GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES English Department 1 GERUNDS INTRODUCTION

******** GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES ********* English Department 1

GERUNDS: INTRODUCTION English Department 2

Playing tennis is fun. English Department 3

We enjoy playing tennis. English Department 4

He’s excited about playing tennis. English Department 5

Walking is good exercise. – walking = a gerund, used as the subject of the sentence. English Department 6

I heard some surprising news. – surprising = a present participle, used as an adjective. English Department 7

USING GERUNDS AS THE OBJECTS OF PREPOSITIONS English Department 8

We talked about going to Canada for our vacation. English Department 9

Sue is in charge of organizing the meeting. English Department 10

I’m interested in learning more about your work. English Department 11

I’m used to sleeping with the window open. English Department 12

I look forward to going home next month. English Department 13

They object to changing their plans at this late date. English Department 14

We talked about not going to the meeting, but finally decided we should go. English Department 15

I’m accustomed to sleep with the windows open. (Possible in British English. ) English Department 16

COMMON VERBS FOLLOWED BY GERUNDS English Department 17

I enjoy playing tennis. English Department 18

Joe quit smoking. English Department 19

Joe gave up smoking. English Department 20

VERB + GERUND: English Department 21

When the professor entered the room, the students stopped talking. The room became quiet. English Department 22

While I was walking down the street, I ran into an old friend. I stopped to talk to him. (I stopped walking in order to talk to him. ) English Department 23

GO + GERUND English Department 24

Did you go shopping? English Department 25

We went fishing yesterday. English Department 26

GO + GERUND: English Department 27

go bird watching go boating go bowling go camping go canoeing go dancing English Department 28

go fishing go hunting go jogging go climbing go running go sailing English Department 29

go shopping go sightseeing go skating go skiing go swimming go shopping English Department 30

COMMON VERBS FOLLOWED BY INFINITIVES English Department 31

I hope to see you again soon. English Department 32

He promised to be here by ten. English Department 33

He promised not to be late. English Department 34

Mr. Lee told me to be here at ten o’clock. English Department 35

The driver was ordered to stop. English Department 36

I expect Mary to pass the test. English Department 37

I intend to go to the meeting. English Department 38

I intend going to the meeting. English Department 39

He advised buying a Fiat. English Department 40

He advised me to buy a Fiat. I was advised to buy a Fiat. English Department 41

COMMON VERBS FOLLOWED BY EITHER INFINITIVES OR GERUNDS English Department 42

VERB + INFINITIVE OR GERUND (WITH NO DIFFERENCE IN MEANING): English Department 43

It began to rain. It began raining. English Department 44

I started to work. I started working. English Department 45

It was beginning to rain. English Department 46

VERB + INFINITIVE OR GERUND (WITH A DIFFERENCE IN MEANING): English Department 47

Judy always remembers to lock the door. English Department 48

Sam often forgets to lock the door. English Department 49

I remember seeing the Alps for the first time. The sight was impressive. English Department 50

I’ll never forget seeing the Alps for the first time. English Department 51

I regret to tell you that you failed the test. English Department 52

I regret lending him some money. He never paid me back. English Department 53

I’m trying to learn English Department 54

The room was hot. I tried opening the window, but that didn’t help. English Department 55

So I tried turning on the fan, but I was still hot. Finally, I turned on the air conditioner. English Department 56

I prefer staying home to going to the concert. English Department 57

I prefer to stay home than (to) go to the concert. English Department 58

I’ll never forget …(gerund) English Department 59

I can’t forget …(gerund) English Department 60

Have you ever forgotten …(gerund) English Department 61

Can you ever forget …(gerund) English Department 62

REFERENCE LIST OF VERBS FOLLOWED BY GERUNDS English Department 63

admit • He admitted stealing the money English Department 64

advise. • She advised waiting until tomorrow English Department 65

anticipate • I anticipate having a good time on vacation. English Department 66

appreciate • I appreciated hearing from them. English Department 67

avoid • He avoided answering my question. English Department 68

complete • I finally completed writing my term paper. English Department 69

consider • I will consider going with you. English Department 70

delay • He delayed leaving for school. English Department 71

deny • She denied committing the crime. English Department 72

discuss • They discussed opening a new business. English Department 73

dislike • I dislike driving long distances English Department 74

enjoy • We enjoyed visiting them. English Department 75

finish • She finished studying about ten. English Department 76

forget. • I'll never forget visiting Napoleon's tomb English Department 77

can't help • I can't help worrying about it. English Department 78

keep • I keep hoping he will come. English Department 79

mention • She mentioned going to a movie. English Department 80

mind • Would you mind helping me with this English Department 81

miss • I miss being with my family English Department 82

postpone • Let's postpone leaving until tomorrow. English Department 83

practice • The athlete practiced throwing the ball. English Department 84

quit • He quit trying to solve the problem. English Department 85

recall • I don't recall meeting him before. English Department 86

recollect • I don't recollect meeting him before English Department 87

recommend • She recommended seeing the show. English Department 88

regret • I regret telling him my secret. English Department 89

remember • I can’t remember meeting him when I was a child. English Department 90

resent • I resent her interfering in my business. English Department 91

resist • I couldn't resist eating the dessert English Department 92

risk • She risks losing all of her money. English Department 93

stop • She stopped going to classes when she got sick. English Department 94

suggest • She suggested going to a movie. English Department 95

tolerate • She won't tolerate cheating during an examination. English Department 96

