Gerunds and infinitives
Gerundsand infinitives
can function as:
can function as:
NOUNS
NOUNS
(
(subjects, objects, subject
subjects, objects, subject
complements)
complements)
As subjects, they take a singular
As subjects, they take a singular
verb.
verb.
Only Gerunds can be
Only Gerunds can be object of the
object of the
preposition.
preposition.
3.
To form
To formgerunds
gerunds, use
, use
the
the base
base form +
form + ing
ing
(don’t’ forget the rules for spelling of ing form of verbs)
(don’t’ forget the rules for spelling of ing form of verbs)
I enjoy learning English
I enjoy learning English
To form negative gerunds, use
To form negative gerunds, use
not + gerund
not + gerund
Not speaking
Not speaking English well is my
English well is my
biggest problem in this country.
biggest problem in this country.
4.
Gerunds
Gerunds used assubject
used as subject
of the sentence.
of the sentence.
Dancing
Dancing is fun.
is fun.
5.
Gerunds
Gerunds used asobjects
used as objects
He enjoys
He enjoys working
working with
with
children.
children.
6.
Verbs that takeonly
Verbs that take only Gerunds
Gerunds
• Appreciate
Appreciate
• Avoid
Avoid
• Delay
Delay
• Deny
Deny
• Discuss
Discuss
• Dislike
Dislike
• Enjoy
Enjoy
• Excuse
Excuse
• Finish
Finish
• understand
understand
• Keep
Keep
• Mention
Mention
• Mind
Mind
• Miss
Miss
• Postpone
Postpone
• Quit
Quit
• Recall
Recall
• Recommend
Recommend
• Resent
Resent
• suggest
suggest
7.
Gerunds
Gerunds used asobject of
used as object of
the preposition
the preposition
I am thinking
I am thinking about
about taking
taking the children
the children
to Mexico.
to Mexico.
8.
Common preposition combinations
Commonpreposition combinations
followed by gerunds
followed by gerunds
• Be excited
Be excited about
about, complain
, complain about,
about, talk
talk about,
about,
think
think about
about, worry
, worry about
about
• Apologize
Apologize for
for, blame
, blame for,
for, famous
famous for
for
• Believe
Believe in
in, interested
, interested in
in, succeed
, succeed in
in
• Take care
Take care of
of, instead
, instead of
of, be accused
, be accused of
of
• Insist
Insist on,
on, count
count on,
on, concentrate
concentrate on
on
• Keep
Keep from
from, prevent
, prevent from,
from, profit
profit from
from
• In addition
In addition to
to, look forward
, look forward to
to, be used
, be used to
to
9.
By + gerund
By+ gerund
You get good grades
You get good grades by studying
by studying
hard.
hard.
go + gerund
go + gerund
Recreational activities: camping, dancing,
Recreational activities: camping, dancing,
sightseeing, swimming, skiing, fishing, jogging,
sightseeing, swimming, skiing, fishing, jogging,
I will
I will go fishing
go fishing with you tomorrow
with you tomorrow.
.
10.
Some expressions are
Someexpressions are
used with
used with gerunds
gerunds
Be busy, can’t help, have fun,
Be busy, can’t help, have fun,
it’s no use, it’s not worth
it’s no use, it’s not worth
11.
To form
To forminfinitives
infinitives use
use
to + base form of the verb
to + base form of the verb
I want
I want to dance
to dance
To form negative
To form negative infinitives
infinitives use
use
Not + infinitive
Not + infinitive
He decided
He decided not to go
not to go to the party.
to the party.
12.
Infinitives
Infinitives in thesubject
in the subject
position
position
To live
To live in the United States is my dream
in the United States is my dream
It is
It is my dream
my dream to live
to live in the United States.
in the United States.
13.
Verbs that take
Verbsthat take infinitives
infinitives
Verb + infinitives
Verb + infinitives –
– agree, appear, decide
agree, appear, decide
hope, intend, learn, offer, plan, seem, tend, wait,
hope, intend, learn, offer, plan, seem, tend, wait,
can afford
can afford
Verb + Noun phrase + infinitive
Verb + Noun phrase + infinitive –
– cause,
cause,
convince, force, invite, order, persuade, remind,
convince, force, invite, order, persuade, remind,
tell, trust, warn, advise, encourage
tell, trust, warn, advise, encourage
Verbs that come directly after the infinitive or
Verbs that come directly after the infinitive or
have a noun phrase
have a noun phrase –
– ask, beg, choose, expect,
ask, beg, choose, expect,
need, want, would like, promise
need, want, would like, promise
14.
