This document discusses the use of gerunds and infinitives in English. It provides examples of when to use gerunds, such as after prepositions and phrasal verbs, and as the subject of a sentence. It also gives examples of when to use infinitives, such as after adjectives and some verbs. Finally, it discusses some verbs that can take both gerunds and infinitives, but with different meanings.

1. Gerunds and InfinitivesNEFiUnit 5C

2. Use theGerund (verb+ ing)Afterprepositions and phrasalverbsI’mverygood at rememberingnamesShe’sgiven up smokingAs thesubject of a sentenceEatingoutis quite cheaphereAftersomeverbsI don’tmindgetting up early

3. CommonverbsAND EXPRESSIONS withgerundSuggestLIKEimagineHATELOVE missMINDinvolveENJOYregretSPENDDENYriskPRACTISESTOPSUGGEST miss CAN’T STAND it’snotworthavoidpractise CAN’T HELPlook forward tobe/getusedtoGO ON GIVE UP …

4. Use theinfinitive (to + verb)AfteradjectivesMy flat iseasytofindToexpress a reasonorpurposeHe’ssavingmoneytobuy a carAftersomeverbsTry nottomake a noise

5. Commonverbswithto + verb(can’t) AFFORD AGREEDECIDE ThreatenEXPECTFORGETHELP HOPELEARNNEEDOFFERPLAN TendPRETENDPROMISE REFUSEREMEMBERSEEM TRY WANTWOULD LIKE

6. Infinitive of purposeDon’tuse ‘for’ whenyouwanttosaythereasonorpurposewhyyou do/didsomething:I’msavingmoneyfortobuy a car

7. Use thebareinfinitive (no ‘to’)Aftermostmodals and auxiliaryverbsI can’tdrive. Wemusthurry up!(but , Yououghttosee a doctor!Aftermake and letMy parentsdon’tlet me goout lateShealwaysmakes me laughAfterhadbetterand wouldratherI’drathergohome now. It’s late.You’dbetter stop beforeyoutear me allapart. Sam Brown – StopLyrics

8. NegativesGerunds and infinitivesformthenegativewith ‘not’  nottobe, notbeingTry nottobelate, pleaseI lovenothavingtoget up earlyonSundays

9. DifferentmeaningSomeverbs can takeboththegerund and theinfinitivewiththesamemeaning:Beginstartcontinue …Someotherverbs can takeboththegerund and theinfinitive, butthemeaningisdifferent:TryRememberForgetStop

10. Other uses of gerunds and infinitivesWe use thegerundaftercertainexpressionswithitorthere – it’s no use, there’s no point, it’snotworthIt’s no use worrying. There’snothingyou can doIsthereanypoint (in) askinghim? He never has anythingusefultosay.It’s no goodtalkingto my dad because he doesn’t listen to me.

11. Other uses of gerunds and infinitivesWe use theinfinitivewithto:Afternounsformedfromverbswhichtaketheinfinitive: agree (agreement), plan (plan), hope (hope) …OurplanistoleaveonSunday.Wehaveanagreementto share thecosts.Afterexpressionswithquantifiers (enough, toomuch, a lot, plenty of …)Therewasn’tenoughsnowforustoskiThere’stoomuchtosee; youcan’tvisit Paris in justoneday

12. Other uses of gerunds and infinitivesWe use theinfinitivewithto:Aftersomething, anywhere.Isthereanythingtoeat? There’snowheretogoat nightAfterquestionwords, exceptwhyI don’tknowwheretogoorwhatto do.Aftersuperlatives and first, second, last, etcWhowasthefirstpersontowalkonthemoon