[Grammar] The gerund vs The infinitive

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dio2

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It makes me feel nervous talking about this.
It makes me feel nervous to talk about this.



Which one is the right one?

Thanks!
 
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Tdol

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

They're OK, though I would reverse the order of the first.
 
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dio2

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Matthew Wai

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

I think he means 'Talking about this makes me feel nervous', where 'Talking' is a gerund rather than a participle.

I forgot to say 'Welcome' to the OP, my fellow Hongkonger.
 

Tdol

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

I think he means 'Talking about this makes me feel nervous', where 'Talking' is a gerund rather than a participle.

I did.
 

dio2

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive


OK! I changed the title.

So, I want to know, are both these two sentences equally common and idiomatic ?
 
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GoesStation

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

The first needs an em-dash after nervous. It could be heard sometimes, but the second is more natural.
 

dio2

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

The first needs an em-dash after nervous. It could be heard sometimes, but the second is more natural.

Or maybe a comma? Like "It makes me feel nervous, talking about this." , does it work?
 

Tdol

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

Talking about this makes me nervous works much better for me.
 

GoesStation

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

Or maybe a comma? Like "It makes me feel nervous, talking about this." , does it work?
Not really, though it would not be surprising to see that in casual writing. You need a dash because the speaker is interrupting the sentence with a new thought.
 

dio2

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

Talking about this makes me nervous works much better for me.

So basically you are saying "It makes me feel nervous talking about this." works much better for you, too ?
 

Matthew Wai

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

If I understand correctly, your version is much worse than his version.
 

dio2

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

If I understand correctly, your version is much worse than his version.


That's what you think? Tdol ?

Thank you
 

Matthew Wai

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

Can a teacher confirm/correct post #12, which the OP was asking about?
 

emsr2d2

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

Can a teacher confirm/correct post #12, which the OP was asking about?

You wrote post #12 yourself, Matthew. Why are we waiting for Tdol to comment?
 

Matthew Wai

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

According to post #13, it was the OP rather than Matthew who wanted a comment from Tdol, which was emphasized in boldface there.
 

moseen

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

I do my best to avoid trying to explain the words of others. It would be better to wait until Tdol has the opportunity to comment.
Why did you say "the opportunity"? why didn't you say "an opportunity"? Please.
 

teechar

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

Dio2: I note that you've reported the first post in this thread as "unanswered". We ask members to please be patient and wait for a reply(s) to their questions. In any case, I see that this thread has had several replies, so why do you feel it's still unanswered?
 

Tdol

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

So basically you are saying "It makes me feel nervous talking about this." works much better for you, too ?

No- I am suggesting that changing the order of the sentence makes it sound more natural.

And please don't wait for me- there are many people here who can reply for me. I was in a remote mountainous area without much internet yesterday. :up:
 

dio2

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Re: The participle vs The infinitive

So, "It makes me feel nervous to talk about this." and "Talking about this makes me nervous." are more common and idiomatic.

Also, "It makes me feel nervous talking about this." needs a dash but it still means different from "It makes me feel nervous to talk about this." and "Talking about this makes me nervous.".

This sentence, "It makes me feel nervous talking about this." is not a normal sentence because the speaker suddenly feels that the conversation makes him nervous, the whole sentence is not natural.


Is there anything wrong above? Thanks
 
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