0
Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
'to-infinitive' form vs '-ing' form(gerund)
Hello,
Many thanks for the questions and answers that helped me a lot for having a better understanding on many aspects of English.
Here let me upload a question that has stayed long in my note unsolved, which is ;
<Quote>
The Volt is just one car, of course — one whose sales are unremarkable. Still, the global automobile market is so large that even modest gains in market share could spark tremendous growth for battery-makers. “If you look at the year 2016, and you say, ‘Only 5 percent of the market is electrified?’ Well, that’s a $14 billion market for lithium-ion batteries,” Forcier says. “To hit 5 percent is a huge number of vehicles. And the business around making lithium-ion batteries for 5 percent of the world’s cars is a huge, huge business.”
<Unquote>
In the third line from the bottom, you will find "To hit 5 percent ~" part.
Here goes my question.
If I change that part into "Hitting 5 percent ~", will it sound awkward? or does it make a slight difference in the meaning?
Thanks in advance and happy days to you all~
Many thanks for the questions and answers that helped me a lot for having a better understanding on many aspects of English.
Here let me upload a question that has stayed long in my note unsolved, which is ;
<Quote>
The Volt is just one car, of course — one whose sales are unremarkable. Still, the global automobile market is so large that even modest gains in market share could spark tremendous growth for battery-makers. “If you look at the year 2016, and you say, ‘Only 5 percent of the market is electrified?’ Well, that’s a $14 billion market for lithium-ion batteries,” Forcier says. “To hit 5 percent is a huge number of vehicles. And the business around making lithium-ion batteries for 5 percent of the world’s cars is a huge, huge business.”
<Unquote>
In the third line from the bottom, you will find "To hit 5 percent ~" part.
Here goes my question.
If I change that part into "Hitting 5 percent ~", will it sound awkward? or does it make a slight difference in the meaning?
Thanks in advance and happy days to you all~
Top answer
Anonymous If I change that part into "Hitting 5 percent ~", will it sound awkward? No. It certainly won't make the sentence any more awkward than it already is.
- Anonymous If I change that part into "Hitting 5 percent ~", will it sound awkward?
- No.
- It certainly won't make the sentence any more awkward than it already is.
- Anonymous does it make a slight difference in the meaning?
- No.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
6 Answers
0
AnonymousIf I change that part into "Hitting 5 percent ~", will it sound awkward?No. It certainly won't make the sentence any more awkward than it already is.
Anonymousdoes it make a slight difference in the meaning?No.
In the subject position the gerund is much more commonly seen than the infinitive; nevertheles
00
Dear CalifJim,
Thank you very much for the reply, the thing is though,,,,I made a mistake in my second question... If ok, can I ask for your kind help again?...
Corrected question ;
Does it make a slight difference in the nuance?
Thank you very much for the reply, the thing is though,,,,I made a mistake in my second question... If ok, can I ask for your kind help again?...
Corrected question ;
Does it make a slight difference in the nuance?
00
AnonymousDoes it make a slight difference in the nuance?"nuance" actually means something like "slight difference", so if there's a difference in the nuance, I don't know what it could be. I'd say no.
CJ
00
My computer had a serious problem, and I can finally put my message here again--;;;
===
Thanks again for your reply to my dumb question ^^;;;;
I remember I was once told from my friend from U.S that using "to-infinitive" can sound somewhat old in some cases compared to using gerund...I am not saying that is the answer I was looking for in my question this time.
===
Thanks again for your reply to my dumb question ^^;;;;
I remember I was once told from my friend from U.S that using "to-infinitive" can sound somewhat old in some cases compared to using gerund...I am not saying that is the answer I was looking for in my question this time.
00
AnonymousI have been curious about what kind of difference exchanging gerund with to-infinitive(and vice versa) would make in a sentence while making no difference in the meaning.For sporting activities, it does make a difference. In the subject position, the gerund is usually seen, the infinitive not so much.
Fishing is fun. (very common)
It i
00
Wow! many thanks for your reply. I have not noticed the tendency, thank you very much ^^
0
Related Questions