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Verb patterns

The gerund
To-infinitive
Bare infinitive
1. Gerund
Study the following examples:

Translate:
Kajenje tu ni dovoljeno.
Smoking isn‘t allowed here.

1. Gerund is used
as a noun in the place of the subject/object.
Translate:
Ko sem ga videl se nisem mogel pomagati, da si
ne bi pomagal.
When I saw him I couldn‘t help laughing.

2. Gerund is used
after „can‘t bear, can‘t stand, can‘t bear.“
Translate:
Rad poslušam kantri glasbo.
I like listening country music.

3. Gerund is used
after „love, like, dislike, hate, enjoy, prefer“, when we‘re talking
about hobbies and pleasure.

BUT!
Translate:
Rad poslušam kantri glasbo preden grem v posteljo.
I like to listen to country music before I go to bed.

When we‘re talking about a habit, right/good thing to do, we use


„to infinitive!
Translate:
Žal nimam časa, zaposlena sem s tem, da popravljam
teste za tretji letnik.
I‘m sorry, I don‘t have time, I‘m busy correcting the
tests for the students of the third grade.

4. Gerund is used
after „I‘m busy, it‘s no use, it‘s not good, it‘s (not) worth,
there‘s no point (in), be/get used to, have difficulty (in)“
Translate:
Vsako zimo gremo smučat.
We go skiing every winter.

5. Gerund is used
after „go“ to talk about physical activities.
Translate:
Ne izgubljaj časa z igranjem računalniških igric.
Don‘t waste your time playing computer
games.

6. Gerund is used
after „spend/waste time.“
Translate:
Uspešno je opravila izpit (in to) brez učenja.
She passed the exam without studying.

7. Gerund is used
after prepositions.
Translate:
Videl sem jo pripravljati kosilo.
I saw her making lunch.

8. Gerund is used
after verbs of perception, to express an incomplete action.

BUT!
Videl sem jo pripraviti kosilo.
I saw her make lunch.
We use „bare infinitive“ to express a complete action.

BUT!
Videna je bila, medtem ko je pripravljala kosilo.
She was seen to make lunch.
We use „to infinitive“ with verb of perception used in passive voice.
Translate:
Predlagam, da gremo po sestanku na kosilo.
I suggest going to lunch after the meeting.

9. Gerund is usedfter certain verbs:


admit, adore, allow, avoid
consider, deny, delay, (don‘t) mind
enjoy, fancy, finish, imagine, involve
keep, postpone, practise, recommend, risk,
suggest
2. Bare infinitive
Translate:
Ona zna plavati.
She can swim.

1. We use bare infinitive after


modal verbs.
I‘d better hurry up.

2. We use bare infinitive after


„had better, would better.“
She made ME drink milk.

3. We use bare infinitive after


make/let + object

BUT!
I was made to drink milk .
make/let + passive
She helped ME (to) do homework.

4. We use bare infinitive with verbs


help, dare (+object)

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