TO-INFINITIVE OR GERUND

TO-infinitive or gerund: LIKE, HATE, PREFER, CAN'T BEAR

The verbs like and hate express (dis)liking if they are followed by a gerund:

I like getting up early in summer. (I enjoy getting up early in summer.)
I hate dancing, so don't ask me to. (I don't like dancing.)

But if these verbs are followed by a to-infinitive, they express habitual preference, something that we do not necessarily like or enjoy but consider as useful, right or wise:

I like to be punctual. (It's important to be punctual and I am.)
I hate to lie, but sometimes I do. (It's not right to lie, but sometimes I do.)

If like is in the negative, a gerund refers to an action that we do but don't enjoy doing, while a to-infinitive means that we don't do something because we don't think it right to do:

I could tell that Sandra didn't like being photographed though she didn't say a word. (Sandra was photographed, which she didn't like.)
Sandra didn't like to be photographed, so she turned her back to the camera. (Sandra didn't want to be photographed, and she wasn't.)

Prefer and can't bear can also take a gerund or a to-infinitive:

I prefer walking to taking the bus. (I like walking better than taking the bus.)
If you prefer to walk, it will take you 30 minutes to school. (If you want to walk, it will take you 30 minutes to school.)

I can't bear seeing people being humiliated. (I don't like it when I see people being humiliated.)
I couldn't bear to see those animals suffer, so I looked away. (I didn't want to see them suffer, so I looked away.)