Learn English – On the difference between “noun + infinitive” and “noun + present participle”

expression-choiceinfinitivespresent-participles

Infinitive and present participle can be used to modify the noun:

  1. Infinitive:
    I had no time to read those books.
  2. Present participle:
    There should be a law banning abortion.

In (1), "to read those books" modifies time, and in (2) "banning abortion" a law.
It is often said that infinitive is used to refer to the event in the future, while present participle is used to refer to the event happening in reality.

In (2), however, the sentence refers to the future because there is no law which bans abortion when this is uttered. Nevertheless, the present participle is felicitously used. The same thing holds of (3):

 3. I don't want a nanny bringing up our baby. — Sydney Sheldon, Tell me your dreams

In (3), also, the event of a nanny's bringing up a baby belongs to the future. Nevertheless, the present participle is used.

In these cases, can you say "there should be a law to ban abortion" or "I don't want a nanny to bring up our baby"? If the answer is no, why the present participle, but not infinitive, is used?

Best Answer

First of all, you are wrong. Gerunds and infinitives are not time dependent and could be used in the present, past or future.

That said, the use of gerund v. infinitive is an important topic and is often difficult to tell when to use one over the other, as it would depend on the context and intention of the writer.

Sometimes, they could be used interchangeably with little or no difference in meaning. While other times that may not be the case. I will lay down the general rules and leave it up to you to decide when to use one over the other.

1. With little or no difference in meaning

It started to rain v. It started raining. There is no difference in meaning. They both more or less mean the same thing, but if you want to get picky, the gerund form focuses on the continuation of the action while the other one focuses on the action or result of the action in general.

2. With difference in meaning

I remembered to do my homework v. I remembered doing my homework. In the first one you remembered first, then did your homework; while in the second one you did the homework first and then remembered doing it.[Again not a big difference but still an important one]

I stopped smoking v. I stopped to smoke. In the first one the action is real, it happened and you stopped doing it. While in the second one, you stopped something else to do the smoking; it hadn't happened yet.1

Now, as I said, the general rule to use one over the other will depend on the context, but gerunds are usually used for actions that are real, completed, or concrete while infinitives are used for actions that are unreal, abstract, or future.2

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