to~.....~ing?

Question

I am a Japanese studying English.Please tell me the difference.

Playing basaball is fun.
To play basaball is fun.

Answer 1

Minor note: The word is "baseball".

Actually, either of them is GRAMMATICALLY correct. But you are not likely to hear the second one, which sounds awkward to us.

You can also use "to play", but in that case you usually change the order and say, "It is fun to play baseball."

This is no different in meaning from "Playing baseball is fun." Which you choose may depend on what you are trying to emphasize.

I think this pattern is the usual one:
"Doing X is. . . " OR
"It is . . . to do X"
("X" stands for any verb)

Now you may SOMETIMES find "To X (is) . .. " in special cases, like proverbs or poems. For example, this familiar proverb: "To err is human, to forgive divine."

There are other instances where you WOULD place "To play baseball" (or that type of expression) FIRST, just not with "is". (Example: "To play baseball you need a baseball, a bat, some players and a place to play.")

Answer 2

Actually, playing baseball is fun is the correct way to say it. To play baseball is ungrammatical. If you want to make a verb a noun, you need to use the gerund form. ~ing makes the verb a noun.

Hope that makes sense. Grammar is complicated like that.

Answer 3

Baseball*

Playing = present tense.
To play = general comment.

Answer 4

"Playing baseball is fun" means that when you or someone else is playing baseball, it is fun.

"To Play baseball is fun" means that, in general, to play baseball is fun.

The two sentences are VERY similar. In fact, their meanings are actually about the same. "Playing baseball is fun" is just what you would normally say instead of "to play baseball is fun".

Answer 5

ing is similar to
Verb + ています in Japanese

Studying = 勉強しています
Playing = 遊んでいます

more or less the same, I think.