• Exciting news! With our new Ad-Free Premium Subscription you can enjoy a distraction-free browsing experience while supporting our site's growth. Without ads, you have less distractions and enjoy faster page load times. Upgrade is optional. Find out more here, and enjoy ad-free learning with us!

which one is more common or correct!

Status
Not open for further replies.
A

Anonymous

Guest
hi,

S1: It is easy growing up.
S2: It is easy to growing up.

Which sentence is more correct or common? And what's the difference between the two?
 

Casiopea

VIP Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2003
Member Type
Other
paula123 said:
hi,

S1: It is easy growing up.
S2: It is easy to grow up.

Which sentence is more correct or common? And what's the difference between the two?

Gerunds usually refer to actualized events, whereas infinitives usually refer to potenial events. For example, by using 'growing up', a gerund, the speaker bases her/his statement on her/his past (i.e., an actualized event). By using 'to grow up' an infinitive, the speaker makes reference to someone's else future (i.e., a potential event).

EXAMPLES
1. Growing up is easy.
(Actualized event; the speaker experienced the event)

2. To grow up and become a good citizen is easy.
(Potential event; the event has not been realized yet; it hasn't happened. The speaker is speaking to/about people who have yet to reach adulthood.)

As for which is more common, I'm not sure how to answer that because usage depends on whether the speaker wants to expresses a potential event or an actualized event.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top