Korean Job Discussion Forums

[elavndrc]

I have an exam question and I'm wondering if these answers are correct.

The paragraph is in a context of a girl who lives in Spain.

So the correct answer would be.
- I love living in Spain.

But is this answer acceptable (grammatically correct)?
- I love to live in Spain.

My co-teacher and I aren't really sure.

[oskinny1]

The first one is saying that you are currently in Spain and love it. The second is saying that you may or may not currently be living there, but you enjoy it when you are living there.

[edwardcatflap]

Not sure I agree with you totally oskinny. You could equally say 'I love living in Spain' when you were living in another country.

But anyway the OP said both sentences were in the context of a girl living in Spain at the moment of speaking. If you look at the rules of like/love + gerund or like/love+ infinitive there is a very subtle difference. The gerund form concentrates more on the enjoyment of the activity whereas the infinitive concentrates on the fact that the activity is a good idea in a wider context. Therefore you could say

'I love to get up early so I can cook breakfast for my husband.' You might not actually enjoy the activity of getting up early but you think it's worthwhile because you can please your husband.

Compared to

'I love getting up early because I hear the birds singing'. You actually enjoy the activity of waking early.

However in the context of of a girl living in Spain it would be much more natural to concentrate on enjoying the action rather than thinking living in Spain was a good idea for whatever reason, so the first is much more natural

[drydell]

[edwardcatflap]

[Privateer]

^ As that guy said, the gerund is used more for the concrete, sensations, and experiences; the infinitive is more for the abstract, and concepts.

'I love getting up early because I can hear the birds singing' = enjoying the experience.

'I love to get up early so I can get everything done' = making a regular habit of it because it's a good idea.

Maybe 'I love to live in Spain' is strange because it's not something you can make a regular habit of doing and it's not a good idea in the abstract.

[rusty1983]

I say that with the gerund it's a more general enjoyment, whereas with the infinitive it's a specific activity, more individual. Hence the gerund form then which is used for more continuous activties.

Example

"I love listening to music" - generally, continuously

"I love to listen to music when I'm reading the newspapers on a Sunday" - on an unusual occasion

Sh!t examples maybe but kind of illustrates the point

'I love to live in Spain' sounds weird compared to 'I love living in Spain' because 'I love living in Spain' expresses a more continuous situation.

[Lunar Groove Gardener]

Both are correct on the exam.