Adjectives followed by
Adjectivesfollowed by
infinitives
infinitives
Afraid, amazed, anxious, ashamed, careful,
Afraid, amazed, anxious, ashamed, careful,
delighted, eager, fortunate, glad, happy, lucky,
delighted, eager, fortunate, glad, happy, lucky,
pleased, ready, sad, sorry
pleased, ready, sad, sorry,
,
15.
Infinitive of purpose
Infinitiveof purpose
In order to
In order to
I came here
I came here in order to
in order to learn.
learn.
16.
Infinitive
Infinitive with
with too
tooand
and enough
enough
too + adjective or adverb + infinitive
too + adjective or adverb + infinitive
She is
She is too young
too young to vote.
to vote.
Adjective or adverb + enough +
Adjective or adverb + enough +
infinitive
infinitive
They are
They are old enough
old enough to vote.
to vote.
17.
Gerunds
Gerunds often followverbs that
often follow verbs that
indicate that an action is happening
indicate that an action is happening
or has happened.
or has happened.
The action expressed by the verb
The action expressed by the verb
comes at the same time or after the
comes at the same time or after the
action expressed by the gerund.
action expressed by the gerund.
We enjoy going to concerts
We enjoy going to concerts.
.
(you can only enjoy things you are doing or have done –
(you can only enjoy things you are doing or have done –
not things you haven’t done yet.)
not things you haven’t done yet.)
18.
Infinitives
Infinitives often followverbs that
often follow verbs that
indicate that an action will or could
indicate that an action will or could
happen.
happen.
The action expressed by the verb
The action expressed by the verb
comes before the action expressed by
comes before the action expressed by
the infinitive.
the infinitive.
We hope to go to the concert.
We hope to go to the concert.
(You can hope for things that could happen
(You can hope for things that could happen
not things that have already happened)
not things that have already happened)
19.
Verbs that arefollowed by
Verbs that are followed by
a noun phrase + infinitive
a noun phrase + infinitive
can also be followed by
can also be followed by a gerund
a gerund.
.
The gerund makes it general and the
The gerund makes it general and the
infinitive make specific the person
infinitive make specific the person
indicated.
indicated.
They
They allow smoking
allow smoking in this building.
in this building.
They
They allowed me to smoke
allowed me to smoke in the
in the
house.
house.
Some verbs canbe followed by both
Some verbs can be followed by both
gerund
gerund or
or infinitive
infinitive with no change
with no change
in meaning.
in meaning.
Begin, hate, like,
Begin, hate, like,
start, love, prefer, continue
start, love, prefer, continue
22.
I like
I likecooking.
cooking.
I like
I like to cook.
to cook.
She started
She started losing
losing weight
weight
She started
She started to lose
to lose weight.
weight.
23.
Some verbs althoughthey can be used
Some verbs although they can be used
after both
after both gerunds
gerunds and
and infinitives
infinitives have a
have a
difference in meaning.
difference in meaning.
remember
remember
forget
forget
regret
regret
stop
stop
try
try
get
get
24.
She stopped
She stoppedsmoking.
smoking.
She stopped
She stopped to smoke.
to smoke.
They forgot
They forgot buying
buying bread
bread.
.
They forgot
They forgot to buy
to buy bread.
bread.
25.
Used to
Used to
Beused to
Be used to
Get used to
Get used to
Used to + base form
Used to + base form
Be used to + gerund
Be used to + gerund
Get used to + gerund
Get used to + gerund
26.
Verbs of perception
Verbsof perception:
:
infinitives: from start to finish
infinitives: from start to finish
Gerunds: in progress
Gerunds: in progress
I
I heard
heard the children
the children cry
cry.
.
I
I saw
saw your friends
your friends walking
walking in the
in the
park.
park.
27.
Infinitive forms arenot used after the
Infinitive forms are not used after the
following verbs of perception:
following verbs of perception:
feel
feel
see
see
hear
hear
smell
smell
28.
When a specificperformer of the
When a specific performer of the
gerund action needs to be indicated,
gerund action needs to be indicated,
a possessive noun or a possessive
a possessive noun or a possessive
determiner
determiner is used.
is used.
