"to V" and "V_ing"

[Nessie]

Hi,
Could you please tell me what the difference between these twp sentences:

1/ It's lovely reading letters, and a burden writing them

2/ It's lovely to read letters, and a burden to write them

Is it the same as "like + to V" and "like + V_ing"?

Thank you very much
Nessie.
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... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Ralf]

Hi Nessie,

You can say both. Recently we had a similar discussion, and Alan said a few clever things there.

[Nessie]

Thanks a lot Ralf. And again, Alan's clear explanation shed light on the matter

As for my two original sentence, Ralf, do you agree that the former is better? (which seems to indicate a matter of fact - general)
_________________
... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Ralf]

Hi Nessie,

The second sentence (to+infinitive) sounds a bit more natural to me. I'd expect the gerund sentence to go 'Reading letters is lovely, but writing them can be a burden'. But I can't explain why, just a feeling...
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[Nessie]

Then I suppose people may have different feelings when they use English
I myself think the 1st sentence more natural. Perhaps that's because it's the original sentence I read from the book "the thorn birds"

By the way, is my last sentence grammatically correct? I wonder about "think the 1st sentence correct" (without "is")
Thank you very much.
Nessie.
_________________
... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Yankee]

Hi Nessie

In this case, I think it can also be argued that using the gerund seems more active -- more so than using the to-infinitive. Either sentence is possible, but I myself prefer the first one (i.e. with the gerunds).
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Amy
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ESL teacher, and native speaker of American English

[Nessie]

Thanks for your idea, Amy
However I don't get you very well (about "using the gerund seems more active" - what do you mean by "active" here, Amy?, could you please give me an example and analyse it?)

Thank you so much
Nessie.
_________________
... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Yankee]

Hi Nessie

The -ing form of a verb tends to convey a feeling of duration, and thus a gerund often has more of a sense of activity in progress rather than of a complete act. That's what I meant by "active".
.
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Amy
.
ESL teacher, and native speaker of American English