Gerund and Infinitive

Should we start a sentence with gerund or infinitive?

Both gerunds and infinitives can be used as the subject of a sentence. However, as subjects ,
gerunds usually sound more like normal, whereas infinitives sound more abstract. In the
following sentences, gerunds sound more natural and would be more common in everyday
English. Infinitives emphasize the possibility or potential for something and sound more
philosophical. If this sounds confusing, just remember that 90% of the time, we use a gerund as
the subject 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)

Strategies of Gerund or Infinitive

Infinitive: When the first verb is prospective, i.e. it looks or looked towards the
future, the second verb is the consequence or follow-on of the first verb. In this case the
second verb can almost always – and with many verbs must – be used in the form of
an infinitive with to: sample verbs: ask, decide, expect, hope, intend, need, plan, promise, want,

Examples
a) The secretary asked to go home early.
b) I decided to take the train instead of the car.
c) I expect to be home late tonight.
d) I intend to buy a new car sometime this year.

Page 1 of 21
 e) We need to go to the supermarket before it shuts.
f) They plan to open three new shops in London this year.
g) I promise not to tell anyone.
h) I want to learn English fast.
i) I shudder to think about all the problems in the world.

Gerund: When the first verb expresses an emotion, a permanence, or a principle, the
second verb is most likely to be in the form of a gerund. Sample verbs : be afraid / tired of
... etc , can't stand, detest, dislike, enjoy, hate, keep, keep on, like, love,

Examples:

a) The secretary was tired of working late every evening.

b) I can't stand listening to that man hour after hour.
c) He detests / hates / loves getting up early in the morning.
d) I very much dislike having to tell you everything three times.
e) The children really enjoy going to see their grandparents.
f) Doctor, I keep getting this terrible pain in my arm.
g) He kept on reading until he went to sleep.

Using Gerunds and Infinitives

Section A:Gerund
1) Some common verbs followed by a gerund always fall into this category:

Acknowledge She acknowledged receiving assistance.

* Accuse of He was accused of smuggling contraband goods.

Admit They admitted falsifying the data.

Page 2 of 21
Advise The author advises undertaking further study.

Anticipate He anticipates having trouble with his supervisor.

Appreciate I appreciated having a chance to read your draft.

Avoid He avoided answering my question.

Complete I finally completed writing my thesis.

Consider They will consider granting you money.

Defer She deferred writing her report.

Delay We delayed reporting the results until we were sure.

Deny They denied copying the information.

Discuss They discussed running the experiments again.

Entail This review procedure entails repeating the test.

* Look after He will look after mailing the tickets.

* Insist on He insisted on proofreading the article again.

Involve This procedure involves testing each sample twice.

Justify My results justify taking drastic action.

Page 3 of 21
Mention The author mentions seeing this event.

* Plan on They had planned on attending the conference.

Postpone The committee has postponed writing the report.

Recall I cannot recall getting those results before.

Resent He resented spending so much time on the project.

Recommend She recommends reading Marx.

Resist The writer resists giving any easy answers.

Risk She risks losing her viewing time.

Sanction They will not sanction copying without permission.

Suggest I suggest repeating the experiment.

* Take care of He will take care of sending it to you.

Tolerate She can’t tolerate waiting for results.

2) Following a preposition (gerund only)

Gerunds can follow a preposition; infinitives cannot:

a) Can you touch your toes without bending your knees?

b) He was fined for driving over the speed limit.

Page 4 of 21
 c) She got the money by selling the car.
d) A corkscrew is a tool for taking corks out of bottles.

3) Same Verbs Followed by Gerunds

or
Infinitives if nouns/pronouns precede the second verb:
advise I advised seeing a doctor. I advised them to see a doctor.

Ireland doesn't allow smoking in bars. Ireland doesn't allow people to smoke in
allow
bars.

He encourages eating healthy foods. He encourages his patients to eat healthy

encourage
foods.

California doesn't permit fishing California doesn't permit people to fish

permit
without a fishing license. without a fishing license.

The certificate requires completing The certificate requires students to

require
two courses. complete two courses.

