Gerund or Infinitive

GERUND OR INFINITIVE?

1. Verbs expressing likes/dislikes/desires)

The two groups of verbs below can be followed either by the gerund or by the infinitive. Usually this has almost no effecton the meaning.

Hate, like, love, prefer

Example:

to prefer

I prefer

to live

in an apartment.I prefer

living

in an apartment.

Notes:

1.

The verbs

hate, love, like, prefer

are usually followed by a gerund (

-ing

) when the meaning is

general,

andby a

to-infinitive

when they refer to a particular time or situation.

Compare:

♦

I hate

to tell

you, but Uncle Jim is coming this weekend.

♦

I hate

looking

after elderly relatives!

♦

I love

dancing

.

You must always use the

to-infinitive

with the expressions

“would”.

•

I would love

to dance

with you.

2. Verbs followed by the gerund

The gerund is used after the verb

enjoy.

I enjoy

spending

my time with you

3. Verbs followed by the infinitive

The verb

“want

” is commonly

followed by a

to-infinitive

, with or without a noun (or an object pronoun:

me, you, him,her, it, us, you, them

). It can never be followed by a

that-clause

.Example:

♦

Do you want to go to the beach?

♦

Do you want me to go with you to the beach?

(

Not

: Do you want that I go with you to the beach?)

2. Verbs where there is a clear difference in meaning

:Verbs marked with an asterisk

*

can also be followed by a

that-clause

.

comeforget

*

go onmean

*

regret

*

remember

*

stoptry

NOTES:

Come:Come + gerund

is like other verbs of movement followed by the gerund, and means that the subject is doing somethingas they move:

•

She came

running

across the field.

Come + to-infinitive

means that something happens or develops, perhaps outside the subject's control:

•

At first I thought he was crazy, but I've come

to appreciate

his sense of humour.

•

How did you come

to be

outside the wrong house?

•

This word has come

to mean

something quite different.

Forget, regret and remember:

When these verbs are followed by a

gerund

, the gerund refers to an action that happened earlier:

•

I remember

locking

the door (

= I remember now, I locked the door earlier)

•

He regretted

speaking

so rudely.

(= he regretted at some time in the past, he had spoken rudely at someearlier time in the past.)

Forget

is frequently used with

'never'

in the simple future form:

•

I'll never forget

meeting

the Queen.

When these verbs are followed by a

to-infinitive

,

the infinitive refers to an action happening at the same time, or later:

•

I remembered

to lock

the door

(= I thought about it, then I did it.)

•

Don't forget

to buy

some eggs!

(= Please think about it and then do it.)

•

We regret

to announce

the late arrival of the 12.45 from Paddington.

(= We feel sorry before we tell you thisbad news.)

Go on:Go on + gerund

means to continue with an action:

•

He went on

speaking

for two hours.

•

I can't go on

working

like this - I'm exhausted.

Go on + to-infinitive

means to do the next action, which is often the next stage in a process:

•

After introducing her proposal, she went on

to explain

the benefits for the company.

•

John Smith worked in local government for five years, then went on

to become

a Member of Parliament.

Mean:Mean + gerund

expresses what the result of an action will be, or what will be necessary:

•

If you take that job in London it will mean

travelling

for two hours every day.

•

We could take the ferry to France, but that will mean

spending

a night in a hotel.

Mean + to-infinitive

expresses an intention or a plan:

•

Did you mean

to dial

this number?

•

I mean

to finish

this job by the end of the week!

•

Sorry - I didn't mean

to hurt

you.

Stop:Stop + gerund

means to finish an action in progress:

•

I stopped

working

for them because the wages were so low.Stop

tickling

me!

Stop + to-infinitive

means to interrupt an activity in order to do something else, so the infinitive is used to express apurpose:

•

I stopped

to have

lunch.

(= I was working, or travelling, and I interrupted what I was doing in order to eat.)

•

It's difficult to concentrate on what you are doing if you have to stop

to answer

the phone every five minutes.

Try:Try + gerund

means to experiment with an action that might be a solution to your problem.

•

If you have problems sleeping, you could try

doing

some yoga before you go to bed, or you could try

drinking

some warm milk.

•

'I can't get in touch with Carl.' 'Have you tried

e-mailing

him?'

Try + to-infinitive

means to make an effort to do something. It may be something very difficult or even impossible:

•

The surgeons tried

to save

his life but he died on the operating table.

•

We'll try

to phone

at 6 o'clock, but it might be hard to find a public telephone.

•

Elephants and mice have to try

to live

together in harmony.

3. Verbs followed by the gerund

The gerund is used after certain verbs. The most important of these verbs are shown below. Those marked * can alsobe followed by a

that-clause

VERB

GERUND

She admitted... breaking the windowShe admitted... that she had broken the window.acknowledge,*admit,*avoid,Can’t helpCan’t standcelebrate,consider, contemplate,deny,*detest,dislike,enjoy,fancy

(=imagine)

*,Feel like (apetecer)finish,forgive,imagine,*involve,It’s worthkeep,mean

,(=have as result)

*mention,*mind,miss,prevent,propose,*resent,resist,risk,save

(=prevent the wasted effort)

stop,suggest,*understand,*

4. THE GERUND

This

looks

exactly the same as a present participle, and for this reason it is now common to call both forms

'the

-ing form'

.

However it is useful to understand the difference between the two. The gerund always has the same function asa noun (although it looks like a verb), so it can be used:

a.

as the subject of the sentence:

•

Eating

people is wrong.

•

Hunting

elephants is dangerous.

•

Flying

makes me nervous.

b. after prepositions.