Subject Complements -- Gerund or Infinitive?

Echidna · Post by **Echidna** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 8:23 pm

Hey all,

It's been a while since I've been on this board, but I was hoping one of you bright folks could tell me whether there's a difference between using an infinitive subject complement rather than a gerund. Or are they the same?

For example...

My greatest fear is to find a spider in my sleeping bag.
or
My greatest fear is finding a spider in my sleeping bag.

His desire in life is to travel around the world.
or
His desire in life is traveling around the world.

To my ear, the second example above -- his desire in life is traveling around the world -- sounds a little off.

It strikes me that sometimes, particularly when we're referring to unrealized or future ideas, that we tend to use the infinitive over the gerund as subject complement. Am I way off base? I know that some linguists believe that prepositions (and therefore infinitives by extension) tend to add some distancing to the situation, as in the examples below:

He kicked me. vs. He kicked at me.

Try as I might, I can't seem to find any information about preference between gerund or infinitive subject complementation on the great tubes of the Google.

Anyway, here are some other examples of subject complement usage.

A cowboy's job is to take care of/taking care of cows.
My dream for the future is to find/finding a plump wife.
Her childhood hobby was to collect/collecting butterflies.

Thanks for any help! Cheers to all.

Echidna

JuanTwoThree · Post by **JuanTwoThree** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 7:56 am

Right off the top of my head I'd say that the noun form of a verb that is followed by "to" would most likely be followed by "to" too:

I wish to : My wish is to

I plan to : My plan is to

and by extension

I expect to : My expectation is to

which is why I don't care for "My desire in life is travelling the world".

When both seem possible I think, like you, that the idea of "future purpose" is conveyed by the "to" whereas the -ing suggests the more known and experienced.

My job is to find sub-atomic particles

My job is finding sub-atomic particles

The second sounds to me as if the speaker finds them quite regularly but perhaps the first doesn't. Though I don't see much difference between your two cowboys or between

A police officer's job is catching criminals

and

A police officer's job is to catch criminals

So I don't care for "My dream for the future is finding". Nor "my hobby was to collect".

The spiders are hard. Is it fanciful to suggest that "finding a spider" has happpened to the speaker or is more probable? Which would you use in a jungle? Or at the North Pole?

lolwhites · Post by **lolwhites** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:35 pm

I tell students that the to- form often carries the idea of a goal or objective, which is why it fits with verbs like want, hope, aim, plan and so on.

So I can imagine A policeman's job is to catch criminals being said to a new recruit at training school, or by a superior officer to subordinate who'd failed to catch any criminals recently, while ...catching criminals might be said by a smiling officer as he bundles his prey into the back of a van in handcuffs. But we're talking about tendencies here rather than what would be "correct" in a given situation.

JuanTwoThree · Post by **JuanTwoThree** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 6:42 pm

I agree that there's something, but it's hard to pin down. And it certainly ain't no rule.

"Ok new recruits, your job will be catching criminals" has a nuance that is different from "Ok, new recruits, your job will be to catch criminals". Something also to do with a perception of how easy or difficult it might be? Like "try" ?

"Their mission: boldly going where no man has gone before" makes Star Trek sound like a piece of cake.

lolwhites · Post by **lolwhites** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 7:17 pm

Also, in the spider example, I suspect that My greatest fear is to find a spider in my sleeping bag is more likely to be used if it hadn't happened (yet) while ... finding a spider... could imply that it's happened before. But that may be my own preference and it'd be interesting to hear what others think.

IMO His desire in life is travelling around the world sounds weird because desire implies a goal, so it would sit better with to + V.

Macavity · Post by **Macavity** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 10:48 am

One reason for choosing the gerund might have to do with the emotive nature of some nouns (when these are verbs we usually follow them with an ing form) and that they are often followed by of.

A fear of; a love of; a dislike of.

I fear falling asleep whenever the boss goes off on one.
I love dancing on the beach on hot summer nights.
I dislike eating in restaurants where smoking is allowed.

Of seems to call for an ing form to follow it.

My greatest fear is (of) finding a spider in my sleeping bag.

Echidna · Post by **Echidna** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 4:50 am

Thank you to everyone for your input. Lots of great ideas about this subject! I appreciate your help.

Best,

Echidna

woodcutter · Post by **woodcutter** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 3:05 am

I think that all these examples can be more or less explained by the general rule of thumb that lol gave actually, (which I must start using), which implies that when we are not speaking of goals but of reality we will prefer "ing". Even the Star Trek, (if the example Juan gave was actually used) because they are already cruising in space.