Gerund & Infinitive

Gerund
• 1) Sujeto de la oración :“Swimming is my favourite activity”.
• 2) As object of the following verbs: enjoy, finish, keep, recommend, like, spend, avoid,
miss, suggest, imagine, mind, fancy, prefer, think, try,
“I don’t enjoy going to the cinema”.
• 3) Después de preposiciones: on, at, under, behind, without, in, about, of, etc.
“I’m thinking about learning Japanese”
• 4) Fixed expressions: can’t stand, feel like, don’t mind, it’s no use, look forward to, can’t
help, to be worth, etc.
“I don’t mind getting up early”
 Infinitives
• 1)To explain purpose: “I called my mother to check on her”.
• 2) After certain verbs: want, decide, hope, learn, play, plan, need, promise, pretend,
refuse, offer, agree, seem, appear, choose, expect, wish, allow, forget,
“They hope to get married before summer”.
• 2) After adjectives: happy, easy, sad, lucky, hard y nice.
“She’s so happy to be here!”
 Verb Patterns

• There are many verbs in English that can be followed either by the to-
infinitive or a gerund. This is called verb pattern. When there are
two verbs together in a sentence.

• Some (not all) verbs completely change their meaning when they are
followed by either a gerund or the to-infinitive.
 HATE, LIKE, LOVE, PREFER
• We can use these verbs with a gerund or a to-infinitive.
• There is a slight change in meaning between the two forms.
• + gerund: emphasis in the action/experience
“I like making jam”
• + to-infinitive: a habit or preference
“Every year I like to make jam”.
Hate & Love: it’s more common to use the gerund.

When we use WOULD + hate/love/like/prefer we use TO-INFINITIVE.

“I’d love to go to the party!”  “I’d love going to the party”
Some verbs change their meaning if they are followed by a gerund or a to infinitive.
VERB + GERUND
• STOP: to completely quit an action
(addictions, bad habits, etc)
“Stop buying bread from the supermarket! It’s
no good and expensive.”
• FORGET: to look back on past memories
“I’ll never forget watching my first horror
movie”.
• REMEMBER: to talk about a memory
“Do you remember dancing with me on our
first date?”
• REGRET: to talk about sth you did in the past
that you aren’t happy about anymore.
“He regrets yelling at her”
• MEAN: to talk about what the result of sth is
“We missed the bus which meant waiting six
hours until de next one!”.
VERB + TO INIFINITIVE
• STOP: to pause or leave an action to do
another.
“Stop to buy bread from the supermarket, Will
you? Thanks a lot!”
• FORGET: to give a reminder to someone not to
forget to do something in the future.
“Don’t forget to watch the news tonight!”
• REMEMBER: to talk about sth someone needs
to do. (Don’t forget)
“Remember to take lots of pictures on your trip!”
• REGRET: to tell someone bad news or sth they
don’t want to hear. (formal language)
“I regret to say that I wasn’t impressed by your
performance”
• MEAN: to intend or plan to do something
“I meant to call you last night but I forgot!”