GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

Base form Vs Gerund Vs Infinitive

Base Form: Infinitive without TO

SHARE
Infinitive: always with TO
TO SHARE
Gerund: Base form+ING
SHARING
 BASE FORM

After some perception verbs such as HEAR, FEEL or

SEE and the verbs LET and MAKE:

I saw you leave home.

My parents don’t let me stay out late
 GERUNDS

As a subject of a After prepositions:

sentence:

I thought of calling you, but

Smoking kills.
it was late.
After having lunch, they go
to school.
 GERUNDS

As a Direct Object of After certain expressions:

certain verbs:

Can’t help Look forward to

Continue Miss
Can’t stand Spend (time)
Enjoy Prefer
Feel like Don’t mind
Finish Recommend
It’s no use Would mind
Like/dislike Suggest
Be/Get used to
Love/hate
 INFINITIVES
As a subject of a sentence After some verbs:
(when we talk about a
specific fact)

Agree Learn
To smoke now would be
rude. Appear/seem Manage
Choose Plan
Decide Promise
Expect Refuse
Hope Want/wish
 INFINITIVES

After certain adjectives After Indirect Object of

and adverbs: certain verbs:

Busy Slowly Advise Teach

Happy Fast Invite Persuade
Ready Low Tell Warn
Tired High
 VERBS FOLLOWED BY BOTH

Without change in With change in meaning:

meaning:

Stop
Begin
Remember
Propose
Forget
Forbid
Regret
Intend
Start
 STOP

STOP + GERUND: STOP + INFINITIVE:

To leave an habit To interrupt an action for
doing something else

You should stop smoking, it Let’s stop here to have a

will kill you! drink!
 REMEMBER

REMEMBER + GERUND: REMEMBER + INFINITIVE:

It refers to something done in It refers to the future. We use it
the past when we want to say sth
immportant to somenone.

I don’t remeber locking the You should remember to

door! call Mr Jones to put off
the meeting.
 REGRET

REGRET + GERUND: REGRET + INFINITIVE:

To regret something from the past.
To make bad news public.

She regrets breaking up I regret to tell you that we

with him. don’t have any vacancy
to be filled.
 FORGET

FORGET + GERUND:
To express that we’ve forgotten
FORGET + INFINITIVE:
something which was done in the past. To forget doing something.

I forgot talking to you! I forgot to call you on your

(you talked, but you don’t birthday.
remember) (you didn’t call, so you
didn’t remember)
 Gerund or Infinitive ?

How to choose the right one....

 We select the –ing from....
To create a NOUN from a verb to express a general
idea(Subject of the sentence in most cases):
“Paying attention is essential in class”
After any preposition:
“I am looking forward to hearing from you”
After certain verbal expressions (can’t stand, can’t help, be/get
used to, don’t mind/would mind, it’s no use):
“I can’t help getting angry when pupils speak in class”
As Direct Object of a list of verbs (continue, enjoy, like, love,
prefer, suggest, recommend, etc...):
“I prefer going to the beach”
 List of verbs followed by –ing form

Verbs Followed by a Gerund

“They enjoyed working on the boat”.
admit delay finish permit resist
advise deny forbid postpone resume
appreciate detest get through practice risk
avoid dislike have quit spend (time)
can't help enjoy imagine recall suggest
complete escape mind report tolerate
consider excuse miss resent waste (time)
 Other uses of the Gerund

After verbs of the senses both the gerund and the

bare infinitive can be used, but there’s a difference
in meaning. Let’s compare these pairs of sentences:

– She heard the alarm clock go off - It expresses a

complete action, the subject has heard the whole ringing of
the clock.
– He saw the builders building the block of flats. - It
means that the subject has only seen part of the action, he
has only seen them building the flats whenever he walked
by that area. It expresses incompleteness.
 Other uses of the Gerund

After verbs denoting physical activity, such as to

go and to come:
They go skiing every winter
I went shopping with my mother last week
I wanted him to come riding.
After the verbs waste / spend (money / time):
She spends a lot of time doing her homework
I have wasted hours waiting for the bus.
 Other uses of the Gerund

When the subject of the –ing form is different from

the subject of the main clause, two constructions are
possible: either the possessive case or the accusative:
Do you mind him / his studying with us?

In formal English, nouns denoting persons are put into

the possessive case:
I couldn’t stand my sister-in-law’s criticizing my
children.
 Other uses of the Gerund
The use of the perfect gerund instead of the present when we are
referring to a past action:
He was accused of having driven under the influence
He was accused of driving under the influence.

There are some verbs which can be followed by the infinitive or

gerund. The most common ones are: without any difference in
meaning: start, begin:
I started studying / to study English when I was a little girl.

