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By
Mubarak Abdessalami
Which one to use and why?
Put the verb betwe en brackets in the correct form.
Leila stopped
(say) hello to her friends.
What a quandary! Shall I use the infinitive
‘to say’
or the gerund ‘
saying
’? I asked myteacher about it but all that she said was:
"It depends ...!"
But it depends on what? I figured out that she wanted me to work out my brains to see to whatextent I could solve this enigma. Well!1.Leila stopped
to say
hello to her friends.2.Leila stopped
saying
hello to her friends.I bet they are both correct, but they bear each a completely different meaning. I got it now; theteacher meant that it all depends on what I wanted to say! Grammatically speaking, example “1” respects the rule which says that in a successiveverb situation the second should be in the infinitive. That's why I used the infinitive with its particle ‘to’. As for example “2”, the verb "stop" is followed by the gerund just like other verbs such as,
remember, forget, regret
etc.Meaning will probably make things clearer:1.Leila was walking around or riding a bike when she saw her friends and stopped togreet them.2.Leila used to say "Hello!" to her friends, but now she stopped doing that. She nolonger greets them because of something. It could be a quarrel or whatever. That'snone our business. Now let me tell you something! To get rid of such dilemma, one has to read a lot and fromtime to time to check for rules, they really help. The verbs that are followed by both thegerund and infinitive are to my mind tricky and fiddly. Look at this one:1.He rememberedtellingher the news.2.He rememberedto tellher the news.1.I triedto tellher the news, but she refused to listen.2.I triedtellingher but in vain.In the first example the telling has taken place before thinking about it, in the second,however, the speaker thought about telling her then he did it. Many other verbs give the sameheadache:
start, begin, continue, love, hate, like, neglect
and others. Is it clear? If not allowme some time to give you more situations where the gerund and the infinitive are the mainactors. 1
GERUND:
Bear in mind that:
Only the gerund is used after these expressions
:
•
It's no use.... | "It's no use crying over spilt milk" proverb
•
Look forward to ... | I'm looking forward to seeing you soon.
•
Get/be used to ... | I'm used to drinking a cup of coffee after lunch.
•
Be keen on ... | She's keen on singing pop songs
•
Couldn't help ... | When I met her, I couldn't help hugging her tightly.
•
Feel like ... | I feel like having a cold drink now.
•
Be busy ... | She is busy doing her homework right now.
•
Would you mind ... | Would you mind mailing this letter for me, please?
•
How / what about ... | How about inviting your grandmother for the party.
•
Worth ... | The film is actually worth viewing.
As well as after these verbs
:
o
admit | He admitted breaking the window pane.
o
avoid | She always avoid talking to him about the problem.
o
consider | The manager considered phoning the police
o
deny | He denied breaking into the office.
o
enjoy | She enjoys making fun of everybody.
o
finish | They finished doing their work very early.
o
forget | Sorry, I forgot sending you the catalogue.
o
imagine | He imagined being able to impress them.
o
include | The treaty includes not interfering with the others' inner problems.
o
involve | The contract involves building a fence.
o
justify | He can't justify being late for school everyday.
o
keep | The clerk kept shouting at everybody like a madman.
o
need | She needed repainting her car.
o
postpone | We postponed organising the party.
o
quit | It was hard for her to quit smoking.
o
reconsider | She finally reconsidered involving the authorities in her own affairs.
o
regret | He eventually regretted damaging the window.
o
remember | I remembered sweeping the floor before I came here.
o
stop | He stopped teasing his sister after her mother shouted at him.
o
suggest | They suggested travelling by bus.Other verbs that are followed by a gerund are:adore, anticipate, appreciate, contemplate, delay, describe, detest, dislike, escape,fancy, feel, give, hear, include, justify, listen to, mention, mind, miss, notice, observe, perceive, practice, recall, report, resent, resume, risk, see, sense, tolerate and watch.
And after some "phrasal verbs" and after verbs + prepositions like
:
Carry on | She didn't even look at me. She just carried on typing the letter.2
Go on | They went on playing tennis despite the rain.
Give up | She wanted him to give up nagging at her.
Cope with | They tried to cope with working in cold weather.
Apologize for | She apologizes for making noise.
Complain about | She continues to complain about keeping the door wide open.
Keep on | She kept on complaining...
Put off | She puts off meeting us until next week.
Insist on | She insisted on doing the task herself.
Blame for | She blames me for damaging her CD player.
Succeed in | She succeeds in keeping the children busy for a longer time.
Think of | We are thinking of moving to a bigger city.
Worry about | They worry about losing their jobs.
etc
What about adjectives + prepositions then?
We also use the gerund after the following:
Be proud of => They’re proud of participating in that humanitarian project.
Be tired of => I’m tired of repeating the same thing all the time.
Be afraid of => She’s afraid of being wrong.
Be fond of=> Her children are fond of eating dates in the morning.
Be sick of => I’m sick of eating burgers everyday.
Be worried about => He’s worried about letting her go abroad alone.
Be happy about => We were all happy about celebrating the new year in Paris.
Be glad about => She’s glad about receiving the award.
Be angry about => They are angry about staying under the rain for hours.
Be crazy about => She’s crazy about singing in the bathroom.
Be excited about => They are excited about attending the scientist’s lecture.
Be sorry about => She’s sorry about breaking the vase unintentionally.
Be interested in=> The students seem interested in doing quizzes.
Before, after, without, No:
The gerund is mostly applicable after ‘before’ and ‘after’Examples- She ran away without looking behind.- You have to train before doing any sport.- Take this medicine after warming it.- No smoking!
Infinitive:
The infinitive is known in terms of "to + verb" and this is the base verb. Yet the verbwithout its particle (to) is also a verb but it is bare. This information, I guess, is not witty at all because the verb without "to" is also imposing in some circumstances. Language is sometimestoo much demanding, isn't it?3
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