Topic 21 – Infinitive and -ing forms.

Their uses
60-76 minutos

Topic 21 – Infinitive and -ing forms. Their uses

UNIT 21
NON–FINITE FORMS: THE INFINITIVE AND THE –ING FORM. MAIN
STRUCTURAL FEATURES: FORM, MAIN USES AND FUNCTIONS.
OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION.
1.1. Aims of the unit.
1.2. Notes on bibliography.
2. A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE INFINITIVE AND THE – ING
FORM.
2.1. Linguistic levels involved.
2.2. Phrase, sentence and clause structure.
2.2.1. The phrase structure.
2.2.2. Sentence vs. clause structure.
2.3. The clause structure: finite vs. non-finite forms.
2.4. Grammar categories involved: open vs. closed classes.
3. MAIN STRUCTURAL FEATURES: FORM, MAIN USES AND
FUNCTIONS.
3.1. THE INFINITIVE.
3.1.1. The infinitive: main forms .
3.1.1.1. The infinitive with ‘to’.
3.1.1.2. The infinitive without ‘to’.
3.1.2. The infinitive: main uses.
3.1.2.1. The infinitive with ‘to’
3.1.2.2. The infinitive without ‘to’.
3.1.3. The infinitive: main functions.
3.1.3.1. The infinitive with ‘to’.
3.1.3.2. The infinitive without ‘to’.
3.2. THE –ING FORM.
3.2.1. ‘Gerund’ vs. ‘Present participle’.
3.2.2. The –ing: form.
3.2.3. The –ing: main uses.
3.2.3.1. As an adjective.
3.2.3.2. As a verb.
3.2.3.3. As a noun.
3.2.4. The –ing: main functions.
3.2.4.1. As subject.
3.2.4.2. As predicate.
3.2.4.3. As verb complement.
3.2.4.4. After prepositions.
3.2.4.5. As relative clauses.
3.2.4.6. As adverbial clauses.
3.2.4.7. As idiomatic expressions.
3.3. THE INFINITIVE VS. THE –ING FORM.
4. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS.
5. CONCLUSION.
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
1. INTRODUCTION.
1.1. Aims of the unit.
Unit 21 is primarily aimed to examine in English two of the three non-f inite
forms: the infinitive and the –ing form in terms of their main structural
features regarding form, function and uses in order to provide a relevant
and detailed account of this issue despite the fact it is not stated in the
original title.
Then, the study will be divided into seven chapters. Thus, Chapter 2
provides a theoretical framework for the infinitive and the –ing form by
answering questions such as, first, (1) which linguistic levels are involved
so as to know where these notions are to be found within linguistic studies;
second, (2) what is a phrase, sentence and clause structure in terms of
linguistic units or constituents of small or larger syntactic structures; (3)
third, within the clause structure, which are finite vs. non -finite forms ; and
finally (4) which grammar categories are involved in their description at a
categorial level in clause structure: finite vs. non-finite forms. Once this key
terminology is defined, the reader is prepared for the descriptive account in
subsequent chapters.
Once we have set up the linguistic framework, in Chapter 3 we shall offer a
general introduction to these two non-finite forms with respect to their main
structural features. The two forms will be analysed in terms of form, main
uses and functions, namely following morphological, phonological,
syntactic, semantic and pragmatic guidelines. Thus first of all, we shall
examine the infinitive main forms (the full infinitive and the bare infinitive)
through their uses and functions. Similarly, we do the same with the –ing
form, but by introducing the issue with the distinction between ‘gerund’ and
‘present participle’ in order to examine their main uses and functions. Once
both of them are stated, we move on to analyse the main differences
between the infinitive and the –ing form.
Chapter 4 provides an educational framework for the teaching of the
infinitive and the –ing form within our current school curriculum, and
Chapter 5 draws on a summary of all the points involved in this study.
Finally, in Chapter 6 bibliography will be listed in alphabetical order.
1.2. Notes on bibliography.
In order to offer an insightful analysis and survey on the form, function and
use of the infinitive and the –ing non-finite forms in English, we shall deal
with the most relevant works in the field, both old and current, and in
particular, influential grammar books which have assisted for years
students of English as a foreign language in their study of grammar. For
instance, a theoretical framework for this type of verbs is namely drawn
from the field of sentence analysis, that is, from the work of Thomson &
Martinet in A Practical English Grammar (1986) and Flor Aarts and Jan
Aarts (University of Nijmegen, Holland) in English Syntactic Structures
(1988), whose material has been tested in the classroom and developed
over a number of years; also, another essential work is that of Rodney
Huddleston, English Grammar, An Outline (1988).
