Drive long distance

[Rachel Adams]

Hello.

Are my sentences correct?

''I like to drive long distance and listen to music''.

 

[SoothingDave]

Distances

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello.

Is my sentence correct?

''I like to drive long distances and listen to music''.

Note my correction above. Are you saying that they are two separate activities you like to do, or that you like to do them at the same time?

 

[Rachel Adams]

No, I mean at the same time. I wanted to write I like driving long distances and listening to music. Meaning that I usually like to do that.

 

[emsr2d2]

I like to listen to music on long-distance drives.
I like to drive long distances listening to my favourite music.

 

[Rachel Adams]

I like to listen to music on long-distance drives.
I like to drive long distances listening to my favourite music.

Is it wrong to use '' driving'' and ''listening?'' I like driving long distances and listening to music. Does my sentence suggest that they are separate actions? I might be listening to music at home not while driving.

 

[emsr2d2]

"I like driving long distances and listening to music" is ambiguous.

 

[Rachel Adams]

"I like driving long distances and listening to music" is ambiguous.

Sorry, must reask. It is ambiguous because it is not clear whether I like to listen to music and drive at the same time?

 

[GoesStation]

You've named two activities that you like to do. The reader might guess that you do them simultaneously, but you've given them no reason to do so.

You can change a single word to correct this. Can you find which one?

 

[Rachel Adams]

You've named two activities that you like to do. The reader might guess that you do them simultaneously, but you've given them no reason to do so.

You can change a single word to correct this. Can you find which one?

I am afraid I can't. Could you please tell me which word shoud be changed?

If I mean that both actions are happening at the same time should it be ''I like driving long distances and listening to music'' or with infinitives ''I like to drive long distances and listen to music.'' Do constructions change the meaning? Is it clear with infinites that both actions are happening at the same time?

 

[emsr2d2]

Both the gerund and infinitive versions are ambiguous. The problem with starting a sentence with "I like" and following it with two different actions is that it's really hard to tell what you mean if you connect them with "and". The problem does not occur with nouns.

I like cats and dogs. (Not ambiguous)
I like drinking and driving. (Ambiguous - and potentially illegal!)

 

[Rover_KE]

Ask the unrelated question in a separate thread.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Both the gerund and infinitive versions are ambiguous. The problem with starting a sentence with "I like" and following it with two different actions is that it's really hard to tell what you mean if you connect them with "and". The problem does not occur with nouns.

I like cats and dogs. (Not ambiguous)
I like drinking and driving. (Ambiguous - and potentially illegal!)

I could perhaps add ''while'' to avoid confusion. ''I like driving long distances while listening to music''.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Ask the unrelated question in a separate thread.

OK. I will delete my example now. You are talking about this sentence ''I never do heavy weightlifting,'' aren't you?

 

[Rover_KE]

Yes.

 

[GoesStation]

I could perhaps add ''while'' to avoid confusion. ''I like driving long distances while listening to music''.

That's the word substitution I was aiming for.

And: I like both things.
While: I like to do them at the same time.

Well done.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here and point out that even with "while", someone could argue that it simply means that, while driving long distances, the speaker likes to listen to music. It doesn't necessarily mean that they like driving long distances. To completely avoid ambiguity, you would have to say "I like driving long distances and I like listening to music. For me, the perfect day is driving the 300 miles to my parents' house while listening to my favourite CDs!"

 

[GoesStation]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here and point out that even with "while", someone could argue that it simply means that, while driving long distances, the speaker likes to listen to music. It doesn't necessarily mean that they like driving long distances.

I think it does, unambiguously. To support the interpretation you suggest, the person would say When I drive long distances, I like to listen to music.

 

[Rachel Adams]

I think it does, unambiguously. To support the interpretation you suggest, the person would say When I drive long distances, I like to listen to music.

Or perhaps ''I like to drive long distances and listen to music at the same time?'' At first I thought that in my example it was wrong to use an infinitive. I thought so because I read if ''like'' is followed by an infinitive it means you prefer to do something on particular occasion but in my sentence I am talking about a habitual action.

 

[GoesStation]

Or perhaps ''I like to drive long distances and listen to music at the same time?''

That's okay, but the sentence with "while" works better for me.