pleasant drive

[iwasaki]

What is the difference between "it will be a pleasant drive" and
"it will be pleasant driving"?

And you don't say "it will be a pleasant driving"?

[Don Phillipson]

Post by iwasaki
What is the difference between "it will be a pleasant drive" and
"it will be pleasant driving"?

Usage is the difference. Both may be said (both are
grammatical) but people say the former much more
often than the latter.

Post by iwasaki
And you don't say "it will be a pleasant driving"?

Articles (the definite article THE and the indefinite
article A) are customarily used in some forms of
sentence and customarily omitted in others. We
say "It will be a pleasant drive," NOT "It will be
pleasant drive." We say "It will be good eating,"
NOT "It will be a good eating." Some books on
the English language offer to explain this at length.

[athel...@yahoo]

Post by iwasaki
What is the difference between "it will be a pleasant drive" and
"it will be pleasant driving"?

The first is the normal thing to say. One wouldn't normally say the
second except maybe as the beginning of a longer sentence: "It will be
pleasant driving to the beach tomorrow."

Post by iwasaki
And you don't say "it will be a pleasant driving"?

No, one doesn't. But what is your point?

athel

[iwasaki]

Post by ***@yahoo

Post by iwasaki
What is the difference between "it will be a pleasant drive" and
"it will be pleasant driving"?

The first is the normal thing to say. One wouldn't normally say the
second except maybe as the beginning of a longer sentence: "It will be
pleasant driving to the beach tomorrow."

Post by iwasaki
And you don't say "it will be a pleasant driving"?

No, one doesn't. But what is your point?

I wanted to make sure, because both "drive" and "driving"
have become Japanese words and are used interchangeably
(as nouns) so I often confuse them and slip sentences like
that one when I'm speaking or writing.

Thank you, all of you, who answered my questions.

[j***@yahoo.com]

Post by iwasaki
What is the difference between "it will be a pleasant drive" and
"it will be pleasant driving"?

For me, the first means "Driving on that route will be pleasant." The
second means "Driving will be pleasant" (wherever we go). Of course,
if a route has already been stated, the second is pretty much
equivalent to the first.

Post by iwasaki
And you don't say "it will be a pleasant driving"?

Right. The article "a" is seldom used with gerunds and never with
"driving", in my experience.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Mark Brader]

Post by j***@yahoo.com

Post by iwasaki
What is the difference between "it will be a pleasant drive" and
"it will be pleasant driving"?

For me, the first means "Driving on that route will be pleasant."
The second means "Driving will be pleasant" (wherever we go).

I think this is not quite right. Note the article. "Drive" is
a count noun and "a drive" refers to a specific journey along a
specific route. "Driving" is a mass noun and could refer to one
journey or several. "It will be a pleasant drive from Bergen to
Lillehammer. Actually, it will be pleasant driving pretty much
everywhere in Norway; it's a beautiful country and lightly populated."

I said "a drive" refers to a specific journey, but it can be
generalized to refer to an arbitrary one of a series of journeys
along the same route. "After I move to Bergen, it will be a
pleasant drive for me to get to work." This refers to the trip
on any particular day.

Post by j***@yahoo.com
Of course, if a route has already been stated, the second is
pretty much equivalent to the first.

They can be pretty much equivalent given suitable context.

[j***@yahoo.com]

Post by Mark Brader

Post by j***@yahoo.com

Post by iwasaki
What is the difference between "it will be a pleasant drive" and
"it will be pleasant driving"?

For me, the first means "Driving on that route will be pleasant."
The second means "Driving will be pleasant" (wherever we go).

I think this is not quite right. Note the article. "Drive" is
a count noun and "a drive" refers to a specific journey along a
specific route.

That's what I meant but didn't quite say.

Post by Mark Brader
"Driving" is a mass noun and could refer to one
journey or several. "It will be a pleasant drive from Bergen to
Lillehammer. Actually, it will be pleasant driving pretty much
everywhere in Norway; it's a beautiful country and lightly populated."

Yep. (As long as the weather's good.)

[snip more things I agree with]

--
Jerry Friedman

[m***@yahoo.co.uk]

Post by iwasaki
What is the difference between "it will be a pleasant drive" and
"it will be pleasant driving"?
And you don't say "it will be a pleasant driving"?
--
Nobuko Iwasaki
(remove the second forte for e-mail)

"It will be a pleasant drive" means that the journey referred to will
be generally pleasant (nice scenery, good company, whatever), and
could be said either by the driver or by a passenger.

In the most natural reading, "it will be pleasant driving" means that
the actual act of driving (as opposed to the journey generally) will
be pleasant. For example, maybe the speaker has been a passenger for a
while and now wants to drive. It could also mean the same as "it will
be a pleasant drive", but that's a less natural, and to me very
slightly old-fashioned reading.

[Mark Brader]

Post by m***@yahoo.co.uk
"It will be a pleasant drive" means that the journey referred to will
be generally pleasant (nice scenery, good company, whatever), and
could be said either by the driver or by a passenger.
In the most natural reading, "it will be pleasant driving" means that
the actual act of driving (as opposed to the journey generally) will
be pleasant.

Yeah, good point. If you've got the right person with you, the drive
might be very pleasant even though the driving isn't.