Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Learner33]

Hi,
I know that infinitives can function as delayed subjects such as:

1.It's so nice to be here.
but can we apply the same thing on gerunds? I mean is the following sentences grammatically correct:
2.It's so nice being here.
3.It was forbidden drinking bear.

[Nef]

I know that infinitives can function as delayed subjects such as:

1.It's so nice to be here.
but can we apply the same thing on gerunds? I mean is the following sentences grammatically correct:
2.It's so nice being here.
3.It was forbidden drinking bear.
___________________________________________________________
Good question, Learner.

# 2 sounds fine to me, but # 3 doesn't work. We would say "It was forbidden to drink beer." or "Drinking beer was forbidden." (Beer is the drink; bear is the animal.)

[LucentShade]

"Drinking beer" doesn't work in #3. #3 would need to be, "It was forbidden to drink beer."