They urge recycling bottles and paper. They urge citizens to recycle bottles and
urge
paper.

Page 5 of 21
 4) Verb + object + gerund
In this kind of construction, the object of the main verb is the subject of the verb in the gerund
form. The following verbs can be used before object + gerund:

a) Dislike,
b) Hate,
c) Imagine,
d) Involve,
e) Keep,
f) Mind,
g) Prevent,
h) Remember,
i) Resent,
j) Risk,
k) Stop,
l) Hear,
m) Listen,
n) Notice,
o) See,
p) Watch,
q) Not like,

Examples:
i. He always keeps me waiting for half an hour.
ii. I really dislike dogs that bark loudly.
iii. I don’t mind you eating pork but don’t give me any.
iv. I saw them kissing in the park. (The action was in progress. I didn’t see it finish.)

5) Gerund for Adjectives

Gerunds also follow common adjective/preposition combinations. Remember that

prepositions are always followed by the gerund form. Here are some of the most
common:

a. accustomed to
b. afraid of
c. bored with
d. concerned about
e. convinced of
f. dedicated to

Page 6 of 21
 g. disappointed in
h. exposed to
i. filled with
j. guilty of
k. innocent of
l. interested in
m. known for
n. proud of
o. remembered for
p. scared of
q. tired of
r. upset with
s. worried about

Examples:

i. She's interested in taking French lessons.

ii. The man was found guilty of committing the crime.
iii. Tom is proud of donating his free time to the charity.

6) Gerund for Phrasal Verbs

Gerunds are used with phrasal verbs that end in prepositions. Phrasal verbs are
verb phrases which are made up of two or more words, generally the verb plus one
or two prepositions. Here are some of the most common:

a) bring about
b) call off
c) check into
d) cut out
e) figure out
f) get over
g) look into

Page 7 of 21
 h) put off
i) take over

Examples:

a) The coach called off practicing for the day.

b) Tom looked into finding a new job.
c) She took a long time to get over losing her dog.

7) Verb + noun + ing form

Some verbs are followed by a noun and the -ing form:

a) Verbs of the Senses:

see hear listen to smell watch etc.

We saw everybody running away.

I could hear someone singing.

b) Others Verbs:

catch find imagine leave prevent

I caught someone trying to break in to my house.

We couldn’t prevent them getting away.

c) Many of the verbs above are sometimes followed by a passive form of -ing (being +
past participle):
I don't like being interrupted.
Our goat loves being stroked under the chin.

Page 8 of 21
 Section B: Ininitive

1) Some common verbs followed by an infinitive:

Afford We cannot afford to hesitate.

Agree The professors agreed to disagree.

Appear The results appear to support your theory.

Arrange They had arranged to meet at noon.

Beg I beg to differ with you.

Care Would you care to respond?

Claim She claims to have new data.

Consent Will you consent to run for office?

Decide When did he decide to withdraw?

Demand I demand to see the results of the survey.

Deserve She deserves to have a fair hearing.

Expect The committee expects to decide by tomorrow.

Page 9 of 21
Fail The trial failed to confirm his hypothesis.

Hesitate I hesitate to try the experiment again.

Hope What do you hope to accomplish?

Learn We have learned to proceed with caution.

Manage How did she manage to find the solution?

Neglect The author neglected to provide an index.

Need Do we need to find new subjects?

Offer We could offer to change the time of the meeting.

Plan They had planned to attend the conference.

Prepare He was not prepared to give a lecture.

Pretend I do not pretend to know the answer.

Promise They promise to demonstrate the new equipment.

Refuse She refused to cooperate any longer.

Seem Something seems to be wrong with your design.

Struggle We struggled to understand her point of view.

Page 10 of 21
Swear He swears to tell the truth.

Threaten The team threatened to stop their research.

Volunteer Will you volunteer to lead the group?

Wait We could not wait to hear the outcome.

Want She did not want to go first.

Wish Do you wish to participate?

