Gerund – Infinitive- LTH-AGU

Part I:
FORMS of GERUND
+ Simple Gerund:
She enjoys eating the ice-cream. // She enjoys NOT going to class today.

+ Perfect Gerund:
(The perfect gerund is used to emphazise that the action of the gerund took place before the
action of the main verb. But it is seldom used.)
Yesterday Daisy thanked Tom for having repaired her bicycle Last week

Note: Both are correct

Jack remembers meeting / having met that man yesterday
John was surprised at being elected / having been elected class president.

FORMS of INFINITIVES
+ Simple Infinitive:
The man helped repair the bike for Tom.
We decided NOT to buy a new car this year.

+ Progressive Infinitive:
The children pretended to be sleeping

+ Perfect Infinitive:
The boy seems to have lost the fear of the dark
Gerund – Infinitive- LTH-AGU

Part II:
SIX basic PRINCIPLES to use GERUND & INFINITIVE
Principle 1: Gerunds functioning as a SUBJECT

 Swimming is good for your health.

 Making mistakes bring me more experiences.
 Becoming an engineer is a childhood dream

Principle 2: Gerund & Infinitive functioning as OBJECT

a/. The verbs followed by Infinitive only
agree: I agreed to help her.
decide: I decided not to take part in the meeting.
deserve: Everyone deserves to be respected.
expect: I expect to see the new movie tomorrow.
hope: We were hoping to avoid traffic by leaving early.
learn: He learned not to trust anyone.
need: She needs to learn English.
offer: I offered to help Susan with homework.
plan: We are planning to our picnic tomorrow.
promise: My mother promised to buy a new dress for me.
seem: We seem to be lost.
wait: I cannot wait to see him.
want: I want to go to the movie theater.

b/.The verbs followed by Gerund only

admit: They admitted going to the zoo.
advise: I advise proceeding (moving forward) with caution.
avoid: She avoided asking him the question about his mother.
consider (think about): I considered staying silent, but I had to tell her.
deny: I denied going to the party.
involve: The course involved writing three tests.
mention (say something): She mentioned seeing my brother at the school.
recommend: I recommend watching this movie.
Gerund – Infinitive- LTH-AGU

risk: Don’t risk losing your job!

suggest: I suggest going to the library.

c/. No difference in meaning with Gerund & Infinitive

With these verbs:
Begin, Start, Hate, love, like, Prefer, continue, bother, can’t stand , can’t bear

d/. Difference in meaning with Gerund & Infinitive

With these verbs:
Forget, Remember, Regret, Stop, Try

Principle 3:

Gerund used after some adjectives describing feelings

She was happy / sad / anxious / willing / disappointed / … to do that

NOTE:

Gerund and Infinitive can be used with Formal subject IT and after a certain adjectives
like: easy, difficult, possible, likely,

 It is not easy to graduate / graduating from university.

 It is necessary to speak / speaking English to work in a hotel.
 It is harmful to smoke / smoking.

BUT: a/. It is possible to repair the bike (more common)

It is possible repairing the bike. (less common)

b/. It is possible for Tom to repair / repairing the bike.

c/. David is busy planting trees in the garden
David is too busy (planting in the garden) to answer the door. .

Principle 4: Gerund used after prepositions

Prepositions after Nouns :

Movies about growing up are popular.
She has an interest in becoming a singer. 
Gerund – Infinitive- LTH-AGU

Prepositions after some Adjectives :

I am anxious for seeing the film.
My sister is scared of flying.

Prepositions after some Verbs:

John is thinking about doing his homework. 
We look forward to going picnic.
I forgive you for not telling the truth.
Mr. Brown approved of his son haing a party at home.

Principle 5: To Infinitive after direct object (noun / pronoun)

 ask: Can I ask him to help me clean the floor?
 expect: I never expected him to become my boyfriend.
 hire (give a job to someone): Did the company hire you just to sit in your office?
 invite: I invited her to attend my birthday party.
 order: She ordered the child to stay at home.
 remind: Please remind me to go to work.
 require: This job required us to have experience.
 teach: That will teach you to follow the rules!
 tell: Who told you to come here?
 warn: I am warning you not to do this!

NOTE:

- She has a letter to write // I wanted a shoulder to cry on

- He bought a book to read // He needs a person to keep company with on the way
there.

Principle 6:

To Infinitive after

+ some question words such as: what, who, where, when, how

+ and these phrases like: The first, the second, …the last.
Gerund – Infinitive- LTH-AGU

I don’t know what to do

Would you teach how to cook Chinese foods.

Bob and Mary decided where and where to get married

Neil Amstrong was the first (american) to set foot on the moon.

Jack was the last (student) to leave the classroom.

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