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I am not sure if the following sentence is grammatically correct.

His job is driving a cab.

I believe the gerund cannot be used in this way. Am I right?

Would it mean the same to say? His job is to drive a cab

What are the differences between these two statements? Are they both possible?

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  • Welcome fer - Why do you think a gerund can't be used that way?
    – ColleenV
    Commented Sep 2, 2018 at 14:19
  • Would it mean the same to say? His job is to drive a cab
    – fer
    Commented Sep 2, 2018 at 14:26
  • What are the differences between these two statements? Are they both possible?
    – fer
    Commented Sep 2, 2018 at 14:27
  • @fer Please feel free to edit in any additional details or thoughts about this. Don't use comments for that.
    – user3395
    Commented Sep 2, 2018 at 15:04
  • It might be worth pointing out that Playing football is Gareth Bale's job and Gareth Bale's job is playing football are both perfectly valid and usually mean exactly the same thing. As does Gareth Bale's job is to play football, but To play football is Gareth Bale's job doesn't sound at all idiomatic to me.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Sep 2, 2018 at 16:08

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Driving a cab is his job. Playing tennis is their favorite sport.

Gerund phrases can be used as subjects in sentences with be and a predicate nominative. So, you can invert those sentences to:

His job is driving a cab.

Their favorite sport is playing tennis.

His job is to drive a cab, and not to sit around playing cards.

The emphasis is different. The meaning is basically the same but, let's say for simplicity's sake, the use of drive a cab after to is more objective oriented and is a predicate but not a predicate nominative. It makes a statement about his job. As opposed to just being informative.

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