2) Following an indirect object (infinitive only)

Some verbs are followed by a pronoun or noun referring to a person, and then an infinitive.
Gerunds cannot be used in this position.

Some common verbs followed by an indirect object plus an infinitive:

Ask I must ask you to reconsider your statement.

Beg They begged her to stay for another term.

Cause His findings caused him to investigate further.

Page 11 of 21
Challenge Wilkins challenged Watson to continue the research.

Convince Can we convince them to fund our study?

Encourage She encouraged him to look beyond the obvious.

Expect They did not expect us to win an award.

Forbid The author forbade me to change his wording.

Force They cannot force her to reveal her sources.

Hire Did the department hire him to teach the new course?

Instruct I will instruct her to prepare a handout.

Invite We invite you to attend the ceremony.

Need They need her to show the slides.

Order He ordered the group to leave the building.

Persuade Can we persuade you to contribute again?

Remind Please remind him to check the references.

Require They will require you to submit an outline.

Teach We should teach them to follow standard procedures.

Page 12 of 21
Tell Did she tell him to make three copies?

Urge I urge you to read the instructions before you begin.

Want I do not want you to have an accident.

Warn Why didn’t they warn me to turn down the heat?

Section C:Gerund or Infinitive

1) Verbs followed by a gerund or infinitive with no change in meaning:

a) Start
b) Begin
c) Hate
d) Love
e) Neglect
f) Like
g) Prefer
h) Propose
i) Continue
j) Intend
k) Cease
l) Dread
m) Fear
n) Can’t bear
o) Can’t stand

Page 13 of 21
Example:

It started to rain.
It started raining.
I began to learn languages when I was ten.
He began using this software three years ago.

I started wondering what would happen if I lost my job.

After a while, I started to wonder why she'd said that.

Karina continued wearing her wedding ring after her husband's death.
You continue to surprise me!

Two days later, the screen ceased to function.

They ceased fighting when the commander was killed.

I dread to think what could have happened.

I dread asking you this question.

The list of things he intended to do was getting longer and longer.

We intend contacting the company before taking any action.

I love dancing.
I love to dance.

He neglected doing his daily chores.

He neglected to do his daily chores.

#Compare like and dislike#

The verb may be followed by another verb in the -ing form:I dislike jogging.The verb like on
the other hand may be followed by a verb in the -ing form, but unlike dislike it may also be
followed by the to + verb (or infinitive) form: I like jogging; I like to jog. Dislike, therefore, is
unlike like.

2) Verbs followed by a gerund or infinitive with a change in meaning:

Page 14 of 21
 a) Forget

I forgot to meet him.

(I didn’t meet him because I forgot to do it.)

I forgot meeting him.

(I have forgotten whether I met him or not before.)

b) Remember

She remembered to visit her grandmother.

(She didn’t forget to visit.)

She remembered visiting her grandmother.

(She did not forget this visiting of that time.)

c) Regret

I regret promising to help you.

(I’m sorry that I made the promise.)

I regret to tell you that we can't hire you.

(I’m telling you now, and I’m sorry.)

d) Stop

I stopped to call you.

(I interrupted another action in order to call you.)

I stopped calling you.

(I stopped this activity. Maybe we had a fight.)

e) Try

I tried to open the window.

(I attempted this action but didn’t succeed. When you "try to do" something, you want to do it, but you do
not succeed in actually doing it.)

She can't find a job. She tried looking in the paper, but there was nothing. She tried asking
friends and family, but nobody knew of anything. She also tried going shop to shop, but nobody
was hiring. ("Try + gerund" means to try or to experiment with different methods to see if something
works.)

She tried eating the snake soup, but she didn't like it.

Page 15 of 21
("Try + gerund" is often used when you experiment with something, but you do not really like it or want to
do it again.)

f) Need

The house needs cleaning.

(Passive voice, we don’t know who will clean.)
We need to clean the house.
(Active voice, the subject does the action.)

g) Quit

She quit to work here.

(She quit another job in order to work here.)

She quit working here.

(She quit her job here. She doesn’t work here anymore.)

h) Go on

He went on to learn English and French.

