和好题老师看法有些不同。我认为只能用不定式。楼主的理解没问题。(只论及表示具体意义时)1--做主语时,表示具体意义,将来的意义时,不可交替使用。引几个例子:I have not been to Geneva,but to go (*going )there is one of my ambitions./ We come now to the very brink where hope and despair are akin. To waver is to fall.(只能用不定式) Writing a book is not unlike building a house or planning a battle or painting a picture. (只能用动名词) 2--或者潜在的假设的意义(如含蓄条件式)如:For me to back out (*My backing out) now would be to acknowledge that I am afraid. / To turn back now would be a mistake. 3--表示含蓄原因用-ing 动名词,其实是已发生的事件,故不宜用不定式。如What’s made Ruth so upset? ---Losing (* To lose) three tickets to the folk music concert.
在非正式用法中,作为外位主语时,不定式,动名词都可以表示笼统、抽象意义,也可以表示个别、具体事件意义,可以互换。It’s a great pleasure being (to be) with you this evening.(具体意义)
至于用不定式做主语过不过时,没看到过相关资料,我了解的是,在表示抽象笼统意义时,可以互换,但不定式不如动名词常见。另外,不定式做主语时多采用it外置形式。