It's nice being / to be with you today.
Do 'being' and 'to be' mean the same thing? Or when should we use one rather than the other?
Thank you in advance.
***** NOT A TEACHER *****
(1) I think that some experts feel that the gerund is "warmer" and "more emotional."
(a) Wow! It's so nice being with you today.
(2) Some experts feel the infintive is "colder" and more "matter-of-fact."
(a) It is nice to be with you today.
(3) Which one do you think is "warmer"?
(a) Well, it was nice to see you again after all these years. Goodbye.
(b) Wow! It was great seeing you again. Let's meet for lunch soon. OK?
Thank you so much for your help, TheParser. I'm interested to read your formulation of 'warmer' and 'colder', which makes me understand the sentence better.
Thank you again.
***** NOT A TEACHER *****
(1) Thank you for your kind note.
(2) By "cold," I meant distant, formal, etc.
(3) By "warm," I meant emotional, intimate.
(4) How are you? Great seeing you. What have you been up to recently? = "warm."
(5) Hello. It is nice to see you. Do you wish to share with me any news about your recent activities? = "cold" or, at least, "cool."
***
I read two sentences similar to these:
I like to camp. = A formal statement of what I like.
I like camping. = More emotionally involved (I can even smell the trees and hear the
birds singing).
Last edited by TheParser; 01-Sep-2011 at 13:06.