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I asked this question at the end of class, and the teacher told me:

"They do not have the same meaning. A gerund represents any instance of an action, while an infinitive represents the concept of an action"

But, I don't undertand what he meant. I'd be thankful, if you could answer my question. Thanks.

Stim Roe
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  • I'd be surprised if any native speaker saw any meaningful difference between I hate giving him a hard time and I hate to give him a hard time. – tchrist Dec 13 '23 at 15:24
  • Does this answer your question? The difference in meaning between to infinitive and gerund in these sentences Where both catenation patterns are licensed by say a given verb, there may or may not be a difference in meaning. tchrist's example: negligible if any difference. In 'he stopped to watch' and 'he stopped watching', a vast difference. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 13 '23 at 15:26
  • Your teacher said a gerund is more specific than an infinitive. To be or not to be = in general, do I even want to live? Summertime, and the living is easy = It is hot and I am happy now. – Yosef Baskin Dec 13 '23 at 15:30
  • See also When should a verb be followed by a gerund instead of an infinitive. // In usages like 'To err is human ...', the to-infinitive is more punchy than the ing-form. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 13 '23 at 15:32
  • I hate to give him a hard time. Means: I don't want to do it in a particular situation. Whereas: I hate giving him a hard time. implies you do and you hate it. Native speaker. https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/386451/which-expression-is-correct-ive-already-started-working-on-it-or-ive-alrea/386459#386459 – Lambie Dec 13 '23 at 15:52
  • One obvious difference is that infinitivals don't act as nouns. The traditional gerund verb, however, does have a noun form, best called a gerundial noun (or just noun), e.g. "He was expelled for killing the birds" (verb) ~ "I witnessed the killing of the birds" (gerundial noun). Note that the classification of non-finite subordinate clauses is based on the classification of the head verb form rather than spurious analogies with the parts of speech. – BillJ Dec 13 '23 at 17:22

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