"To~" Infinitive...always implies the future?

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Here's a mindbender for everyone.

A fellow teacher said to me that the to~ infinitive always implies the future..."to eat", "to swim" etc. I disagreed and said that I thought it was abstract and had no tense in of itself.

He pointed out that most of the uses of the infinitive are always to do with the future....obligation, plans, promises, expectation, orders etc.

So, "I promise to eat my vegetables" is correct, because it implies the future...

but the gerund form "verb/noun +ing" cannot be used because it doesn't imply the future: "I promise eating my vegetables".

So far so good...but, I said, what about one of the most basic gerund/infinitive questions asked by students:
I like swimming +
I like to swim.

Here, "to swim" implies an ongoing habit. So it is not inherently in the future-tense...

My colleague countered that through usage, probably over hundreds of years, a usage developed to do with preference...(like, love etc) which formed an exception to the basic rule: Infinitive "to~" = Future.

So....@_@;;; Is he right?? What does everyone think? I felt that the basic nature of the infinitive is that it is abstract, and by default an imcomplete action...but my colleague believes that the infinitive is inherently in the future tense.....and the "I like to eat pineapples" preference usage is just an EXCEPTION that developed through possible misuse over time.

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@luketeacheruk,

Your friend is attributing to the Present Infinitive what the MAIN verb implies:
"I plan to study History at college."
"I promise to come to your wedding."

'planning/promising/expecting/feeling obliged' imply that the action of the infinitive is still to come. It is the MAIN verb that places it "in the future".

THATS WHY it breaks down when we consider "I like/love to swim/cook etc."
The MAIN verb has no suggestion of delay/still to come/to be done!

You are correct (re the infinitive): "...and had no tense in (or) of itself"; nor does it have any inherent time reference.

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Your friend is nuts.

"To err is human; to forgive, divine."

Nothing whatsoever to do with the future.

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@McTag,

Haha yes I'm sure I would class him as nuts....but~!

when it comes to explaining to a student when to use a gerund and when to use an infinitive.....aren't~ "GERUND: real or completed actions... INFINITIVE: unreal, general, or future" useful definitions? I suppose the abstract infinitive is never a completed act, right. It is always open and can indicate the future...

Because the infinitive is by default 'incomplete'...it will often be used for the future. Yes, we can find clear exceptions~ where the gerund and the infinitive are interchangeable... but, there are some where they are not...and for the future it is more often the infinitive that will be used.

You are to finish your breakfast by 8:30. NOT, you are finishing your breakfast by 8:30.
When I grow up, I want to be a doctor. NOT, When I grow up, I want being a doctor.

So it might not be as cut and dry as it seems....

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@luketeacheruk,

Oh, dear! It "might not be as cut and DRIED as it seems…." to you; but it is now clear to US why you are having such trouble with this.

Start by recognising the difference between a gerund and the Present Participle:
I AM just FINISHING my breakfast.
You are finishing your breakfast : both Present Continuous Tense! (though the second sentence is contrived).

"You are a fool." : Present Tense
"You are being a fool." : Present Continuous (auxiliary + Present Participle)
"...I want being a doctor." : Main verb + Present Participle???!!!

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Just to keep the record straight here, Bazza is not a native speaker of English. He just runs off to some web site to get an answer, and comes back to paste here, as though he knows hat he is talking about. He has been spectacularly, hilariously wrong in the past. I confidently expect him to perform to that same standard again.

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@Setanta,

Um...yeah...

Firstly, I'll take the correction of 'cut and dry' to 'cut and dried'...but, it is listed as an acceptable alternative in the OED...also people have been using '...and dry' since at least Jonathan Smith....(!)

Right ~ So, I'm not confusing the present simple (I eat breakfast) with the present continuous (I am eating breakfast)...

I was just try to make examples of "infinitive to~" sentences in which a gerund could not be substituted. My: "You are to finish your breakfast" sentences were supposed to be imperative orders...

Just to hold my hand up now and say that I can definitely get confused about how the subject/verb/object relationship relates to gerunds&infinitives. I'm just here to learn....

Let's try with these:

To eat is his only goal.
Eating is his only goal.

Here, we can say that the infinitive to~ statement feels more abstract...~'unreal'....but we could use the second one, too.

So can anyone tell me where a gerund could not be subsituted for an infinitive or vice versa...and what the reasons would be?

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@luketeacheruk,

Screw you, clown.

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@luketeacheruk,

Quote:

people have been using 'cut and dry' since at least Jonathan Smith....(!)

Only at the hairdressers.

Would that be Jonathan Swift you were attempting to reference?

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"To~" Infinitive...always implies the future?

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