I really appreciate
I really appreciate Karen’s/her
Karen’s/her
writing that letter for me.
writing that letter for me.
Peter’s/his
Peter’s/his coming late really annoys
coming late really annoys
me
me.
.
29.
Your
Your neglecting yourteeth will cause
neglecting your teeth will cause
an earlier return to the dentist.
an earlier return to the dentist.
Their
Their denying the allegation was
denying the allegation was
understandable.
understandable.
I didn’t like the
I didn’t like the dog’s
dog’s barking all
barking all
night.
night.
30.
I don’t mind
Idon’t mind his
his leaving early.
leaving early.
(formal)
(formal)
I don’t mind
I don’t mind him
him leaving early.
leaving early.
(informal)
(informal)
31.
When an infinitivefunctions as a
When an infinitive functions as a
subject
subject or a
or a subject complement
subject complement, any
, any
stated subject of the infinitive should
stated subject of the infinitive should
be preceded by
be preceded by for
for.
. If a pronoun
If a pronoun
follows for, it must be in object form.
follows for, it must be in object form.
When the
When the subject
subject of a gerund is
of a gerund is
stated, it takes the possessive form.
stated, it takes the possessive form.
32.
For people
For peopleto see is a wonderful gift.
to see is a wonderful gift.
Her desire was
Her desire was for them
for them to take a trip
to take a trip
around the world
around the world
They hoped
They hoped for her
for her to be able to
to be able to
attend the concert.
attend the concert.
33.
Infinitives
Infinitives can occurin the
can occur in the
progressive but
progressive but gerunds
gerunds cannot.
cannot.
To be doing
To be doing
It is used to indicate an activity in
It is used to indicate an activity in
progress or ongoing
progress or ongoing
She had hoped to be working
She had hoped to be working
34.
Both
Both gerunds andinfinitives
gerunds and infinitives can
can
occur in the perfect form
occur in the perfect form
having done
having done
to have done
to have done
It is used to indicate that the activity
It is used to indicate that the activity
is in the past
is in the past
We appreciate having heard her sing.
We appreciate having heard her sing.
We’re fortunate to have heard her
We’re fortunate to have heard her
sing
sing
35.
A gerund canbe used in the passive
A gerund can be used in the passive
form
form
I dislike being told a lie.
I dislike being told a lie.
36.
Have
Have
make
make
let
let
are causative verbs.They cause
are causative verbs. They cause
someone to do something.
someone to do something.
They are always followed by a noun
They are always followed by a noun
phrase + base form of verb.
phrase + base form of verb.
Do not use an infinitive after these
Do not use an infinitive after these
verbs.
verbs.
She made
She made me
me fall
fall.
.
37.
She
She made
made herdaughter
her daughter go
go to the
to the
party.
party.
She
She let
let him
him take
take the camera.
the camera.
She
She had
had me
me prepare
prepare breakfast
breakfast
yesterday.
yesterday.
Sense-perception verbs:
Sense-perception verbs:
hear,listen to
hear, listen to
feel, smell, see
feel, smell, see
watch, observe, notice
watch, observe, notice
are followed by either a noun phrase
are followed by either a noun phrase
+ base or –ing form with only a slight
+ base or –ing form with only a slight
difference in meaning.
difference in meaning.
40.
We saw people
Wesaw people living
living in poverty.
in poverty.
We saw
We saw them perform
them perform
41.
Help
Help
can take aninfinitive or base form.
can take an infinitive or base form.
It can occur
It can occur with
with or
or without
without a noun
a noun
phrase.
phrase.
I helped
I helped them carry
them carry the boxes.
the boxes.
I helped
I helped them to clean up
them to clean up after the
after the
party.
party.
42.
perfect infinitive:
perfect infinitive:to have moved
to have moved
progressive infinitive:
progressive infinitive: to be working
to be working
perfect progressive infinitive:
perfect progressive infinitive:
to have been playing
to have been playing
passive:
passive: to be seen
to be seen
perfect passive:
perfect passive: to have been chosen
to have been chosen
43.
Perfect gerund:
Perfect gerund:having moved
having moved
passive gerund:
passive gerund: being done
being done
perfect passive gerund:
perfect passive gerund: having been
having been
selected
selected