GERUND

N
TO INFINITIVE

Gerunds and infinitives

can function as:
NOUNS
(subjects, objects, subject
complements)
As subjects, they take a singular
verb.
Only Gerunds can be object of the
preposition.

To form gerunds, use

the base form + ing
(dont forget the rules for spelling of ing form of verbs)

I enjoy learning English

To form negative gerunds, use

not + gerund
Not speaking English well is my
biggest problem in this country.

Gerunds used as
subject of the
sentence.
Dancing is fun.

Gerunds used as
objects
He enjoys working with
children.

Verbs that take only Gerunds

Appreciate
Avoid
Delay
Deny
Discuss
Dislike
Enjoy
Excuse
Finish
understand

Keep
Mention
Mind
Miss
Postpone
Quit
Recall
Recommend
Resent
suggest

Gerunds used as
object of the
preposition
I am thinking about taking the
children to Mexico.

Common preposition combinations

followed by gerunds
Be excited about, complain about, talk
about, think about, worry about
Apologize for, blame for, famous for
Believe in, interested in, succeed in
Take care of, instead of, be accused of
Insist on, count on, concentrate on
Keep from, prevent from, profit from
In addition to, look forward to,
be used to

By + gerund
You get good grades by studying
hard.

go + gerund
Recreational activities: camping, dancing,
sightseeing, swimming, skiing, fishing, jogging,

I will go fishing with you

tomorrow.

Some expressions
are used with
gerunds
Be busy, cant help, have fun,
its no use, its not worth

To form infinitives use

to + base form of the verb
I want to dance
To form negative infinitives use
Not + infinitive
He decided not to go to the
party.

Infinitives in the
subject position
To live in the United States is my
dream
It is my dream to live in the United
States.

Verbs that take infinitives

Verb + infinitives agree, appear, decide
hope, intend, learn, offer, plan, seem,
tend, wait, can afford
Verb + Noun phrase + infinitive cause,
convince, force, invite, order, persuade,
remind, tell, trust, warn, advise,
encourage
Verbs that come directly after the
infinitive or have a noun phrase ask,
beg, choose, expect, need, want, would
like, promise

Adjectives
followed by
infinitives
Afraid, amazed, anxious, ashamed,
careful, delighted, eager,
fortunate, glad, happy, lucky,
pleased, ready, sad, sorry,

Infinitive of purpose
In order to
I came here in order to learn.

Infinitive with too and enough

too + adjective or adverb +
infinitive
She is too young to vote.
Adjective or adverb + enough +
infinitive
They are old enough to vote.

Gerunds often follow verbs that

indicate that an action is happening
or has happened.
The action expressed by the verb
comes at the same time or after the
action expressed by the gerund.

We enjoy going to concerts.

(you can only enjoy things you are doing or have done
not things you havent done yet.)

Infinitives often follow verbs

that indicate that an action will
or could happen.
The action expressed by the verb comes
before the action expressed by the
infinitive.

We hope to go to the concert.

(You can hope for things that could happen
not things that have already happened)

Verbs that are followed by

a noun phrase + infinitive
can also be followed by a gerund.
The gerund makes it general and the
infinitive make specific the person
indicated.

They allow smoking in this building.

They allowed me to smoke in the

house.

These verbs are:

advise
allow
encourage
permit
require
urge

Some verbs can be followed by

both gerund or infinitive with no
change in meaning.
Begin, hate, like,
start, love, prefer, continue

I like cooking.
I like to cook.
She started losing weight
She started to lose weight.

Some verbs although they can be

used after both gerunds and
infinitives have a difference in
meaning.
remember
forget
regret
stop
try
get

She stopped smoking.

She stopped to smoke.

They forgot buying bread.

They forgot to buy bread.

Used to
Be used to
Get used to
Used to + base form
Be used to + gerund
Get used to + gerund

Verbs of perception:
infinitives: from start to finish
Gerunds: in progress
I heard the children cry.

I saw your friends walking in the

park.

Infinitive forms are not used

after the following verbs of
perception:
feel
see
hear
smell

When a specific performer of the

gerund action needs to be
indicated, a possessive noun or a
possessive determiner is used.
I really appreciate Karens/her writing
that letter for me.
Peters/his coming late really annoys
me.

Your neglecting your teeth will

cause an earlier return to the
dentist.
Their denying the allegation was
understandable.

I didnt like the dogs barking all

night.

I dont mind his leaving early.

(formal)

I dont mind him leaving early.

(informal)

When an infinitive functions as a

subject or a subject
complement, any stated subject
of the infinitive should be
preceded by for. If a pronoun
follows for, it must be in object
form.
When the subject of a gerund is
stated, it takes the possessive
form.

For people to see is a wonderful

gift.
Her desire was for them to take
a trip around the world
They hoped for her to be able to
attend the concert.

Infinitives can occur in the

progressive but gerunds cannot.
To be doing
It is used to indicate an activity
in progress or ongoing
She had hoped to be working

Both gerunds and infinitives can

occur in the perfect form
having done
to have done
It is used to indicate that the
activity is in the past
We appreciate having heard her
sing.
Were fortunate to have heard
her sing

A gerund can be used in the

passive form
I dislike being told a lie.

Have
make
let
are causative verbs. They cause
someone to do something.
They are always followed by a
noun phrase + base form of verb.
Do not use an infinitive after
these verbs.
She made me fall.

She made her daughter go to the

party.
She let him take the camera.
She had me prepare breakfast
yesterday.

After causative verbs:

get
convince
persuade
use the infinitive

She got me to work.

She convinced me to work.

Sense-perception verbs:
hear, listen to
feel, smell, see
watch, observe, notice
are followed by either a noun
phrase + base or ing form with
only a slight difference in
meaning.

We saw people living in poverty.

We saw them perform

Help
can take an infinitive or base
form.
It can occur with or without a
noun phrase.
I helped them carry the boxes.
I helped them to clean up after
the party.

perfect infinitive: to have

moved
progressive infinitive: to be
working
perfect progressive infinitive:
to have been playing
passive: to be seen
perfect passive: to have been

Perfect gerund: having moved

passive gerund: being done
perfect passive gerund: having
been selected

The End!

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