(He ended one period of time before this.)

He went on learning English and French.

(He continued learning the languages.)

Section D: Exception (To+Ing)

Normally, ‘to’ is followed by the base form for example:

a) I want to order pizza.

b) He’s hoping to find a new job soon.

Page 16 of 21
But there are some exceptions to specific words for example:-

1. I am looking forward to seeing you.

2. He confessed to stealing the money.
3. He confessed to the crime.
4. She won’t admit to cheating on the test.
5. Do not be frightened to admit to your mistakes.
6. She is dedicated to helping the poor.
7. I am impressed by her dedication to helping the poor.
8. She is devoted to helping the poor.
9. I am impressed by her devotion to helping the poor.
10. We are committed to improving the community.
11. We talked about our commitment to improving the community. (Therefore, ‘dedicated
to,’ ‘devoted to,’ ‘committed to,’ and their noun forms; ‘dedication to,’ ‘devotion to,’ and ‘commitment to’ can all be followed by the
-ING form of the verb.)

12. I am opposed to changing the laws.

13. I am opposed to a change in the laws.
14. There is a lot of opposition to changing the laws.
15. We object to allowing smoking inside the building.
16. I do not understand your objection to allowing smoking inside the building.
17. I am not used to waking up so early. (There are three expressions: ‘be used to,’ ‘be accustomed to,’ and
‘adjust to’ are also followed by the -ING form of the verb.)

18. I am not accustomed to waking up so early.

19. You might need to adjust to waking up earlier
20. I never got around to calling her back.
21. I will get around to doing this project sometime next week.

************

Practice: Gerund
Page 17 of 21
Make Sentences with the following verbs and read aloud 3 times.

Example: He misses playing with his friends.

1. Abhor
2. Acknowledge
3. Admit
4. Advise
5. Permit
6. Anticipate
7. Appreciate
8. Avoid
9. Be worth
10. Can’t help
11. Celebrate
12. Consider
13. Defend
14. Delay
15. Detest
16. Discontinue
17. Discuss
18. Dislike
19. Dispute
20. Endure
21. Enjoy
22. Escape
23. Evade
24. Explain
25. Fancy
26. Fear
27. Feel like
28. Feign
29. Finish
30. Forgive
31. Give up
32. Keep
33. Keep on
34. Mention
35. Mind (object to)

Page 18 of 21
 36. Miss
37. Necessitate
38. Omit
39. Picture
40. Postpone
41. Practice
42. Prevent
43. Put off
44. Recall
45. Recollect
46. Recommend
47. Report
48. Resent
49. Resist
50. Resume
51. Risk
52. Shirk
53. Shun
54. Suggest
55. Support
56. Tolerate
57. Understand
58. Urge
59. Warrant
60. It’s worth
61. It’s not worth
62. It’s no fun
63. It’s no use

Practice: Infinitive

Make Sentences with the following verbs and read aloud 3 times.

Page 19 of 21
 Example: She threatened to quit if she didn't get a gift.

1) Agree
2) Appear
3) Arrange
4) Attempt
5) Beg
6) Can/can’t afford
7) Can/can’t wait
8) Care
9) Chance
10) Choose
11) Claim
12) Come
13) Consent
14) Dare
15) Decide
16) Demand
17) Deserve
18) Determine
19) Elect
20) Endeavor
21) Expect
22) Fail
23) Get
24) Grow (up)
25) Guarantee
26) Hesitate
27) Hope
28) Hurry
29) Incline
30) Learn
31) Manage
32) Mean
33) Offer
34) Pay
35) Plan
36) Prepare
37) Pretend

Page 20 of 21
38) Profess
39) Promise
40) Prove
41) Refuse
42) Remain
43) Request
44) Resolve
45) Say
46) Seek
47) Seem
48) Shudder
49) Strive
50) Struggle
51) Swear
52) Tend
53) Threaten
54) Turn out
55) Venture
56) Volunteer
57) Wait
58) Want
59) Wish
60) Would like
61) Yearn

***Best Wishes***

Page 21 of 21