Gerund or Infinitive 2

Is English your mother tongue? When you talk to your coworkers or friends, do you speak fluently? Or, do they (who are foreigners) understand what you say.










If not, you probably have to know the difference between two things. Which two? 'TO versus ING'. Still don't get it? Read the two sentences: 

1    I have learned to post on Google+.

2    I have learned posting on Google+.

Are they the same? No, they are not.  But the subtle (small, tiny) difference between 1 & 2 may embarrass you (in front of others), or make your coworkers misunderstand you.



What are the differences? One of the big things about people speaking English is that they want to know if something is done or not. In other words, is the thing done?  Or is it still ongoing?

DONE versus ONGOING

(In some horrible terms of grammar, this is called aspect.)



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So go back to sentence (1).  Can you tell if the action of ‘to post’ is done?  Or is it still ongoing? Usually when you use ‘to + verb’, it is about something to be done.  


For example (at your presentation), you may say something like: My aim is to enhance our corporate image.

‘To enhance’ means something that is not done, and that you are going to enhance the corporate image.  In other words, when are you going to enhance it?  In the future, right?  So the thing is not done.  



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Yet, when you say ‘I have learned to post’, it is just the opposite. It means that you have learned it already. So you may make sentences such as:



I have learned  

 
to be a CEO
to manage my team members
to play office politics


All the above sentences show that the actions (to be, to manage, to play) are done.  



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So what about sentence (2), ‘I have learned posting on Google+’? Have you learned it or not? Or is the action ‘posting’ ongoing or done? To your surprise, it is about something that is still ongoing.   Although ‘have learned’ (Present Perfect) indicates that the action is done, this is only the first part of the story. The second part of the story is ‘ING’.   ‘ING’ means something is still ongoing, and the action is not done.





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So the Feel Good tips are:

1. have learned   to + verb = DONE
2. have learned   verb+ ing = ONGOING

Pic sources:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahdeephotography/4148215487/sizes/m/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eldh/5858249526/sizes/q/in/photostream/