Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela

Instituto Universitario Politécnico

‘Santiago Mariño'

GERUND AND INFINITIVES

Alumno:

Jhermis hernandez
1. Basic rules for gerunds and infinitives

The gerund and the infinitive are forms of verbs that act as nouns. The
gerund is formed with “-ing” (walk, eat, etc.). As we have seen in the lesson
on verbs, the infinitive is formed with the preposition “to” (walk, eat, etc.).

Grammatical Rules

 When a verb follows another verb, we always need to use the infinitive
or the gerund. We normally use the infinitive after some verbs and the
gerund after others. There are also verbs with which we can use the
gerund or the infinitive.
Examples
I can’t afford to buy a new car.

He began to doubt himself. / He began doubting himself

 We can use the gerund or the infinitive as an object, subject or

complement of a sentence, but in general, it is much more common to
use the gerund as a subject.
Examples

I like cooking. / I like to cook

She continued working. / She continued to work

 With some verbs, when we use the gerund and the infinitive, the
meaning changes.
 The infinitive is used after adjectives.
 After prepositions we can only use the gerund.
 The gerund is used after some names.
 The gerund is used after some expressions or phrasal verbs.

2. What are the 5 types of gerund?

The four types of gerunds and gerund phrases follow:

A. Subject

Gardening is my favorite hobby. (Gardening is normally a verb, but here it

is the name of an activity.)
Gardening in the summertime is a challenge because of the heat. (The
gerund is followed by a modifying adverbial phrase, forming a gerund
phrase.)

B. Direct Object

My neighbors admire my gardening. (The admiration is not for the action

of gardening, but for the results of the action.)

I am enjoying my gardening this year. (The direct object of the subject is

“my gardening this year.”)

C. Object of Preposition

I have received several awards for my gardening. (The awards have been
given for the results of the activity.)
Some people consider my interest in gardening an obsession. (The
gerund phrase is “gardening an obsession.”)

D. Subject Complement

My favorite hobby is gardening. (Again, gardening is described as

something done, not the act of doing it. The statement is the inverse of the
first sentence in this group; here “My favorite hobby” is the subject,
and gardening is its complement.)
I do my gardening in the morning. (The phrase “gardening in the morning”
is the subject complement.)

3. How do you use gerund and infinitive

 Gerund

One of the biggest difficulties of the gerund in English is knowing when

to use it, especially in contrast to the infinitive. In many cases in Spanish
we would use an infinitive where the English put a gerund, which usually
leads to errors.

Next I will explain its most common uses.

a. The gerund as a subject

Painting is a good way to relieve stress.

Complaining will take you nowhere.

Listening to music will make you feel better.

Not finding a job may be stressful.

Texting is not the best way to socialize.

b. The gerund as an object

The gerund must always be used after certain verbs. There is no one rule
to know all of them. However, all phrasal verbs are always followed by
gerund. For the others, you simply have to know which verbs go with a
gerund and which with an infinitive.

I don't like waiting in lines.

She suggested going for a walk.

Mary proposed buying candles.

She was worried about not making it on time for the wedding

c. The gerund as a complement to the subject / attribute

The worst thing about winter is not seeing the sun.

One of my biggest dream has always been traveling to Japan

The best medicine for headache is sleeping
One of the easiest ways to get fit is walking for an hour every day.

d. The gerund behind prepositions

After preposition, we must always use the gerund and not the infinitive.

He fell asleep after watching the movie.

She felt bad for buying too many things.

I’m interested in learning Russian.

She's against smoking in any public place.

There’s no point in worrying about the future.

e. The gerund after some expressions

She can't stand listening to classical music.

The teachers couldn't help feeling pity for the student.

I don't mind working on Saturdays.

How about going for a drink?

It’s not use washing the car when it’s cloudy.

 Infinitive

USES OF INFINITIVE

a. The infinitive can be used alone or as part of an infinitive phrase.

We started to run

b. It can be a subject or complement in an expression or sentence

Saving money now seems impossible

I'm glad to see you

The worst is to panic

c. You can express a duty or obligation when following the verb to be

You must not smoke here

d. It can express a purpose or the reason why someone does something.

They went to England to learn English

Craig went to the supermarket to buy some chocolate.

e. It can be the complement or object of a verb, noun or adjective.

She wants to pay

His plan de ella is to keep us in suspense

I had the privilege to work with Mr. Taggart

I'm very pleased to meet you

Craig's very fortunate to have such good friends

f. - It can be used (without 'to') after 'do' or an auxiliary modal verb like
'must', 'may', 'might', etc.
Do you live alone?

I might go to the pub after dinner

g. There are verbs in English that can have the object behind and then an
infinitive verb (with 'to').

4. Which verbs use infinitive and gerund

Common verbs followed by a gerund:

Common verbs followed by an infinitive:
5. Differences between gerunds and infinitives

Gerunds
They are used mainly when referring to habits, experiences, choices and
risk

> I enjoy eating dinner with my family every evening.

Explanation: It is something that the person does regularly, therefore it has

become a habit

Infinitives

They are primarily used when referring to potential goals, hopes, needs,
and actions.

> I went to the grocery store to buy some bread.

Explanation: This is the purpose of going to the grocery store

Examples

Gerund

Gerund verbs are generally used:

-As subject in a sentence

Cooking is fun

-After prepositions

I drank coffee before leaving my house.

-They are also used as an object after specific verbs. For example, the
verb "enjoy" only matches the gerund:

I enjoy traveling.

-The gerund can be modified with possessive forms, such as his de ella,
her de ella, its de ella, your, their de ella, our, Sally's, etc. This allows
clarifying who or what is doing the action

I liked her singing.

Infinitives

Infinitives are usually used:

-After adjectives and adverbs

It's difficult to wake up early.

-To explain the reason why something happens

Students come to Kaplan to study English.

-Infinitives are used after many nouns. The most common are advice,
desire, dream, goal, need, wish, permission, etc.

His wish of him to be President came true!

-As in the case of gerunds, there are some verbs that can only be followed
by infinitives: decide, demand, agree, learn, offer, plan, wait, want, etc.

He plans to move to England.

 BIBLIOGRAFIE

https://www.kaplaninternational.com/latam/blog/clase-de-ingles-express-
gerundio-vs-
infinitivo#:~:text=El%20gerundio%20se%20forma%20con,se%20construy
en%20con%20to%20%2B%20verbo.