1.

Both gerunds and infinitives can be used as the subject or the

complement of a sentence.
2. However, as subjects or complements, gerunds usually sound more
like normal, spoken English, whereas infinitives sound more
abstract.
3. In the following sentences, gerunds sound more natural and would
be more common in everyday English.
4. Infinitives emphasize the possibility or potential for something and
sound more philosophical. If this sounds confusing, just remember
that 90% of the time, you will use a gerund as the subject or
complement of a sentence.

Examples:

Learning is important. normal subject

To learn is important. abstract subject - less common
The most important thing is learning. normal complement
The most important thing is to learn. abstract complement - less
common
1. A gerund is a noun made from a verb by adding "-
ing."
2. The gerund form of the verb "read" is "reading." You
can use a gerund as the subject, the complement, or
the object of a sentence.
Examples:
• Reading helps you learn English. subject of sentence
• Her favorite hobby is reading. complement of
sentence
• I enjoy reading. object of sentence

Gerunds can be made negative by adding "not."

Examples:
• He enjoys not working.
• The best thing for your health is not smoking.
We 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 sometimes say in order to or in order not to:

We set off early in order to avoid the traffic.
They spoke quietly in order not to wake the
children

• … or we can say so as to or so as not to:

We set off early so as to avoid the traffic.
They spoke quietly so as not to wake the
 1. Verb + INFINITIVE
• After certain verbs (see verbs followed by infinitive),
particularly verbs of thinking and feeling:
choose, decide, expect, forget, hate, hope, intend,
learn, like,
love, mean, plan, prefer, remember, want, would
like, would love
• … and verbs of saying:
agree, promise, refuse
Examples:
They decided to start a business together.
Remember to turn the lights out.
 2. VERB + DIRECT OBJECT (SOMEONE) + INFINITIVE

• Some verbs are followed by a direct

object and the infinitive(see verbs followed by
infinitive):
• advise, ask, encourage, invite, order,
persuade, remind, tell, warn,
expect, intend, would prefer, want, would
like
• She reminded me to turn the lights out.
He encouraged his friends to vote for him
2-a-After certain adjectives.
Sometimes the to-infinitive gives a reason for the adjective:
•disappointed
•glad
•sad
•happy
•anxious
•pleased
•surprised
•proud
•unhappy
We were happy + to come to the end of our journey
= We were happy because we had come to the end of our journey
John was surprised + to see me
= He was surprised because he saw me
 VERB + -ING or INFINITIVE
Some verbs can be followed by either –ing or
infinitive, but the meaning changes:
As GERUND: (-ing) form
As INFINITIVE: (TO + BASE FORM)
Jan stopped talking to journalists.
(Jan used to talk to journalists but then he
stopped)
Jan stopped to talk to a local resident.
(focuses on a reason why he stopped to talk)
 SOME SPECIAL VERBS
Some verbs that can be followed by –ing or
infinitive with a change in meaning are:

Forget Remember
Go on Stop
Mean Try
Regret
Remember + gerund

This is when you remember something that has happened in

the past. You have a memory of it, like being able to see a
movie of it in your head.I remember going to the beach when I
was a child. (= I have a memory of going to the beach).
He remembers closing the door. (= He has a memory of
closing the door).

Remember + infinitive (to + base form)

This is when you think of something that you need to do. (And
usually, you then do the thing).I remembered to buy milk. (= I
was walking home and the idea that I needed milk came into
my head, so I bought some).
She remembered to send a card to her grandmother.
Forget + gerund

This is the opposite of remember + gerund. It's when you

forget about a memory, something that you've done in the
past. Have we really studied this topic before? I forget reading
about it.
I told my brother that we'd spent Christmas at Granny's house
in 1985, but he'd forgotten going there.

Forget + infinitive (to + base form)

This is the opposite of remember + to + infinitive. It's when

you want to do something, but you forget about it.I forgot to
call my mother. (= I wanted to call my mother, but when it
was a good time to call her, I forgot. I was thinking about
something else, and the idea to call my mother didn't come
into my head).
Try + gerund

This is when you do something as an experiment. The thing you

do is not difficult, but you want to see if doing it will have the
result that you want. I wanted to stop smoking, so I tried using
nicotine patches. (= Using nicotine patches was easy, but I
wanted to know if it would help me stop smoking).
She tried giving up chocolate, but it didn't help her lose weight.
(It was easy for her to give up chocolate. She gave it up to see if it
would help her lose weight, but it didn't).

Try + infinitive (to + base form)

This is when the thing you do itself is difficult and you don't
succeed in doing it.I tried to lift the suitcase, but it was too heavy.
She tried to catch the bus, but she couldn't run fast enough.
Stop + gerund

When we stop doing something it means the verb in the gerund is the thing that we stop.
It can mean 'stop forever' or 'stop at that moment'.I stopped working when I was
expecting a baby. (Working is the thing I stopped).
My grandmother stopped driving when she was 85. (Driving is the thing she stopped).
My boss came into the room, so I stopped browsing the internet.
There was a fire alarm, so I stopped eating and went outside.

Stop + infinitive (to + base form)

In this case, we stop something else in order to do the verb in the infinitive.I stopped to
eat lunch. (I stopped something else, maybe working or studying, because I wanted to
eat lunch.
She was shopping and she stopped to get a cup of coffee. (She stopped shopping because
she wanted to get a cup of coffee).

Look at the difference:

I stopped smoking. (I gave up cigarettes OR I threw away my cigarette at that moment).
I stopped to smoke. (I stopped doing something else because I wanted to have a
cigarette).
Regret + gerund

This is when you are sorry about something you did in the past and
you wish you hadn't done it. I regret going to bed so late. I'm
really tired today.
She regrets leaving school when she was sixteen. She wishes that
she had studied more and then gone to university.

Regret + to + infinitive

We use this construction when we are giving someone bad news,

in quite a formal way. The verb is almost always something like
'say' or 'tell' or 'inform'.I regret to tell you that the train has been
delayed.
The company regrets to inform employees that the London office
will close next year.
 VERBS: GO ON, MEAN, REGRET
GERUND INFINITIVE
to continue with the same thing to change the activity
Go on reading the text. Go on to read the text.

GERUND INFINITIVE
sth. has to be done to get a result intend to do sth.
You have forgotten your homework I meant to phone your mother, but my
again. That means phoning your mother. mobile didn't work.

GERUND
you did sth in the past and you are not
happy about it
I regret being late for school.
INFINITIVE
to tell bad news and you are not happy
about it
We regret to inform you that the flight
has beeen delayed for another two
hours.
 SOME SPECIAL VERBS
• One important verb that can be followed by
–--ing or infinitive with very little or no change
in meaning is:
Like
Lizzie likes reading business economics books.
(reading: places emphasis on the action of
“reading” as a hobby)
Lizzie likes to read business economics books.
(to read: places emphasis on the type of books
she likes)
 LINKS
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=6TDSr9U0FWc
• http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/
gerunds-and-infinitives-verbs-4.html
• https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/es/
english-grammar/verbs/infinitive
• http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/
part_1.htm