[title]Family quotes[/title] [description]Welcome to our family quotes section! Here you'll find some of the funniest (and wisest) quotes on the subject of family life![/description]
Learn English and meet people on the world’s largest EFL social network

Ing form / infinitive

General English Grammar & Vocabulary,... » ESL General English Grammar Questions

We have partnered with TradePub to bring you free industry magazines and resources - no coupons or credit cards required!

Visit: englishforums.tradepub.com


Share this topic:
This question is Not Answered
Latest post Mon, Feb 4 2008 1:30 AM by Hoa Thai. 2 replies.
Suggest an answer | | |
Drica  +  472208 Sun, 03 Feb 08 07:36 PM

Hi,

what is the difference when using verbs with the ing form and  infinitive like in these examples :

I prefer to drink tea / I prefer drinking tea

I love to dance ? I love dancing

I hate to study / I hate studying

and other verbs like start, continue begin . which verbs I can use with both infinitive and ing form without changing meaning and which ones the meaning is different when using both forms ?

thanks
Drica
Joined on Thu, Nov 1 2007
Junior Member 60
Doll  +  472218 Sun, 03 Feb 08 08:24 PM

My try: 

I prefer to drink tea / I prefer drinking tea

I love to dance / I love dancing

I hate to study / I hate studying.  

Using gerund or infinitive with verbs may be complicating. It would be better for you if you search gerund or infinitive in the search box on the right above. I am sure you will find lots of information. 

You can use both forms with "prefer" but don't forget parallelism in the sentence.  verb+to prefer verb +to,   

verb+ing prefer verb+ing, verb+bare infinitive prefer verb+bare infinitive.    

As for love and dance, both infinitive and gerund can be used. 

Using infinitive or gerund with "hate" changes the meaning.   

Talking about general dislikes:  I hate listening to music, I hate going to school, I hate doing homework.  

Talking about hypothetical things, situations:  I hate to imagine her in such a poor situation,  I hate to think taht I will be dismissed.
Doll
Joined on Sat, Mar 10 2007
Senior Member 2,813
,
Related discussions
Hoa Thai  +  472277 Mon, 04 Feb 08 01:30 AM
Hi Drica,

As you stated, some verbs may be followed by a gerund or an infinitive in a sentence, with little or no difference in meaning. Some commonly used verbs are: love, hate, like, start, begin, and continue.

There are other verbs that the choice of a gerund or an infinitive would dramatically change the meaning of a sentence. Stop and forget are the ones that come to my mind.

She stopped speaking to me. (she no longer spoke to me).
She stopped to speak to me. (She stopped so that she could speak to me).

I forgot programming in ADA. (I ceased to remember how to use the ADA language).
I forgot to program in ADA. (I knew how to program in ADA, but I used other language(s) without thinking about using ADA).
Hoa Thai
Joined on Mon, Oct 15 2007
Vietnam
Contributing Member 1,100
Best Regards - Hoa Thai
,
Welcome to Englishforums.com, the world's largest EFL / TEFL social network.

Places to start

Browse Englishforums

© MediaCet Ltd. 2009, v5.0.3616.28671. All content posted by our users is a contribution to the public domain, this does not include imported usenet posts.*
For web related enquires please contact us on webmaster@mediacet.com, status updates are available at status.mediacet.com.
*Usenet post removal: Use 'X-No-Archive'. You may not have understood that your posts would end up in the public domain. Please send proof of the poster's email, we will remove immediately.