understand • I don't understand his leaving school. English Department 97

REFERENCE LIST OF VERBS FOLLOWED BY INFINITIVES English Department 98

A. VERBS FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY BY AN INFINITIVE English Department 99

afford • I can't afford to buy it. English Department 100

agree • They agreed to help us. English Department 101

appear • She appears to be tired. English Department 102

arrange • I'll arrange to meet you at the airport. English Department 103

ask • He asked to come with us English Department 104

beg • He begged to come with us. English Department 105

care • I don't care to see that show. English Department 106

claim • She claims to know a famous movie star. English Department 107

consent • She finally consented to marry him. English Department 108

decide • I have decided to leave on Monday. English Department 109

demand • I demand to know who is responsible. English Department 110

deserve • She deserves to win the prize. English Department 111

expect • I expect to enter graduate school in the fall. English Department 112

fail • She failed to return the book to the library on time. English Department 113

forget • I forgot to mail the letter. English Department 114

hesitate • Don't hesitate to ask for my help. English Department 115

hope • Jack hopes to arrive next week. English Department 116

learn • He learned to play the piano. English Department 117

manage • She managed to finish her work early. English Department 118

mean • I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. English Department 119

need • I need to have your opinion. English Department 120

offer • They offered to help us. English Department 121

plan • I am planning to have a party. English Department 122

prepare • We prepared to welcome them. English Department 123

pretend • He pretends not to understand. English Department 124

promise • I promise not to be late. English Department 125

refuse • I refuse to believe his story. English Department 126

regret • I regret to tell you that you failed. English Department 127

remember • I remembered to lock the door. English Department 128

seem • That cat seems to be friendly. English Department 129

struggle • I struggled to stay awake. English Department 130

swear • She swore to tell the truth. English Department 131

threaten • She threatened to tell my parents. English Department 132

volunteer • He volunteered to help us. English Department 133

wait • I will wait to hear from you. English Department 134

want • I want to tell you something. English Department 135

wish • She wishes to come with us. English Department 136

B. VERBS FOLLOWED BY A (PRO)NOUN + AN INFINITIVE English Department 137

advise • She advised me to wait until tomorrow. English Department 138

allow • She allowed me to use her car. English Department 139

ask • I asked John to help us. English Department 140

beg • They begged us to come. English Department 141

cause • Her laziness caused her to fail. English Department 142

challenge • She challenged me to race her to the corner. English Department 143

convince • I couldn't convince him to accept our help. English Department 144

dare • He dared me to do better than he had done. English Department 145

encourage • He encouraged me to try again. English Department 146

expect • I expect you to be on time. English Department 147

forbid • I forbid you to tell him. English Department 148

force • They forced him to tell the truth. English Department 149

hire • She hired a boy to mow the lawn. English Department 150

instruct • He instructed them to be careful. English Department 151

invite • Harry invited the Johnsons to come to his party. English Department 152

need • We needed Chris to help us figure out the solution. English Department 153

order • The judge ordered me to pay a fine. English Department 154

permit • He permitted the children to stay up late. English Department 155

persuade • I persuaded him to come for a visit. English Department 156

remind • She reminded me to lock the door. English Department 157

require • Our teacher requires us to be on time. English Department 158

teach • My brother taught me to swim. English Department 159

tell • The doctor told me to take these pills. English Department 160

urge • I urged her to apply for the job. English Department 161

want • I want you to be happy. English Department 162

warn • I warned you not to drive too fast. English Department 163

USING GERUNDS AS SUBJECTS; USING IT + INFINITIVE English Department 164

Riding with a drunk driver is dangerous. English Department 165

To ride with a drunk driver is dangerous. English Department 166

It is dangerous to ride with a drunk driver. English Department 167

Tom was drunk. It was dangerous riding with him. = We were in danger while we were riding with him. English Department 168

INFINITIVE OF PURPOSE: IN ORDER TO English Department 169

He came here in order to study English Department 170

He came here to study English Department 171

I went to the store for some bread. English Department 172

I went to the store to buy some bread. English Department 173

Typical or general purpose: English Department 174

A saw is used for cutting wood. A saw is used to cut wood. English Department 175

Particular situation: English Department 176

A chain saw was used to cut down the old oak tree. A chain saw was used for cutting down the old oak tree. English Department 177

ADJECTIVES FOLLOWED BY INFINITIVES English Department 178

We were sorry to hear the bad news. English Department 179

I was surprised to see Tim at the meeting. English Department 180

USING INFINITIVES WITH TOO AND ENOUGH English Department 181

That box is too heavy for Bob to lift. That box is very heavy, but Bob can lift it. English Department 182

I am strong enough to lift that box. I can lift it. I have enough strength to lift that box. English Department 183

USING A POSSESSIVE TO MODIFY A GERUND English Department 184

We came to class late. Mr. Lee complained about that fact. English Department 185

Formal: Mr. Lee complained about our coming to class late. English Department 186

Mr. Lee complained about our having come to class late. (a past gerund is also possible) English Department 187

Informal: Mr. Lee complained about us coming to class late. English Department 188

Formal: Mr. Lee complained about Mary’s coming to class late. English Department 189

Informal: Mr. Lee complained about Mary coming to class late. English Department 190

USING THE SIMPLE FORM AFTER LET AND HELP English Department 191

My father let me drive his car. English Department 192

I let my friend borrow my bicycle. English Department 193

My brother helped me wash my car. English Department 194

My brother helped me to wash my car. English Department 195