<p>Seriously. What is? I really don't get it</p>
<p>gerund-noun
example: i like reading. reading functions as a noun
infinitive-noun, adj, adv.
example: i like to read. to read is noun
sec example. there is a book to read. to read is adj. modifies book
third example. eager to read, i walk to library. to read is adv. modifies adj eager</p>
<p>but since they can both be nouns, why aren’t they classified as interchangeable</p>
<p>The difference is that gerunds can mean the entire class of the activity:</p>
<p>“I love swimming” can mean “swimming is my favorite Olympic sport to watch.” But “I love to swim” can only mean “I love engaging in the activity of swimming.”</p>
<p>Whereas infinitives sometimes signal purpose or intent (if you can substitute “in order to [verb],” then you need infinitive, not gerund). Also, gerunds often create awkwardness, so we generally try to avoid them in good writing.</p>
<p>marvin:
(Copied this from grammar website)</p>
<p>"To sleep is the only thing Eli wants after his double shift waiting tables at the neighborhood caf</p>
<p>bloop? anyone?</p>
<p>To sleep and sleeping are interchangeable. They are both nouns.</p>
<p>Is there a trick/tip to differentiate when to use a gerund and/or infinitive?</p>
<p>I already differentiated for you. Keep in mind gerunds are mostly wrong unless they are used correctly in parallelism or after a prep.(for example: human is capable of doing math.</p>
<p>So I could replace ‘to sleep’ with ‘In order to sleep’ to check? Because it still sounds awkward</p>
<p>No–the word “wants” does that for you: it explicitly signals intention or purpose.</p>