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aalexcp
Member
Mexican Spanish
- Sep 19, 2012
- #1
Is there any difference in meaning between these two sentences? Does this structure alter the meaning whatsoever?
1.- It started raining.
2.- It started to rain.
1.- So, I was talking to Mike, when he suddenly started to cry.
2.- So, I was talking to Mike, when he suddenly started crying.
1.- I tried gaining some money, but I keep losing it all.
2.- I tried to gain some money, but I keep losing it all.
1.- I like playing the guitar.
2.- I like to play the guitar.
You get the idea. Think of any possible ways in which you could use both forms. Are they the same in a given case? Are they very similar but can be different depending on context?
I would appreciate if you would help me out here. Thanks!
WyomingSue
Senior Member
Cheyenne, WY
English--USA
- Sep 19, 2012
- #2
Personally, I think they are basically the same, and I don't think it matters which one you use. (By the way, in your 3rd example, you should translate ganar as "to earn" in this context.)
Lexicologist
New Member
Turkish, Azerbaijani
- May 13, 2020
- #3
In fact, there is no difference -maybe just a little- between them in daily conversations as long as you mean the raining one is the rain, shortly, the rain, the water, as usual, so it is better to use 'It started to rain' contextually, but when you say 'It started raining', -that's why I said maybe just a little before- even mostly you intend to mean the weather started its rain, in a broad sense, the raining one both may be the rain, water, and some other thing, e.g. acid, baby frogs, etc. even occasionally extraordinary since the verb raining well means to pour from, down the sky, clouds etc. as pouring object might be meant to be changed...
Lexicologist
New Member
Turkish, Azerbaijani
- May 13, 2020
- #4
I like swimming and I like to swim also can be interchangeable, I like swimming... What I like is swimming, like a noun but it sounds an action in a form of thing as your like. I like to swim, you just emphasize the action you do... Likewise, swimming in hot weather, to swim in hot weather... Notwithstanding, I like swimming in hot weather sounds like there is actually a kind of swimming, or its favour peculiar to hot weather in a just thing; wheras I like to swim in hot weather sounds something like I like to swim, and actually swimming both in cool and warm water is normal for me, but for now I want to mention that I like to swim in hot weather...
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Forero
Senior Member
Maumelle, Arkansas, USA
USA English
- May 13, 2020
- #5
With like, the gerund swimming names an activity or even a spectator sport.
After started, swimming could mean the same thing, but, depending on context, it is more like to refer to what the subject was doing once they started.
In "It started raining", raining is most likely
notan activity or a spectator sport. It would normally be what "it" was doing (what was happening) once it started.
Notice that "I started to swim" can actually be true even when "I started swimming" is not:
I started to swim across the lake, but I changed my mind since I did not want to get my clothes wet.
Perhaps "it" in "It started to rain" cannot change "its" mind, but in my experience, sometimes all the signs of rain are there, and it
starts to rainbut then it never really
starts raining.
English is extremely dependent on context, and in most cases, if you read "It started to rain" as part of a narrative, it means practically the same as "It started raining."
But not always.
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