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As I know, there is no difference in meaning between the following two sentences.

  1. It is not important for you to eat good food.
  2. It is not important that you eat good food.

But I believe that there is a little difference between the two sentences at least because the letters in them are different.

Does anybody know the difference?

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    It's more than the letters that's different. Do some research online and tell us what fun you had. Homework is a must.
    – Kris
    Commented May 30, 2013 at 6:11
  • I just want to remind OP in your about-me: "I am a English teacher in Korea ..." As an English teacher, maybe, you'd better be more careful of grammar than other people.
    – Stan
    Commented May 30, 2013 at 13:21

2 Answers 2

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Out of context the sentences can mean the same but are partially ambiguous. Do you currently eat good food or not? This is not clear. But whichever is true, eating good food is unimportant.

However, only the second sentence allows a second interpretation, namely:

  • You currently eat good food, but the fact that you do is unimportant.

A statement with this meaning might continue:

  • It is not important that you eat good food; it is important you were born of the right parents.
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The first sentence specifically implies that eating good food is not important for you . This means there is someone for whom it is important that you eat food. That "someone" might be the person who is telling you this thing.

In the second sentence the specific reference is not provided to whom it is not important that you eat good food i.e. it simply means that it is for sure not important to anyone that you eat good food. Consider this sentence-It is important that we have better medical facilities in our country. This means it is important for all and not specifically for anyone.

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