Gerunds and Infinitives

GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

Base form Vs Gerund Vs Infinitive

Base Form: Infinitive without TOSHARE

Infinitive: always with TOTO SHARE

Gerund: Base form+INGSHARING

BASE FORM

After some perception verbs such as HEAR, FEEL or SEE and the verbs LET and MAKE:

I saw you leave home.My parents don’t let me stay out late

GERUNDS

As a subject of a sentence:

After prepositions:

Smoking kills.I thought of calling you, but

it was late.After having lunch, they go

to school.

GERUNDS

As a Direct Object of certain verbs:

After certain expressions:

Continue MissEnjoy PreferFinish

RecommendLike/dislike SuggestLove/hate

Can’t help Look forward to

Can’t stand Spend (time)Feel like Don’t mindIt’s no use Would mind

Be/Get used to

INFINITIVES

As a subject of a sentence (when we talk about a specific fact)

After some verbs:

To smoke now would be rude.

Agree LearnAppear/seem ManageChoose PlanDecide PromiseExpect RefuseHope

Want/wish

INFINITIVES

After certain adjectives and adverbs:

After Indirect Object of certain verbs:

BusyHappyReadyTired

SlowlyFastLowHigh

Advise TeachInvite

PersuadeTell Warn

VERBS FOLLOWED BY BOTH

Without change in meaning:

With change in meaning:

BeginProposeForbidIntendStart

StopRememberForgetRegret

STOP

STOP + GERUND:To leave an habit

STOP + INFINITIVE:To interrupt an action for

doing something else

You should stop smoking, it will kill you!

Let’s stop here to have a drink!

REMEMBER

REMEMBER + GERUND:It refers to something done in

the past

REMEMBER + INFINITIVE:It refers to the future. We use it

when we want to say sth immportant to somenone.

I don’t remeber locking the door!

You should remember to call Mr Jones to put off the meeting.

REGRET

REGRET + GERUND:To regret something from the past.

REGRET + INFINITIVE:To make bad news public.

She regrets breaking up with him.

I regret to tell you that we don’t have any vacancy to be filled.

FORGET

FORGET + GERUND:To express that we’ve forgotten

something which was done in the past.

FORGET + INFINITIVE:To forget doing something.

I forgot talking to you!(you talked, but you don’t

remember)

I forgot to call you on your birthday.

(you didn’t call, so you didn’t remember)

How to choose the right one....

Gerund or Infinitive ?

We select the –ing from....

To create a NOUN from a verb to express a general idea(Subject of the sentence in most cases):“Paying attention is essential in class”

After any preposition:“I am looking forward to hearing from you”

After certain verbal expressions (can’t stand, can’t help, be/get used to, don’t mind/would mind, it’s no use):“I can’t help getting angry when pupils speak in class”

As Direct Object of a list of verbs (continue, enjoy, like, love, prefer, suggest, recommend, etc...):“I prefer going to the beach”

List of verbs followed by –ing form

Verbs Followed by a Gerund“They enjoyed working on the boat”.

admitadviseappreciateavoidcan't helpcompleteconsider

delaydenydetestdislikeenjoyescapeexcuse

finishforbidget throughhaveimaginemindmiss

permitpostponepracticequitrecallreportresent

resistresumeriskspend (time)suggesttoleratewaste (time)

Other uses of the Gerund

After verbs of the senses both the gerund and the bare infinitive can be used, but there’s a difference in meaning. Let’s compare these pairs of sentences:

– She heard the alarm clock go off - It expresses a complete action, the subject has heard the whole ringing of the clock.

– He saw the builders building the block of flats. - It means that the subject has only seen part of the action, he has only seen them building the flats whenever he walked by that area. It expresses incompleteness.


After verbs denoting physical activity, such as to go and to come: They go skiing every winter I went shopping with my mother last week I wanted him to come riding.After the verbs waste / spend (money / time):She spends a lot of time doing her homeworkI have wasted hours waiting for the bus.


When the subject of the –ing form is different from the subject of the main clause, two constructions are possible: either the possessive case or the accusative:

Do you mind him / his studying with us?

In formal English, nouns denoting persons are put into the possessive case:

I couldn’t stand my sister-in-law’s criticizing my children.


The use of the perfect gerund instead of the present when we are referring to a past action: He was accused of having driven under the influence He was accused of driving under the influence.

There are some verbs which can be followed by the infinitive or gerund. The most common ones are: without any difference in meaning: start, begin:

I started studying / to study English when I was a little girl.

However, when the verb is in the continuous form the to-infinitive is preferred: I’m beginning to concentrate now.


There are some other verbs which can also be followed by the to-infinitive or gerund with a slight difference in meaning. Let’s compare these two sentences:

– I like going to the beach. It expresses a general or habitual action.