Other classic references which offer an account of the most important and
central grammatical constructions and categories in English regarding non-
finite forms, are Quirk & Greenbaum, A University Grammar of English
(1973); Sánchez Benedito, Gramática Inglesa (1975); Greenbaum & Quirk,
A Student’s Grammar of the English Language (1990).
More current approaches to notional grammar are David Bolton and Noel
Goodey, Grammar Practice in Context (1997); John Eastwood, Oxford
Practice in Grammar (1999); Sidney Greenbaum, The Oxford Reference
Grammar (2000); Gerald Nelson, English: An Essential Grammar (2001);
Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum, The Cambridge Grammar of
the English Language (2002); and. Angela Downing and Philip Locke, A
University Course in English Grammar (2002).
2. A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE INFINITIVE AND THE –ING
FORM.
Before examining in detail the infinitive and the –ing form in English in
terms of form, main functions and uses, it is relevant to establish first a
theoretical framework for these two non-finite forms in order to fully
understand the following chapters since they must be described in
grammatical terms.
In fact, this theoretical chapter aims at answering questions such as, first,
(1) which linguistic levels are involved so as to know where these notions
are to be found within linguistic studies; second, (2) what functions they
have in phrase, sentence and clause structure in terms of linguistic units or
constituents of small or larger syntactic structures; (3) and third, which
grammar categories are involved in their description at a categorial level in
claus e structure: finite vs. non-finite forms. Once this key terminology is
defined, the reader is prepared for the descriptive account in subsequent
chapters.
2.1. Linguistic levels involved.
In order to offer a linguistic description of the infinitive and –ing forms, we
must confine them to particular levels of analysis so as to focus our
attention on this particular aspect of language. Yet, although there is no
consensus of opinion on the number of levels to be distinguished, the usual
description of a language comprises four major components: phonology,
grammar, lexicon, and semantics, out of which we get five major levels:
phonological, morphological and syntactic, lexical, and semantic
(Huddleston, 1988).
These five levels will offer us a linguistic approach to the infinitive and the –
ing form in terms of form and function . However, we must not forget the
linguistic fields of pragmatics and sociolinguistics in order to make us
understand the main uses of this type of structures in everyday speech. For
instance, the former by studying the use of signs and the relationship
between signs and their users and the second, by studying the interaction
of language and social organization in real communicative situations. As we
shall see later, both of them are so closely related to the field of semantics
when we have to set up some rules about the placing of ‘infinitive or –ing’
after certain verbs.
Thus, first, the phonology describes the sound level, that is, how to
pronounce the ‘to’ of the infinitive and the –ing forms (i.e. the weak form of
‘to’ in ‘You have to go’ or strong in ‘To go on holidays is fantastic’/the suffix
–ing in ‘skiing’) and so on. Secondly, the morphological level (i.e. infinitive
formation) and the syntactic level (i.e. where to place these two forms in a
sentence).
Third, the lexicon, or lexical level, deals with lists of vocabulary items
which, for our purposes, are lists of verbs (i.e. infinitives and present
participles). Moreover, lexis deals with the notion of verb phrase semantics
regarding the choice between different types of verbal aspects (i.e. finite vs.
nonfinite forms, progressive vs. nonprogressive aspect, etc), and other
means such as other formal realizations of these notions (i.e. a noun
phrase, a verbless clause, a finite clause, etc ).
Finally, another dimension between the study of linguistic form and the
study of meaning is semantics, or the semantic level, to which all four of the
major components are related in this study. We must not forget that a
linguistic description which ignores meaning is obviously incomplete, and in
particular, when dealing with these two non-finite forms. In fact, it is the field
of semantics which establishes the differences between the use of infinitive
and the use of the -ing present participle after certain verbs where syntactic
and morphological levels do not tell the difference (i.e. Do you remember
seeing this man before?= action which occurred beforehand vs. Remember
to switch off the lights before you leave = action which comes afterwards ).
2.2. Phrase, sentence and clause structure.
The distinction between phrase, sentence and clause structure at a
functional level is relevant for our study since both the infinitive and the –
ing forms will be related to them as constituents, that is, as elements or
grammatical categories into which a sentence can be segmented and
which actually play a role in large syntactic structures (phrases, sentences
and clauses).
