to vs ing

[olegv]

Please let me know whether I should use to promote or promoting (and why?) in a sentence below.

To promote/promoting a caring, sharing image is something many airlines are keen on,

Thank you.

 

[azcl]

***Not a teacher***

I believe both are acceptable usages, with almost identical meanings, but slightly different viewpoints.

'To promote' - draws attention to the fact that this is an aim of the airline company, and views it from a 'distance'

'Promoting' - draws attention to the practise of promotion, and views it more from 'inside' - i.e. you are more aware of the airline company putting the promotion into action

Ade

 

[olegv]

***Not a teacher***

I believe both are acceptable usages, with almost identical meanings, but slightly different viewpoints.

'To promote' - draws attention to the fact that this is an aim of the airline company, and views it from a 'distance'

'Promoting' - draws attention to the practise of promotion, and views it more from 'inside' - i.e. you are more aware of the airline company putting the promotion into action

Ade

Thank you. I would have the same approach but it was an exercise from a practice grammar book and it appears that the correct answer is ing form only. That's why I am a little bit confuse

 

[riquecohen]

Please let me know whether I should use to promote or promoting (and why?) in a sentence below.

To promote/promoting a caring, sharing image is something many airlines are keen on,

Thank you.

I agree with Ade, but as written above in the OP, the choice seems to be either "To promote" or "To promoting."
I am adding this observation to eliminate any ambiguity.

 

[TheParser]

Please let me know whether I should use to promote or promoting (and why?) in a sentence below.

To promote/promoting a caring, sharing image is something many airlines are keen on,

Thank you.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Olegv,


(1) Am I correct in thinking that you want to know the difference

between To promote a caring image is the goal of every airline

and Promoting a caring image is the goal of every airline.

(2) If that is the case, then, I, too, want to know the difference

between using an infinitive and a gerund.

(3) I have never been able to find the answer. Probably, there is

no definitive answer.

(4) I checked my books and surfed the Net. May I share my research?

(a) Some people say: There's no big difference. Don't worry.

(b) Many people feel that the infinitive is formal and abstract

(that is, devoted to theory or philosophy). For example, quite a

few people cited that famous saying: To err is human. (That is,

to make mistakes is only human.) "Erring is human" would not

sound "right."

(c) Many people feel that the gerund is more normal and is

more appropriate for spoken English.

(d) My 1988 edition of Longman Emglish Grammar (page 317)

advises us that "there is not much difference in meaning," and that

-ing may refer to an action in progress, whereas a to-infinitive

may imply in general. It then says:

We rarely begin statements with the to-infinitive but often

with -ing, PARTICULARLY WHEN WE ARE MAKING GENERAL

STATEMENTS.

(e) Professor D. Bolinger (quoted on p. 436 in my 1983 edition of The Grammar

Book) has an interesting theory.

I like camping in the mountains.

I like to camp in the mountains.

(Yes, his examples are not subjects. But probably his theory also

applies to subjects.)

He says the first sentence is more immediate, more vivid.

He says the second one is more remote, more objective.


***** NOT A TEACHER *****

 

[MrPedantic]

1. To promote X is Y.
2. Promoting X is Y.

I like Ade's "outside/inside" distinction, and the Parser's "remote/immediate".

Both accord with the fact that the infinitive expresses an action as a whole, and the gerund an action in progress.

Best wishes,

MrP