GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

Mg. Judit Saraí Sarmiento Párraga

Class # 7 Week 7
 PURPOSE

 To recognise Gerunds and use them properly.

El primer encuentro
Es trascendental
GERUNDS
 What’s a Gerund and when is it used?

 It’s a verb ending in –ing form.

 USES:

1. After certain verbs: like, love, hate, enjoy, prefer, suggest, start, finish,
continue, keep, stop, begin, avoid, imagine, spend (time)

• I like listening to music but I hate dancing.

• When he finishes working, we’ll have dinner out.

• I remember my father preferred cooking at home than going to a restaurant.

VERBS FOLLOWED BY GERUNDS
2. After certain expressions: don´t mind, can´t stand, be interested in, it’s
worth, How/ what about…? I look forward to, can´t bear, can’t help, to be
busy, don’t mind, feel like.

• That book is not worth reading.

• I look forward to seeing you.

• They avoid going on holiday on Saturdays.

• Ralph is considering buying a new house.

• You risk catching a cold.

3. After prepositions:

• I’m so excited about going on this trip.

• Can you sneeze without opening your mouth?

• She is good at painting.

• She avoided him by walking on the opposite side of the road.

• We arrived in Madrid after driving all night.

• My father decided against postponing his trip to Hungary.

• There's no point in waiting.

4. As a subject of a verb:

• Smoking is a bad habit.

• Travelling to Peru is the most amazing experience you can live.

• Making mistakes in grammar is a very common error.

• Cooking Italian food is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done
5. After phrasal verbs:

• When will you give up smoking?

• She always puts off going to the dentist.

• He kept on asking for money.

• Jim ended up buying a new TV after his old one broke.

• Look at these examples:
I enjoy reading. (not: I enjoy to read)
Would you mind closing the door? (not mind to close)
Chris suggested going to the cinema. (not suggested to go)
• After enjoy, mind and suggest, we use -ing (not to ...)
• Some more verbs that are followed by -ing:

stop postpone admit avoid imagine

finish consider deny risk fancy
  Suddenly everybody stopped talking. There was silence.
 I'll do the shopping when I've finished cleaning the flat.
 He tried to avoid answering my question.
 I don't fancy going out this evening. (= I'm not enthusiastic about it)
 Have you ever considered going to live in another country?
 They said they were innocent. They denied doing anything wrong.

• The negative form is not -ing:

• When I'm on holiday, I enjoy not having to get up early.
• With some verbs you can use the structure verb + somebody + -ing:

I can't imagine George riding a motorbike.

You can't stop me doing what I want.
Did you really say that? I don't remember you saying that.
'Sorry to keep you waiting so long.' 'That's all right.’
Exercises
 Exercises
1. I do mind __________ (drive) such a long distance to work.
2. Sandra very much enjoys _______________ (listen) to classical music.
3. Why do you keep ______________ (look) at me like that?
4. I considered ______________ (quit) the boring job.
5. Could you wash the dishes when you finish_______________ (eat)?
6. If you cross the street without ____________ (look), you will be run over by a
car.
7. You need to practice _____________ (play) the piano every day if you want to
improve.
8. It’s hot today. We feel like ____________ (go) to the beach.
Complete the sentences for each situation using -ing.

1. She suggested going to the zoo.

2. He didn’t fancy …………….
3. She admitted ……………….
4. She suggested ……………..
5. He denied ………………..
6. They didn’t mind ………………
INFINITIVES
 INFINITIVES
• We use the to-infinitive after certain verbs (verbs followed by to-infinitive),
particularly verbs of thinking and feeling:

prefer
choose hate like remember
decide hope love want
expect intend mean would
forget learn plan
like/love

They decided to start a business together.

Remember to turn the lights off.
• After these verbs you can use to ... (infinitive):
offer decide hope deserve promise
Agree plan manage afford threaten
refuse arrange fail forget learn
It was late, so we decided to take a taxi home.
Simon was in a difficult situation, so I agreed to help him.
How old were you when you learnt to drive? (or learnt how to drive)
I waved to Karen, but failed to attract her attention.
• The negative is not to ... :
• We decided not to go out because of the weather.
• I promised not to be late.
• There is also a continuous infinitive (to be doing) and a perfect infinitive (to have
done):

I pretended to be reading the paper. (= I pretended that I was reading)

You seem to have lost weight. (= it seems that you have lost weight)
Joe seems to be enjoying his new job. (= it seems that he is enjoying it)
• After some verbs you can use a question word (what/whether/how etc.) + to ... .
We use this structure especially after:
• ask decide know remember forget explain learn understand wonder
• We asked how to get to the station.
• Have you decided where to go for your holidays?
• I don't know whether to apply for the job or not.
• Do you understand what to do?
• Some verbs are followed by a direct object and then the to-infinitive:

would
advise intend remind like/love
ask invite tell would
encourage order want prefer
expect persuade warn
 

• He encouraged his friends to vote for him.

• Remind me to give Julia a call.
• Also

• Show / tell/ ask/ advise/ teach somebody what/how/where to do something:

Can somebody show me how to use this camera?

Ask Jack. He'll tell you what to do.

 Infinitive of purpose

We also use the to-infinitive to express purpose (to answer why?):

He bought some flowers to give to his wife.

He locked the door to keep everyone out.

We can also express purpose with in order to and in order not to:

We started our journey early in order to avoid the traffic.

They spoke quietly in order not to wake the children.

or so as to and so as not to:

We started our journey early so as to avoid the traffic.

They spoke quietly so as not to wake the children.
Exercises
Exercises

1. They decided to get married.

2. She agreed………
3. He offered ………….
4. They arranged ………….
5. She refused ……………….
6. She promised …………….
• Complete each sentence with a suitable verb.

1. Don't forget ___________ to lock the door when you go out.

2. There was a lot of traffic, but we managed ___________ to the airport in time.
3. We couldn't afford ___________ in London. It's too expensive.
4. We've got new computer software in our office. I haven't learnt ___________ it
yet,
5. Mark doesn't know what happened. I decided ___________ not him.
6. We were all afraid to speak. Nobody dared ___________ anything.
 Challenge
• Put the verb into the correct form, to ... or -ing.

1. When I'm tired, I enjoy watching television. It's relaxing. (watch)

2. I've decided _________ for another job. I need a change. (look)
3. Let's get a taxi. I don't fancy _________ home. (walk)
4. I'm not in a hurry, I don’t mind _________. (wait)
5. Tina ran in a marathon last week, but she failed _________ . (finish)
6. I wish that dog would stop _________ . It's driving me crazy. (bark)
7. Our neighbour threatened _________ the police if we didn't stop the noise. (call)
8. We were hungry, so I suggested _________ dinner early. (have)
9. Hurry up! I don't want to risk _________ the train. (miss)
10. They didn't know I was listening to them, I pretended _________ asleep. (be)