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Semantic differences in the use of gerunds and infinitives
She stopped smoking years ago / She stopped to smoke to tell you
The semantic difference between the gerund and infinitive in the sentence "She stopped smoking years ago / She stopped to smoke to tell you" is that the gerund "smoking" is used to describe the action of stopping, while the infinitive "to smoke" is used to express the purpose of stopping.
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In the first sentence, "She stopped smoking years ago," the gerund "smoking" is used to describe the action of stopping. This sentence means that she stopped smoking, and she has not smoked in years.
In the second sentence, "She stopped to smoke to tell you," the infinitive "to smoke" is used to express the purpose of stopping. This sentence means that she stopped in order to smoke, and she smoked in order to tell you something.
The difference between the two sentences is subtle, but it is important to understand the difference between gerunds and infinitives in order to use them correctly.
