Gerunds and Infinitives Gerunds and infinitives can function

Gerunds and Infinitives

Gerunds and infinitives can function as: NOUNS (subjects, objects, subject complements)

To form gerunds, use the base form + ing I enjoy watching American series To form negative gerunds, use not + gerund Not speaking English can be a problem in the show business world.

Verbs that take only Gerunds Appreciate Avoid Delay Deny Discuss Dislike Enjoy Excuse Finish Understand Keep Mention Mind Miss Postpone Quit Recall Recommen d Resent

Gerunds used as object of the preposition I am thinking about taking the children to Mexico.

Common preposition combinations followed by apologize for, gerunds be excited about complain about, talk about, think about, worry about believe in, interested in, succeed in insist on count on concentrate on blame for, famous for take care of instead of be accused of keep from prevent from profit from in addition to look forward to be used to

by + gerund You get good grades by studying hard. go + gerund Recreational activities: camping, dancing, sightseeing, swimming, skiing, fishing, jogging, I will go fishing with you tomorrow.

Some expressions are used with gerunds be busy, can’t help, have fun, it’s no use, it’s not worth It’s no use telling him to behave! He doesn’t listen.

Summing up Gerunds can be used as – Nouns – After some verbs (LIST) – After some expressions – After prepositions

INFINITIVE

To form infinitives use to + base form of the verb I want to dance To form negative infinitives use Not + infinitive He decided not to go to the party.

Verbs that take infinitives Verb + infinitives – agree, ask, appear, beg, decide, choose, expect, hope, intend, learn, need, offer, plan, , promise, seem, tend, wait, want, can afford, would like. Verb + sm + infinitive – cause, convince, force, invite, order, persuade, remind, tell, trust, warn, advise, encourage

Adjectives followed by infinitives afraid, amazed, anxious, ashamed, careful, delighted, eager, fortunate, glad, happy, lucky, pleased, ready, sad, sorry,

Infinitive of purpose In order to / so as to / to… I came here to help you.

Infinitive with too and enough She is too young to vote. They are old enough to vote.

Summing up Infinitives can be used as – Subjects – After some verbs (LIST) – After adjectives – To show purpose

Some verbs can be followed by both gerund or infinitive with no change in meaning. begin, hate, like, start, love, prefer, continue WOULD LIKE + INFINITIVE

I like cooking. I like to cook when I have some freetime. She started losing weight. She started to lose weight.

Some verbs although they can be used after both gerunds and infinitives have a difference in meaning. remember forget regret stop try

He stopped smoking. He stopped to smoke. She regretted having hurt his feelings. She regretted to hurt his feelings but she had to say the truth.

Different meanings She tried to lose weight but she couldn’t. Why don’t you try exercising more often?

Used to (past memories) Be used to / Get used to (habits) Used to + infinitive My granny used to tell me stories.

Be used to + gerund Get used to + gerund I am used to getting up early. I can’t get used to wearing glasses all the time

Sense-perception verbs: hear, listen to feel, smell, see watch, observe, notice are followed by either a bare infinitive (without to) or –ing form with only a slight difference in meaning.

Verbs of perception: Infinitives: from start to finish Gerunds: in progress She said she saw a man climbing up the fence. She said she saw the police arrive, park the car and enter the building.