like・love・hate(どちらも取れる組)Like, Love, Hate: The Flexible Three
不定詞・動名詞 / Infinitives & Gerunds
like・love・hate・start・begin・continue は、to でも -ing でも使えて意味の差はごくわずかです。ここで神経質になる必要はありません。ただし1つだけ固定ルール: would like / would love は必ず to(I'd like to see it.)。ここだけ守れば、あとは自由です。
Like, love, hate, start, begin, and continue take either to or -ing, with only a whisper of difference. No need to agonize here. One fixed rule, though: would like and would love always take to (I'd like to see it). Guard that door and the rest is freedom.
気楽でいい組と、1つの固定ルール
Relax — Except at One Door
I like swimming. / I like to swim. ——どちらも「泳ぐのが好き」で、実用上の差はほぼありません。あえて言えば、-ing は体験そのものの楽しさ、to は習慣・選択のニュアンスに寄ります(特にイギリス英語でこの傾向)。この微差は「知っていればいい」レベル。大事なのは would が付いた瞬間に to 固定になることです: I'd love to come!(ぜひ行きたい!)。
I like swimming and I like to swim both mean you enjoy it — practically interchangeable. If pressed: -ing leans toward the pleasure of the experience, to toward habit and choice (a tendency more felt in British English). That's know-it-exists territory. What matters is the hard rule that clicks in with would: I'd love to come!
自由な3人と、would の門The flexible three, and the would gate
I love cooking on weekends. / I love to cook on weekends.
週末に料理するのが大好きだ。(どちらも可)
意味の差は実用上ほぼゼロ。The difference is practically nil.
It started raining. / It started to rain.
雨が降り出した。(どちらも可)
start / begin も自由組(ただし It's starting to rain. のように進行形の後は to)。Start and begin flex too — except after a progressive, where to wins: It's starting to rain.
I'd like to make aなぜ a なのか【初めて出す一つ】聞き手がまだ知らないものを初めて話に出すから a。次に同じものを指すときは the に変わる。 reservation for two.
2名で予約をお願いしたいのですが。
would like は to 固定。丁寧表現の項ともつながる。Would like locks to to — linking back to the politeness entry.
like doing / like to do
一般的な好み。どちらでも通じる。General preference — either works.
She likes taking long walks.
彼女は長い散歩が好きだ。
would like to do
「今〜したい」の丁寧形。to のみ。The polite "I want to right now" — to only.
Would you like to join us for lunch?
ご一緒にランチはいかがですか?
よくある間違い / Common Mistake
×I'd like seeing the menu, please.
メニューを見せていただけますか。(のつもりで)
○I'd like to see the menu, please.
メニューを見せていただけますか。
like 単体は自由でも、would like は「これから〜したい」という一点の要望なので、矢印の to しか取りません。「would が付いたら to」——自由組の中の、唯一の固定ドアです。
Bare like is flexible, but would like voices a wish aimed at what's next — arrow territory, to only. "Would appears, to follows": the one locked door in an otherwise open house.
I'd love to.ぜひ!誘いへの快諾。to の先(行為)は言わなくても通じる。The warm yes — the to's destination goes without saying.
I hate to say this, but ...言いにくいんだけど…悪い知らせのクッション。これから言う=矢印の to。The bad-news cushion — the saying is ahead, so to.
How do you like -ing ...?〜(の暮らし・体験)はどう?How do you like living here?(ここの暮らしはどう?)——体験を聞くので -ing が自然。How do you like living here? — asking about the lived experience, so -ing.
can't stand -ing〜が我慢ならないhate の強化版。ふつうは -ing(米口語では can't stand to do も普通に使われる)。Hate's stronger cousin — usually -ing, though American speech happily allows can't stand to do.
まとめ / Summary
like / love / hate / start / begin は to でも -ing でも可。Like, love, hate, start, begin: either form works.
微差: -ing =体験の楽しさ寄り、to =習慣・選択寄り(主に英)。The whisper: -ing leans experience, to leans habit — mainly a British feel.
would like / would love は to 固定。Would like and would love lock to to.
I'd love to, but ... =断りの魔法の前半。I'd love to, but … — the golden decline.