1.

Gerunds and Infinitives

Agenda 1

1. When do we use Infinitives?

2. When do we use Gerunds?
3. Using Infinitive or Gerund

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1. Infinitives

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When do we use the INFINITIVE?

General Rules

• After certain verbs (agree, ask, decide, help, plan, hope, learn, want, would like, and
promise, etc.)

• They agreed to lower the price.

• I promised him some help.

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When do we use the INFINITIVE?

General Rules

• To show purpose:

• I left for Russia to study Russian.

• I came to the office to solve the mystery of the missing keys.

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When do we use the INFINITIVE?

Using Infinitives without ‘to’ (Bare infinitive)

• After verbs of perception (action has finished): feel , hear, notice, see , watch
I saw Chris leave the room.

• After the verbs: have, help, let, make

I had my secretary call my clients for me.

See extended list here

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2. Gerunds

-ing form used

as a noun

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When do we use the GERUND?

General Rules

• After verbs such as: admit, finish, dislike, avoid, complete, consider

• I finished making all of my sales calls at around three o’clock this afternoon.
• Kevin dislikes carrying his cell phone with him everywhere he goes.

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Prepositions followed by gerund

In English, all prepositions are followed by a verb with ING:

• I made dinner before getting home.

• He looked unhappy after seeing his work schedule.

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Expressions followed by a Gerund

• Apologize for
• Be accustomed to
• Be for/against
• Be good/bad at
• Be interested in
• Be used to
• Have difficulty in
• Insist on
• Look forward to
• Object to
• Succeed in

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Common expressions for Business

Expression Example
Object to I object to not having my opinion heard.

We are interested in finding new suppliers who understand our company’s

Be interested in
philosophy.

Be for/against The board is against paying a dividend this year.

Deny The directors denied having lied to shareholders.
Mind Would you mind listening to what I have to say?

Have difficulty in We are having difficulty in understanding the conditions of your offer.

Succeed in After months of trials, we have succeeded in creating a perfect sales funnel.

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Verbs followed by Infinitive

Infinitive object + infinitive optional object + infinitive

agree advise** ask

appear allow** choose
arrange cause expect
care convince need
claim encourage** prepare
decide force promise
demand get (cause to) threaten
deserve hire want
fail invite wish
get (be allowed to) order would like
hesitate permit**
hope remind
intend require**
learn tell
manage warn
offer
plan*
pretend
refuse
seem
swear
wait

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Verbs followed by Infinitive without ‘to’

object + base infinitive object + base infinitive or gerund

have feel
help hear
let listen to
make look at
notice
observe
see
smell
watch

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Verbs Followed by the Gerund
gerund preposition + gerund

admit accuse of
advise** agree with
allow** apologize for
appreciate believe in
avoid blame for
can't help complain about
complete concentrate on
consider congratulate someone on
defend cope with
delay decide against
deny depend on
despise dream about/of
discuss feel like
dislike get used to
don't mind insist on
encourage** look forward to
enjoy plan on*
finish prevent someone from
imagine rely on
involve succeed in
keep specialize in
mention stop someone from
mind talk about/of
miss think about/of
permit** warn someone against
practice worry about
recommend
report
require**
resist
risk
suggest
tolerate
understand

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Verbs Followed by either the Infinitive or Gerund

infinitive or gerund (with no real change in meaning) infinitive or gerund (with a change in meaning)

can't stand begin

cease forget
continue keep
hate need
like regret
love remember
neglect start
prefer stop
propose try

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2. Adjectives and Adverbs
Agenda 2

1. What are and when do we use adjectives?

2. What are and when do we use adverbs?
3. Adjectives vs. Adverbs

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1. Adjectives

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What are and when do we use adjectives?

• Adjectives tell us something about a person or a thing. Adjectives can modify nouns (here:
girl) or pronouns (here: she).

e.g. Mandy is a careful driver. This sentence is about Mandy, the driver, so use the adjective
"careful" to describe her.

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Order of adjectives

Order of adjectives in a sentence:

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Degrees of Comparison of Adjectives

In English, adjectives have comparative and superlative forms that are used to more exactly
describe nouns.
Regular Adjectives
e.g. Joey is tall, Pete is taller than Joey, and Malik is the tallest of the three boys.

Positive Comparison Superlative

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Irregular Adjectives

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2. Adverbs

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What are and when do we use adverbs?

• Adverbs tell us in what way someone does something. Adverbs can modify verbs (here:
drive), adjectives or other adverbs.

e.g. Mandy drives carefully. This sentence is about her way of driving, so use the adverb.

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Form

Adjective + -ly:

Irregular forms:

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Types of adverbs

Types of adverbs
4.1. Adverbs of manner
• quickly
• kindly If the adjective ends in -y, change -y to -i. Then add -ly:
4.2. Adverbs of degree
• very •happy – happily
• rather but:
4.3. Adverbs of frequency •shy – shyly
• often
• sometimes If the adjective ends in -le, the adverb ends in -ly:
4.4. Adverbs of time •terrible – terribly
• now If the adjective ends in -e, then add -ly:
• today •safe – safely
4.5. Adverbs of place ► Not all words ending in -ly are adverbs:
• here
• nowhere •adjectives ending in -ly: friendly, silly, lonely, ugly
•nouns, ending in -ly: ally, bully, Italy, melancholy
•verbs, ending in -ly: apply, rely, supply
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How do know whether to use an adjective or an adverb?

John is a careful driver. – In this sentences we say how John is – careful.

If we want to say that the careful John did not drive the usual way yesterday – we have to use
the adverb: John did not drive carefully yesterday.

Here is another example:

• I am a slow walker. (How am I? → slow → adjective)
• I walk slowly. (How do I walk? → slowly → adverb)

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Sources

• 015 Understanding Gerund or Infinitive After Specific Verbs - The Art of Business English
• Infinitive with to - English Grammar (englisch-hilfen.de)
• Guide: Using Two Verbs Together - Business English Resources
• https://inside.tru.ca/2016/11/10/gerunds-and-infinitives/
• https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/adverbien.htm
• https://www.gingersoftware.com/content/grammar-rules/adjectives/order-of-adjectives/
• http://languagelearningbase.com/86198/irregular-adjectives-in-comparatives-and-superlatives

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Q&A

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Feedback

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