Tell me more ×
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote -1 down vote favorite

Possible Duplicate:
When should a verb be followed by a gerund instead of an infinitive?

What's the difference between the two:

  • What materials do they prefer working with?
  • What materials do they prefer to work with?
share|improve this question
3  
Very little if any. Did you think there would be? If so, maybe you should explain why. – J.R. Aug 29 '12 at 18:58
2  
Prefer is another mental intention verb, like try, and governs much the same type of complement. – John Lawler Aug 29 '12 at 20:41

marked as duplicate by J.R., Mehper C. Palavuzlar, FumbleFingers, jwpat7, Mahnax Aug 30 '12 at 17:14

This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.

1 Answer

up vote 2 down vote

There's no difference in meaning. "Prefer to work" sounds very slightly more formal than "Prefer working" and also seems more natural to me, but that's pretty subjective. Either is perfectly valid.

share|improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.