Trouvez des professeurs en Anglais
Marina
Hello!
I'm a bit puzzled by these sentences from one course book (the screenshot is attached).
I thought that there should be used infinitive as "interesting" and "nice" are adjectives. Could you please explain why gerund is used here?
🤷♀️
11 avr. 2025 11:57
Réponses · 3
2
You can use either form after an adjective, but they may have a different emphasis. Using the present participle focusses on the activity [process] and the infinitive focusses on the act of doing it [result].
It was really interesting to talk to him. - I found it useful
It was really interesting talking to him. - I enjoyed speaking to him
Sometimes there isn't much difference but sometimes it would be really strange to use one rather than the other.
It was nice to meet you. = It was nice meeting you.
It was good to get my teeth cleaned at the dentist. = the result was good
It was good getting my teeth cleaned at the dentist. = I enjoyed the process
The second one would sound a bit strange - though of course it's possible)
It would be the same for verbs like 'like' and 'love', by the way.
11 avr. 2025 15:21
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Marina
Compétences linguistiques
Chinois (mandarin), Anglais, Russe, Ukrainien
Langue étudiée
Chinois (mandarin)
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