Dear listers,

 

I received an inquiry from someone today and would like to know how you
would have responded to it had it been sent to you. The original post is at
the bottom, and my response is above it. 

 

Thanks for your feedback-I always learn a great deal from you.  

 

Nancy L. Tuten, PhD

Professor of English

Director of the Writing-across-the-Curriculum Program

Columbia College

Columbia, South Carolina

 <mailto:[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask]

803-786-3706

  

  _____  

From: Tuten, Nancy [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2008 7:11 PM
To: diane skinner
Cc: [log in to unmask]
Subject: RE: gerund vs infinitive?

 

Diane, 

 

You raise a very interesting question.

 

I suspect that the test writers regard the gerund as a clearer referent
because you can replace "it" with the gerund and the sentence makes sense.
We can say "She is not good at singing," but we cannot say "she is not good
at to sing." 

 

Nonetheless, as you point out, both the gerund and the infinitive are
functioning as nominals (objects of the preposition "like"). One might,
therefore, logically conclude that either would qualify as a clear referent
for a pronoun.  Perhaps infinitives, although they can function as nominals,
retain more of their "verb-ness" than gerunds, which quite strongly take on
the quality of a thing or an act-something one could place a determiner in
front of: "her singing," "the singing," etc. but not "her to sing," "the to
sing." 

 

Thank you for attending our session at the STD conference. 

 

Best,

Nancy 

 

Nancy Lewis Tuten, PhD

Professor of English

Director of the Writing Program for the 

Pearce Communication Center

Columbia College

1301 Columbia College Drive

Columbia, South Carolina 29203

USA

803-786-3706

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: diane skinner [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2008 3:12 PM
To: Tuten, Nancy
Subject: gerund vs infinitive?

 

Dear Professor Tuten,

 

I met you at the Sigma Tau Delta Conference in your Grammar Panel.

 

I have a question for you.

In my writing center, during grammar drills, a computer-generated

question asked,

 "Which is the clearest referent for the pronoun in the following
sentences?"

A: Miriam likes singing, but she is not good at it.

B: Miriam likes to sing, but she is not good at it.

 

The answer was A, but no explanation was given.

Could you please clarify this answer since the verbs can be followed

by either an infinitive or a gerund, and there will be virtually no

difference in the meaning of the two sentences.

 

Does the infinitive "to sing" act as an object for the verb "likes,"

or does it act as a verb to the linking verb "likes"?

How can a distinction be made between a gerund being nominative and an

infinitive being nominative?

Is this a special case because of the word "likes"?

 

When you have the time, I would sincerely appreciate a response.

 

Thank you.

Diane Skinner


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