However, when the verb is in the continuous form the to-

infinitive is preferred:
I’m beginning to concentrate now.
 Other uses of the Gerund

There are some other verbs which can also be

followed by the to-infinitive or gerund with a
slight difference in meaning. Let’s compare
these two sentences:
– I like going to the beach. It expresses a
general or habitual action.
– I like to go to the beach early in the morning.
It expresses specific or isolated actions.
 We select Infinitive....
To form the subject of a verb that refers to something specific:
“To answer this question is essential”
After some adjectives and/or adverbs:
“I am happy to announce my daughter’s wedding”
“The wall was too high to jump for young children”
After the Indirect Object of certain verbs (advise, invite, warn, teach, ...):
“The Headmaster warned the student not to do that again”
Verbs of perception(hear, feel,...) ; LET; MAKE  INF sin TO:
“I heard him enter the house”; “Let me explain”; “She made me do it”.
 List of verbs followed by Infinitive
Verbs Followed by an Infinitive
“She agreed to speak before the game.”
agree consent have offer shoot
aim continue hesitate ought start
appear dare hope plan stop
arrange decide hurry prefer strive
ask deserve intend prepare swear
attempt detest leap proceed threaten
be able dislike leave promise try
beg expect like propose use
begin fail long refuse wait
care forget love remember want
choose get mean say wish
condescend happen neglect
 Verbs followed by Object and an
Infinitive:
Verbs Followed by an Object and an Infinitive
“Everyone expected her to win.”
advise choose have love remind
allow command hire motivate require
ask dare instruct order send
beg direct invite pay teach
bring encourage lead permit tell
build expect leave persuade urge
buy forbid let prepare want
challenge force like promise warn
 Verbs that can be followed by both
“INFINITIVE” or “-ING”
No change in meaning: begin, propose, forbid, intend, start..
With a difference meaning: remember, forget, regret, stop, try...

REMEMBER/FORGET/REGRET:
 + INFINITIVE Future
 + -ing  Past

Examples:
 “I remember attending to dance classes when I was a child”
 “Remember to revise the questions before handing out the exam”
 “My grandmother forgot to lock the door when she left the house”
 “I repeated the activity because I forgot doing it last week”
 Verbs that can be followed by both
“INFINITIVE” or “-ING”
STOP:
+ ING  NO (don’t do that anymore)
+ INFINITIVE  YES (do it, indeed)
Examples:
“You have to stop writing at 10 o’clock.”
“After five hours of hard work we stopped to have a rest”
TRY:
+ING  “experiment”
+ INFINITIVE  “make the effort”
Examples:
“I was trying to open the door but I couldn’t.”
“Why don’t you try using this key?”
 MEAN

I meant to call you, but in the end I forgot

to. It means the same as intend.

Working as an air-hostess means travelling

a lot. It means the same as involve.
 PREFER/RATHER
We can have the following structures:
– I prefer to visit Chaplin exhibition rather than (to) go to
the EOI (Present tense)
– I prefer visiting Chaplin exhibition to going to the EOI
(Present tense)
– I prefer tea to coffee (one thing to another thing)
– I would prefer to go skiing rather than (to) go fishing but
– I would rather go skiing than go fishing.
 Full Infinitive ( Infinitive with to)

After several verbs (hear, feel, see, and make) in the

passive voice:
She was made to open her suitcase at the airport.
(Where him acts as the subject of the infinitive).

  Although in the active voice we use the bare

infinitive:
We made her open the case.
 Full Infinitive ( Infinitive with to)

To express the infinitive of purpose:

I went to the theatre to book the tickets.

The corresponding negative is often constructed

with in order not to or so as not to:
I came in quietly in order not to/so as not to
wake up the children.
Full Infinitive ( Infinitive with to)

After nouns, when the infinitive functions as a

modifier of the noun:
A book to read.

After adjectives, when the infinitive functions as

a modifier of the adjective:
This word is easy to spell.
 Full Infinitive ( Infinitive with to)

After certain adverbs such as enough and too:

This suitcase is too big for me to carry.

After verbs such as to know, to teach, to learn, to

show followed by an interrogative word + infinitive
(with the value of a subordinate noun clause):
I know where to go.
 Full Infinitive ( Infinitive with to)

In impersonal passive sentences:

The Official Language School is believed to
have a great number of students.

There are also a number of independent

constructions which also use the to-infinitive:
To sum up, To start with, etc.
 Bare Infinitive (Infinitive without to) (1)

With verbs of perception, such as to hear, to see,

to watch, to feel, to notice, to observe, to
overhear:
I saw Pablo and Javier enter.

Nevertheless, in the passive the infinitive is used

with to:
They were seen to enter.
 Bare Infinitive (Infinitive without to)(2)

With some other verbs and expressions that govern a

bare infinitive, for instance, to make, to let, had better,
had rather, had sooner, need hardly, cannot but, etc.:

Javier made Pablo cry

You had better start studying right now if you want to

pass your English test.
 Bare Infinitive (Infinitive without to)(3)

In noun predicate clauses, when the subject is a

pseudo-cleft sentence, both constructions are
possible:
What you’ve done is (to) spoil our plans.