Posted by mesmark · June 12, 2009 · 3 replies
1. His problem is always being late.
2. *His problem is always to be late.
1. His dream is to be a doctor.
2. *His dream is being a doctor.
What is the rule here that makes #2 wrong?
Does 'to verb' need to be a future event? And 'verb-ing' is a current event in that situation?
mesmark wrote:1. His problem is always being late.
2. *His problem is always to be late.1. His dream is to be a doctor.
2. *His dream is being a doctor.What is the rule here that makes #2 wrong?
Does 'to verb' need to be a future event? And 'verb-ing' is a current event in that situation?
🤦 This is a thinker....Okay...
"to be" indicates, in my opinion, a goal that is fulfilled once reached whereas -ing, as you stated, indicates a current situation. Therefore, number 2 of the second set indicates that he dreams of being a doctor and to be in the situation and experience all of the things associated with being a doctor. "To be" is only indicating to become a doctor and nothing more.
I wouldn't say there is a rule per se, but, that is the explanation I'd give. Don't know if it's good enough though.
Hi!
Perhaps this case refers to a possible use of present continuous: when you complain about bad habits.
e.g. You are always complaining about my cooking. (Vince)
🙂
I am not a native speaker but I would make a parallel here with other cases where "to verb" refers to a future action, while -ing implies that the action is already in progress
as in : "I stopped to make phone calls"
"I stopped making phone calls"
