Can “would like” be followed by an -ing form instead of “to + verb”?

Question

I know that “would like” is usually followed by the infinitive (for example, I’d like to go home). But I think I may have heard sentences like these:

I would not like owing that much money to anyone.

I would like experiencing such an episode.

Are these sentences grammatically correct — at least technically speaking? Or have you heard anybody using such sentences in real life?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Answer 1

Yes, the verb like is listed in The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language on p1231 as allowing either a to-infinitival complement or a gerund-participial (ing-clause).

So you could have, for example would like to work with or would like working with, though the latter is much less frequent, at least on a google ngram.

The top 10 verbs to follow would like in the -ing form in the News on the Web corpus are: having, being, working, seeing, going, doing, playing, using, watching, getting. Most of the examples are from quotes of oral English or from less formal sources. At least some would sound off if the -ing form were replaced with the to-infinitival.

I wasn't sure how I would like being a hen owner, so sought out Erika and Gary Dunphy from Hen Friends, who cleverly rent out chickens and a coop to see if being a hen owner is for you. (Irish Examiner)