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
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 Lewis Tuten, PhD
Professor of English
Director of the Writing Program for the
803-786-3706
-----Original Message-----
From: diane skinner [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2008 3:12 PM
To:
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