– I like to go to the beach early in the morning. It expresses specific or isolated actions.

We select Infinitive....

To form the subject of a verb that refers to something specific:“To answer this question is essential”

After some adjectives and/or adverbs:“I am happy to announce my daughter’s wedding”“The wall was too high to jump for young children”

After the Indirect Object of certain verbs (advise, invite, warn, teach, ...):

“The Headmaster warned the student not to do that again”Verbs of perception(hear, feel,...) ; LET; MAKE INF sin TO:

“I heard him enter the house”; “Let me explain”; “She made me do it”.

List of verbs followed by Infinitive

Verbs Followed by an Infinitive“She agreed to speak before the game.”

agreeaimappeararrangeask attemptbe ablebegbegincare choosecondescend

consentcontinuedaredecidedeservedetestdislikeexpectfailforgetgethappen

havehesitatehopehurryintendleapleavelikelonglovemeanneglect

offeroughtplanpreferprepareproceedpromiseproposerefuseremembersay

shootstartstopstriveswearthreatentryusewaitwantwish

Verbs followed by Object and an Infinitive:

Verbs Followed by an Object and an Infinitive“Everyone expected her to win.”

adviseallowaskbegbringbuildbuychallenge

choosecommanddaredirectencourageexpectforbidforce

havehireinstructinviteleadleaveletlike

lovemotivateorderpaypermitpersuadepreparepromise

remindrequiresendteachtellurgewantwarn

Verbs that can be followed by both “INFINITIVE” or “-ING”

No change in meaning: begin, propose, forbid, intend, start..With a difference meaning: remember, forget, regret, stop, try...

REMEMBER/FORGET/REGRET:+ INFINITIVE Future+ -ing Past

Examples: “I remember attending to dance classes when I was a child” “Remember to revise the questions before handing out the exam” “My grandmother forgot to lock the door when she left the house” “I repeated the activity because I forgot doing it last week”

Verbs that can be followed by both “INFINITIVE” or “-ING”

STOP:+ ING NO (don’t do that anymore)+ INFINITIVE YES (do it, indeed)

Examples:“You have to stop writing at 10 o’clock.”“After five hours of hard work we stopped to have a rest”

TRY:+ING “experiment”+ INFINITIVE “make the effort”

Examples:“I was trying to open the door but I couldn’t.”“Why don’t you try using this key?”

MEAN

I meant to call you, but in the end I forgot to. It means the same as intend.

Working as an air-hostess means travelling a lot. It means the same as involve.

PREFER/RATHER

We can have the following structures:– I prefer to visit Chaplin exhibition rather than (to) go to

the EOI (Present tense)

– I prefer visiting Chaplin exhibition to going to the EOI (Present tense)

– I preferprefer tea tea toto coffee coffee (one thing to another thing)(one thing to another thing)

– I I would prefer to go would prefer to go skiing skiing rather than (to) go fishingrather than (to) go fishing butbut

– I I would rather go would rather go skiing skiing than go than go fishingfishing..

Full Infinitive ( Infinitive with to)

After several verbs (hear, feel, see, and make) in the passive voice: She was made to open her suitcase at the airport. (Where him acts as the subject of the infinitive).

Although in the active voice we use the bare infinitive:We made her open the case.


To express the infinitive of purpose:

I went to the theatre to book the tickets.

The corresponding negative is often constructed with in order not to or so as not to:

I came in quietly in order not to/so as not to wake up the children.


After nouns, when the infinitive functions as a modifier of the noun:

A book to read.

After adjectives, when the infinitive functions as a modifier of the adjective:

This word is easy to spell.


After certain adverbs such as enough and too:

This suitcase is too big for me to carry.

After verbs such as to know, to teach, to learn, to show followed by an interrogative word + infinitive (with the value of a subordinate noun clause):

I know where to go.


In impersonal passive sentences:

The Official Language School is believed to have a great number of students.

There are also a number of independent constructions which also use the to-infinitive:

To sum up, To start with, etc.

Bare Infinitive (Infinitive without to) (1)

With verbs of perception, such as to hear, to see, to watch, to feel, to notice, to observe, to overhear:

I saw Pablo and Javier enter.

Nevertheless, in the passive the infinitive is used with to:

They were seen to enter.

Bare Infinitive (Infinitive without to)(2)

With some other verbs and expressions that govern a bare infinitive, for instance, to make, to let, had better, had rather, had sooner, need hardly, cannot but, etc.:

Javier made Pablo cry

You had better start studying right now if you want to pass your English test.

Bare Infinitive (Infinitive without to)(3)

In noun predicate clauses, when the subject is a pseudo-cleft sentence, both constructions are possible:

What you’ve done is (to) spoil our plans.

Documents

Gerunds and Infinitives