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JameTran
12 dez 2018

  • Vietnamita
  • Inglês (EUA) Quase Fluente
  • Coreano
  • Tailandês
Pergunta sobre Inglês (EUA)

Como é que se diz isto em Inglês (EUA)? I'm so confused with using gerunds and infinitive.
Can you help me to find out the differences.
example:
The most important thing is learning
The most important thing is to learn.
Thanks alot

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Caroline_Ridley
12 dez 2018

  • Inglês (EUA)

The most important rules with gerunds and infinitives are:
1. A gerund can be the subject of a sentence.
Ex) Walking in good for you.
2. Both infinitives and gerunds can be the objects of a sentence, but it depends on the verb that comes before it.
Ex) I enjoy drawing. (Gerund)
Yesterday, I decided to draw. (Infinitive)
3. Infinitives usually come before adjectives
Ex) It is not easy to graduate.
* You could make it the subject by using a gerund (Graduating is not easy)

Both of your sentences are grammatically correct so it would ultimately depend on the sentence before it. If you wanted to rearrange it to be a little more natural, you could say “Learning is the most important thing”
Hope that made sense!

JameTran
12 dez 2018

  • Vietnamita
  • Inglês (EUA) Quase Fluente
@Caroline_Ridley Thanks alot <3
Iamtheastroboy
12 dez 2018

  • Japonês

@Caroline_Ridley Thank you.
I learned a lot from your explanations too, but I'm still confused.
Here are two sentences below.

1. To deceive me will make me mad.
2. Deceiving me makes me mad.
I know each sentence has a different meaning, but both gerund and infinitive can be used as the subject of a sentence.

Another example: To see is to believe.

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Caroline_Ridley
12 dez 2018

  • Inglês (EUA)

@Iamtheastroboy The second sentence sounds more natural because we tend to only use gerunds as the subject of the sentence. In more formal writing, like Shakespeare, you see infinitives more like “to see is to believe”. So while English speakers would understand your meaning, it is much more common in every day conversation to hear “seeing is believing” and “deceiving me makes me mad”.
Hope that helped!

Iamtheastroboy
12 dez 2018

  • Japonês

@Caroline_Ridley That makes sense!
I am thankful for your easy-to-understand explanation.
I'm happy that I finally understood.

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Como é que se diz isto em Inglês (EUA)? I'm so confused with using gerunds and infinitive. Can you help me to find out the differences. example: The most important thing is learning The most important thing is to learn. Thanks alot
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