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/wrong 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.
9 October 2013
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. Only gerund is used after certain verbs:

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

1. We use bare infinitive after

modal verbs.
Translate:
Bolje bo če pohitim.
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)
3. To-infinitive
1. He went to the shop to buy some bananas.
 to express purpose (why)

• I want to eat some bananas.

 To eat = purpose
2. After adjectives happy, glad, it is...

I‘m happy to see you. 

It is nice to see you.
3. After „the first, the second...“

Who will be the first to eat the

banana?
4. They are too slow to get the banana.

After constructions too/enough.

 5. Would like
would love
would prefer

Would you like to eat a banana too?