help please...
This really troubles me. Please refer to the sentences.
1) I like eating ice cream.
2) I like to eat ice cream.
Some of the web sites that I have been to suggest no difference in meaning, however I was told that using a gerund as the direct object of the verb 'like' denotes a habitual action.
What if I like to eat ice cream but I don't do it as often as possible...?
I know that using a gerund after 'like' tells us that we are talking about an actual event not necessarily hobbies, whereas an infinitive tells potential events.
Help please...
Top answer
The comments that you have received ( -ing is habitual, -ing is actual, to is potential) are a generally accurate observation. In individual cases, however, they do not necessarily hold true, and yours is a case in point-- I like eating ice cream and I like to eat ice cream , devoid as they are of fuller context (that is, while sitting here at my computer reading your post and with the nearest ice cream a couple of blocks away at the convenience store), have the same meaning to my mind.
- The comments that you have received ( -ing is habitual, -ing is actual, to is potential) are a generally accurate observation.
- In individual cases, however, they do not necessarily hold true, and yours is a case in point-- I like eating ice cream and I like to eat ice cream , devoid as they are of fuller context (that is, while sitting here at my computer reading your post and with the nearest ice cream a couple of blocks away at the convenience store), have the same meaning to my mind.
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2 Answers
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The comments that you have received (-ing is habitual, -ing is actual, to is potential) are a generally accurate observation. In individual cases, however, they do not necessarily hold true, and yours is a case in point-- I like eating ice cream and I like to eat ice cream, devoid as they are of fuller context (that is, while sitting here at my computer reading
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