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ezinis
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Begin to do or begin doing? 18 Nov 2009, 20:35
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Can somebody explain to me the differences. Thanks

Start doing or start to do (different tenses)
Begin doing or begin to do (different tenses)

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Begin to do or begin doing? 24 Nov 2009, 13:10
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This boils down to an understanding of the underlying tenses

From dictionary.com:
Quote:
start (v.) This weak verb can be combined with either a gerund or to plus an infinitive: He started speaking and He started to speak mean the same.
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Start to do <hasn't started yet or is in preparation>

Ex:I'll start to do that tomorrow.

Start doing <has started already or is already prepared and ready to start>

Ex: I'll start doing that tomorrow.
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Begin to do or begin doing? 24 Nov 2009, 21:31
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ezinis
Can somebody explain to me the differences. Thanks

Start doing or start to do (different tenses)
Begin doing or begin to do (different tenses)
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No difference. Certain kinds of verbs can take both the Gerund (doing) or the Infinitive (to do). It doesn't matter.

Ex. He likes to swim (Infinitive)

He likes swimming (Gerund)
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Begin to do or begin doing? Updated on: 27 Nov 2009, 06:46
Originally posted by ezinis on 26 Nov 2009, 10:35.
Last edited by ezinis on 27 Nov 2009, 06:46, edited 1 time in total.
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dwivedys
ezinis
Can somebody explain to me the differences. Thanks

Start doing or start to do (different tenses)
Begin doing or begin to do (different tenses)

No difference. Certain kinds of verbs can take both the Gerund (doing) or the Infinitive (to do). It doesn't matter.

Ex. He likes to swim (Infinitive)

He likes swimming (Gerund)
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IMO: You are totally wrong, and you just gave an example to prove my point.

"like to swim" means temporary desire to swim while "like swimming" means a hobby ...
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Begin to do or begin doing? 26 Nov 2009, 22:33
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ezinis
dwivedys
ezinis
Can somebody explain to me the differences. Thanks

Start doing or start to do (different tenses)
Begin doing or begin to do (different tenses)

No difference. Certain kinds of verbs can take both the Gerund (doing) or the Infinitive (to do). It doesn't matter.

Ex. He likes to swim (Infinitive)

He likes swimming (Gerund)

IMO: You are totally wrong, and you just gave an exemple to prove why I say that.

"like to swim" means temporary desire to swim while "like swimming" means a hobby ...
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You are talking about semantics - meaning what the sentence signifies. Grammatically speaking they both are correct - and I still stand by my conviction that both forms can be used - depending on the intended meaning. Choose the right option depending on the intended meaning.
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ezinis
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Begin to do or begin doing? 27 Nov 2009, 06:47
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I assume everybody understands what I want to know, the difference in meaning and uses.
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Giop Nguyen
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Begin to do or begin doing? 17 Mar 2017, 02:56
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ezinis
Can somebody explain to me the differences. Thanks

Start doing or start to do (different tenses)
Begin doing or begin to do (different tenses)
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In my opinion, the 2 words begin and start have both ways of using : +a gerund / + a to Inf. But some other words are different, for example : He stops to smoke./ He stops smoking.

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