Gerunds and Infinitives

Overview Gerunds after Verbs

Positive and Negative Gerunds
Subject Verb Gerund
Gerund Drivers should slowing down.
I hate driving. consider
driving slowly. Experts suggest driving slowly.
driving in the traffic.
driving a big car.
I prefer not driving.

Positive and Negative Infinitives.

Infinitive
I hate to drive.
to drive slowly.
to drive in the
traffic.
to drive a big car.
I prefer not to drive

Gerunds

Gerunds as Subjects

Gerund Verb Phrase

Owning a car costs a lot.
is expensive.
Infinitives

It (Subject) … + Infinitive Gerunds after Verbs

It Verb+Noun Infinitive  Here are some examples of verbs

It costs a lot to own a car. followed by gerunds:
It is expensive to own a car. - advise
- avoid
- consider
Infinitive After Verbs
- delay
Verb object Infinitive - dislike
Drivers agree to slow down. - enjoy
Experts warn to drive slowly. - finish
I want him to drive carefully. - go
- mind

Overview

 All verbs, except modal auxiliaries, have It (subject)…+ Infinitive

gerund and infinitive forms.
 infinitive can function as the subject of a
 A gerund can be one word (driving) or part
sentence (to own is expensive). Instead,
of a longer phrase, with an adverb (driving
the pronoun it begins the sentence. It has
slowly), a prepositional phrase (driving in
the same meaning as the infinitive
traffic), or an object (driving a big car).
replaces.

Gerunds as Subjects It costs a lot to own a car. (It= to own a

car)
 A gerund can function as the subject of a
 It is followed by be or one of a limited
sentence. Gerunds function as singular
group of words. For example:
nouns and take singular verbs. A gerund
can be replaced by the pronoun it.
appear, be, cost, look, pay, seem, take

Owning a car costs a lot. (It costs a lot)

Infinitives After Verbs It was beginning to snow.

 Infinitives after verbs appear in one of Gerund

three patterns:
He started laughing.
1. Verb+Infinitive:
agree, decide, learn, plan, refuse, We continued reading.

appear, hope, offer, seem, wait It began snowing.

2. Verb+Object+Infinitive Same Meanings with Like, Love, Hate, and Prefer

advise, force, invite, remind, teach,
2. After like, love, hate, ad prefer, the infinitive
urge, cause, get, order, require, tell,
and the gerund are similar in meaning.
warn
However, sometimes it is more common to
3. Verb+Object+Infinitive
use an infinitive to talk about an activity at a
(these verbs can be followed by the
specific time, and a gerund to talk about an
infinitive with or without an object.)
activity in general.
ask, expect, need, pay, promise,
wish, choose, help, pay, want.
Infinitive
I like to swim early in the morning.

Verbs Used with Gerunds and Infinitives Would you prefer to play tennis or swim
today?
Same Meanings with Begin, Start, and Continue

Meaning and Use Notes Gerund

I like swimming and boating.
1. After begin, start, and continue, the
Do you prefer playing tennis or swimming?
infinitive and the gerund have the same
meaning. If the main verb is in the
continuous, use the infinitive, not the
gerund.

Infinitive

He started to laugh.

We continued to read.

It began to snow.
Different and Similar meaning with Try

 After try, the infinitive and the gerund Gerund Action Happened Before Verb.
are in similar.
1. I remembered mailing the letter.
Infinitive Gerund
2. I stopped smoking.
Try to relax more. Try relaxing
more.
 Forget is more commonly used with an
 When try is in the past, the infinitive infinitive. With a gerund, it occurs
often implies that an action did not mostly in sentences with will never.
occur. The gerund implies that an action
occurred but may or may not have been
successful. Infinitive Action Happens After Verb

Infinitive (didn’t Gerund (did I forgot to pay my telephone bill.

occur) occur)
Gerund Action Happened Before Verb
I tried to take I tried taking
some aspirin for some aspirin for I will never forget living in Ecuador.
the pain but I the pain, but it
couldn’t open the didn’t help.
 Regret can take either an infinitive or a
bottle.
gerund with verbs such as inform, tell,
say, and announce. With all the other
Different and Similar meaning with Remember, verbs, regrets takes a gerund.
Stop, Forget, and Regret.

 After remember, stop, forget,

Infinitive Action Happens After Verb
and regret, the infinitive refers to an
I regret to inform you that I’m leaving.
action that happens after the action of
the main verb. The gerund refers to an Gerund Action Happened Before Verb
action that happened before the action of
I regret to informing you that I’m
the main verb.
leaving.

Infinitive Action Happens After Verb.

1. I remembered to mail the letter.

2. I stopped to smoke.
More about Gerunds and Infinitives.

Be +Adjective+Preposition+Gerund

Gerunds Be+adjective+preposition+Gerund
We Were afraid of driving
Verb Phrase + Gerund in the
snow.
Verb Gerund
Phrase
She is busy talking.  Some common verb phrases that end in

He spent some relaxing. adjectives or nouns can be followed by

time gerunds:

be busy, have a good time, have fun,

Preposition + Gerund
have trouble, spend an hour, spend time
Preposition Gerund
Without realising drivers
it, speed.  Examples of one word prepositions and

He relaxing, we played longer phrases followed by gerunds:

tennis.
after, besides, in, instead of, before, by,
without
Verb+Preposition + Gerund

Verb+Prepositions Gerund  Examples of verb + preposition

Think about slowing down combinations followed by gerunds:

Approve of, depend on, talk about, work

Phrasal Verb Gerund
on, believe in, look forward.
We ended up slowing
down
 Examples of be +adjective+ preposition
combinations followed by gerunds:

be accustomed to, be good at, be

surprised at, be used to
 tone than those with possessive
adjectives.
Infinitives

Adjective+Infinitive
Verb+Object Pronoun+Gerund
Verb Adjective Infinitive
She was ready to talk. We were surprised at him passing the exam.

 The actions expressed by infinitives are

In Order+Infinitive performed by someone. When an
infinitive directly follows a verb, the
(in order+) Infinitive
performer of the infinitive action is the
Put on some music (in order) to relax.
sentence subject. When an infinitive
In order+not+Infinitive
follows the object, the performer of the
In order not to panic, take a deep breath.
infinitive action is the object.

Interpreting Gerunds and Infinitives. Verb+Infinitive Only

I want to take a different route.
The Performer of Gerunds Actions.
( I may take a different route)
 The actions expressed by gerunds are
performed by someone. Sometimes the Verb+Object+Infinitive
performer of the gerund action is the I want him to take a different route.
sentence subject. In these cases, a (He may take a different route)
possessive adjective is used to indicate
the performer.
 Help+ pbject can be followed by an
infinitive base form with no change in
Gerund only Possessive Adjective + the meaning. The verbs make, have, and
Gerund let+object are followed by the based
We were surprised at We were surprised at form of the verb, but not the infinitive.
passing the exam. Tim’s passing his the
exam. Verb+Object+Base Form of Verb

 When a gerund occurs after a verb, an He helped me get there safely.

object pronoun can replace the

possessive adjective. Sentences with Verb+Object+Infinitive

object pronouns convey a less formal He helped me to get there safely.