"I like to eat fast food"
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"I like eating fast food" I would like to know which of the two sentences above is grammatically correct
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BladorthinTheGrey
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user155776
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Both are correct. Some verbs can have to-infinitive or gerund with almost no difference. – rogermue Feb 20 '16 at 08:25
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Aha thanks because in english books sometimes they write it with gerunds and sometimes with infinitives @rogermue – user155776 Feb 20 '16 at 08:27
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See Ell http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/61721/i-like-listening-to-music-and-i-like-to-listen-to-music-is-there-any-diffe – rogermue Feb 20 '16 at 08:29
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And also http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/gerund_infinitive.htm – rogermue Feb 20 '16 at 08:32
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2An answer also given at When should a verb be followed by a gerund instead of an infinitive?. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 20 '16 at 11:02
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1) "I like to eat fast food"
2) "i like eating fast food"
1 is correct. 2 should have capitalized the I. Other then that minor typo 2 is fine. They mean the same thing. They just say it a different way.
As Buzz Lightyear never said, "To infinitive, and gerund!"
candied_orange
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1Hi, CandiedOrange, I don't think they mean the same thing. Please read the duplicate I posted in the above comment. – Feb 20 '16 at 08:33
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@Rathony I've read the duplicate and still see the meaning here as being the same. Eating is not like getting married. The ideal isn't to do it only once. It's the WAY that meaning is being communicated that is different. Translate this into a different language and I can't see a good argument for both lines not being expressed exactly the same way. – candied_orange Feb 20 '16 at 08:41
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(1) could mean "I am hungry and I want to eat fast food (now or soon)" and (2) could mean I always enjoy eating fast food. It depends on context. – Feb 20 '16 at 08:43
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- cannot mean that if the speaker is a native english speaker. That would be corrected to "I would like to eat fast food". And yes, everything depends on context.
– candied_orange Feb 20 '16 at 08:46 -
Yes, I might have given a bad example, but to infinitive and gerund (or participle-gerund) have different usages. I agree that they are both grammatically correct in the poster's question. – Feb 20 '16 at 08:54
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Yes they have different usages. Some constructs would only permit one. However, MEANING doesn't care a bit about grammar or even language. Following grammar is a WAY to convey meaning. Know what I mean? – candied_orange Feb 20 '16 at 09:02
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I'm not sure why you haven't deleted your answer here (and perhaps posted it there) after realising that the question is a duplicate. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 20 '16 at 10:04
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@EdwinAshworth tell you what, you post an answer there that communicates how these examples end up having identical meanings and not only will I delete this answer I'll upvote your answer. – candied_orange Feb 20 '16 at 10:29
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Generally speaking, the answer is right. In most, general use cases, these two sentences mean the same thing. Put into specific context can change the meaning though.
Maybe an Edit to sate the appetite of @EdwinAshworth ...
– Sakatox Feb 20 '16 at 10:45 -
An answer in the linked question in the question marked as 'duplicate': 'Verbs following by both Gerund or Infinitives (with similar meanings): ... ... ... Like. // The question marked as 'duplicate' argues for a nuanced difference in meaning. With the specific question here, I'd say it's splitting hairs trying to differentiate the usages. But this answer belongs elsewhere (probably as a comment). – Edwin Ashworth Feb 20 '16 at 11:00
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1OP clearly posted without context, and the answer given does the same thing. Assumes no context - in that case, both are perfectly valid to describe the same thing. Duplicate or not, if we don't get enough details or context, this question can go anywhere. On hold(?) would be much better. – Sakatox Feb 20 '16 at 11:03