[General] It has never been easy being a single parent.

[kompstar]

Hello.
My question is: are the sentences below correct and natural?

1. It has never been easy being a single parent.
2. Being a single parent has never been easy.
3. It isn't easy being a single parent.
4. Being a single parent isn't easy.
5. It has never been easy to be a single parent.

 

[MikeNewYork]

They all work for me.

 

[Tdol]

Same here, but 3 & 4 are not the same in meaning as the others as they only refer to the present.

 

[kompstar]

It isn't easy to be a single parent. <- Is it ok, too?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes.

 

[Tdol]

It isn't easy to be a single parent. <- Is it ok, too?

It's OK, but what's the context? Choosing which form to use could depend on factors such as whether the person is a single parent or not, etc.

 

[kompstar]

The person is a single parent that means "It is a person who has a dependent child or dependent children and who is widowed, divorced, or unmarried".

 

[Tdol]

I know what a single parent is, but the speaker/writer might be one or not, and that is the kind of factor that might influence which form they used. Your sentences are correct, but they wouldn't necessarily fit every context in an identical manner.

 

[kompstar]

Unfortunatelly I don't quite understand. Maybe any example?

 

[MikeNewYork]

In your sentences, the speaker/writer may be commenting on life in general, not necessarily on personal experience.

 

[kompstar]

In your sentences, the speaker/writer may be commenting on life in general, not necessarily on personal experience.

That's right but I don't still uderstand/know which of the sentences above I should use when I am a single parent and I comment my personal experience and which one I should use when I am not a single parent and I comment on life in general?

 

[MikeNewYork]

None of them are specific enough to provide the difference. If you want to be more specific, you might write something like "It is difficult for me to be a single parent."

 

[Tdol]

That's right but I don't still uderstand/know which of the sentences above I should use when I am a single parent and I comment my personal experience and which one I should use when I am not a single parent and I comment on life in general?

If you're talking about your life as a single parent now, #3 works well for me.

 

[MikeNewYork]

#3 can be read as a general comment.