This document provides an overview of gerunds and infinitives in English. It explains that gerunds and infinitives can function as nouns, and gerunds can be the object of a preposition. Gerunds are formed with "-ing" and infinitives with "to". The document lists common verbs that take gerunds or infinitives as objects. It also discusses the differences between gerund and infinitive usage after certain verbs and in different tenses or aspects like the progressive, perfect, and passive.

1. Gerunds
and
Infinitives

2. Gerunds and infinitives
can function as:
NOUNS
(subjects, objects, subject complements)
As subjects, they take a singular verb.
Only Gerunds can be object of the
preposition.

3. To form gerunds, use
the base form + ing
(don’t’ forget the rules for spelling of ing form of verbs)
I enjoy learning English
To form negative gerunds, use
not + gerund
Not speaking English well is my biggest
problem in this country.

4. Gerunds used as subject of the
sentence.
Dancing is fun.

5. Gerunds used as objects
He enjoys working with
children.

6. Verbs that take only Gerunds
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Appreciate
Avoid
Delay
Deny
Discuss
Dislike
Enjoy
Excuse
Finish
understand
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Keep
Mention
Mind
Miss
Postpone
Quit
Recall
Recommend
Resent
suggest

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

8. Common preposition combinations
followed by gerunds
• Be excited about, complain about, talk about,
think about, worry about
• Apologize for, blame for, famous for
• Believe in, interested in, succeed in
• Take care of, instead of, be accused of
• Insist on, count on, concentrate on
• Keep from, prevent from, profit from
• In addition to, look forward to, be used to

9. 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.

10. Some expressions are used with
gerunds
Be busy, can’t help, have fun,
it’s no use, it’s not worth

11. 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.

12. Infinitives in the subject position
To live in the United States is my dream
It is my dream to live in the United States.

13. Verbs that take infinitives
Verb + infinitives – agree, appear, decide
hope, intend, learn, offer, plan, seem, tend,
wait, can afford
Verb + Noun phrase + infinitive – cause,
convince, force, invite, order, persuade,
remind, tell, trust, warn, advise, encourage
Verbs that come directly after the infinitive or
have a noun phrase – ask, beg, choose,
expect, need, want, would like, promise

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

15. Infinitive of purpose
In order to
I came here in order to learn.

16. Infinitive with too and enough
too + adjective or adverb + infinitive
She is too young to vote.
Adjective or adverb + enough + infinitive
They are old enough to vote.

17. Gerunds often follow verbs that indicate
that an action is happening or has
happened.
The action expressed by the verb comes at
the same time or after the action
expressed by the gerund.
We enjoy going to concerts.
(you can only enjoy things you are doing or have done –
not things you haven’t done yet.)

18. Infinitives often follow verbs that indicate
that an action will or could happen.
The action expressed by the verb comes
before the action expressed by the
infinitive.
We hope to go to the concert.
(You can hope for things that could happen
not things that have already happened)

19. Verbs that are followed by
a noun phrase + infinitive
can also be followed by a gerund.
The gerund makes it general and the
infinitive make specific the person
indicated.
They allow smoking in this building.
They allowed me to smoke in the house.

20. These verbs are:
advise
allow
encourage
permit
require
urge

21. Some verbs can be followed by both
gerund or infinitive with no change in
meaning.
Begin, hate, like,
start, love, prefer, continue

22. I like cooking.
I like to cook.
She started losing weight
She started to lose weight.

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

24. She stopped smoking.
She stopped to smoke.
They forgot buying bread.
They forgot to buy bread.

25. Used to
Be used to
Get used to
Used to + base form
Be used to + gerund
Get used to + gerund

26. Verbs of perception:
infinitives: from start to finish
Gerunds: in progress
I heard the children cry.
I saw your friends walking in the park.

27. Infinitive forms are not used after the
following verbs of perception:
feel
see
hear
smell

28. When a specific performer of the gerund
action needs to be indicated, a possessive
noun or a possessive determiner is used.
I really appreciate Karen’s/her writing that
letter for me.
Peter’s/his coming late really annoys me.

29. Your neglecting your teeth will cause an
earlier return to the dentist.
Their denying the allegation was
understandable.
I didn’t like the dog’s barking all night.

30. I don’t mind his leaving early.
(formal)
I don’t mind him leaving early.
(informal)

31. When an infinitive functions as a subject or
a subject complement, any stated subject
of the infinitive should be preceded by for.
If a pronoun follows for, it must be in
object form.
When the subject of a gerund is stated, it
takes the possessive form.

32. For people to see is a wonderful gift.
Her desire was for them to take a trip
around the world
They hoped for her to be able to attend
the concert.

33. Infinitives can occur in the progressive but
gerunds cannot.
To be doing
It is used to indicate an activity in progress
or ongoing
She had hoped to be working

34. Both gerunds and infinitives can occur in
the perfect form
having done
to have done
It is used to indicate that the activity is in
the past
We appreciate having heard her sing.
We’re fortunate to have heard her sing

35. A gerund can be used in the passive
form
I dislike being told a lie.

36. Have
make
let
are causative verbs. They cause
someone to do something.
They are always followed by a noun
phrase + base form of verb.
Do not use an infinitive after these
verbs.
She made me fall.

37. She made her daughter go to the
party.
She let him take the camera.
She had me prepare breakfast
yesterday.

38. After causative verbs:
get
convince
persuade
use the infinitive
She got me to work.
She convinced me to work.

39. Sense-perception verbs:
hear, listen to
feel, smell, see
watch, observe, notice
are followed by either a noun phrase +
base or –ing form with only a slight
difference in meaning.

40. We saw people living in poverty.
We saw them perform

41. Help
can take an infinitive or base form.
It can occur with or without a noun
phrase.
I helped them carry the boxes.
I helped them to clean up after the
party.

42. perfect infinitive: to have moved
progressive infinitive: to be working
perfect progressive infinitive:
to have been playing
passive: to be seen
perfect passive: to have been chosen

43. Perfect gerund: having moved
passive gerund: being done
perfect passive gerund: having been
selected

44. The End!