Then, they will function first, in terms of single units of syntactic description
within the structure of the phrase (noun phrase, adjective phrase, verb
phrase, etc) and second, in terms of larger units as part of the structure of
the sentence (subject and predicate) or embedded in the sentence
structure, that is, clauses (subordinate). Following Aarts (1988), these
larger structures are, apart form the morpheme and the word, “two major
units of grammatical description”. But let us examine their main differences.
2.2.1. The phrase structure.
The phrase structure is defined as a constituent which can be identified on
the basis of the word class membership of at least one of its constituent
words which is called the ‘head’ of the phrase (i.e. a noun phrase is a
phrase which has a noun as its most important constituent and similarly
with an adjective or adverbial phrase). Note that the other elements show a
relation of dependency or subordination to the head (in noun phrases we
find: determiners which are divided into pre-central- post determiners and
modifiers: pre or post modifiers).
However, the factors which determine which of the words of a phrase
constitutes its principal part are not the same for all five phrase types.
Thus, in three types, the noun, adjective and adverb phrase, the dominant
element is that which can replace the whole phrase wit hout affecting the
structure of the sentence (i.e. We like medieval stories = we like stories).
However, a fourth type of phrase, the verb phrase, differs from the former in
that the essential element, mainly taken from semantic considerations,
cannot replace the whole phrase without causing serious harm to syntactic
structure (i.e. John has phoned Cristine vs. John phoned Cristine).
On the other hand, the fifth type of phrase, the prepositional phrase, differs
from the rest in that the element that gives its name to the phrase cannot
be called its head since it cannot replace the whole phrase. In addition,
only one of its constituents is a preposition and therefore, its relation is not
one of subordination but one of government.
Yet, regarding the partic ipation of infinitive and –ing forms in phrase
structures, we namely find them in (1) noun phrases as premodifiers
although they are fully adjectival in character (i.e. a sweeping statement; a
passing car; moving shadows; barking dogs) as well as postmodifiers (i.e.
We have something to do ); and (2) in adjective phrases when the adjective
is followed by an infinitive clause (i.e. a man easy to persuade; a theory too
difficult to explain). Note that they appear sometimes obligatorily in certain
structures, such as ‘too difficult to…’, ‘eager enough to…’, and so on.
Moreover, in (3) adverb phrases (i.e. He behaved so strangely as to
frighten everybody); and (4) prepositional phrases (i.e. He is very good at
playing cards).
Moreover, three types of non-finite clauses can occur in postmodification:
infinitive clauses in noun phrases (i.e. He is the woman to talk to; Our hope
to reach the semi-finals was unfounded ), adjective phrases (i.e. I am glad
to be here) , -ing participle clauses (i.e. The gold was discovered by two
men digging a shaft; He received a letter asking him to return to Germany)
and –ed participle clauses (i.e. Soldiers found guilty of looting will be
prosecuted; the techniques used by the research team are sound). As the
examples show, some infinitive clauses are reduced relative or appositive
clauses (i.e. We have no indication where to look; This is the hotel at which
to stay tonight). –Ing participle and –ed participle clauses are reduced
relative clauses as well.
2.2.2. Sentence vs. clause structure.
In order to clarify the difference between sentence and clause syntactic
differences, we must review the hierarchy of units of linguistic description
when dealing with this duality. For instance, we observe that morphemes
function as constituents of words, words function as constitutents of
phrases and phrases as constituents of sentences. But then, what is the
difference between sentence and clause structure? Aren’t they the same?
The sentence is actually identifiable on the basis of the relations holding
among its immediate constituents (subject, predicate, direct/indirect object,
complement, adverbial, and so on). Yet, “the sentence is placed at the
other extreme of the rank scale and regarded as the largest unit of
grammatical description since it does not function in the structure of a unit
higher than itself” (Aarts, 1988:79). Moreover, “to treat the sentence as the
highest unit implies that we do not take into account larger stretches of
language such as paragraphs and texts because this is the domain of text
grammar or discourse analysis”.
Once we have assumed that the sentence is the largest unit of grammatical
description and that it does not function in the structure of a unit higher than
itself, we are ready to understand the duality sentence vs. clause by means
of two further possibilities. First, when a sentence functions in the structure
of another sentence of the same rank (i.e. I believe that he is quite loyal;
what she says is false); and secondly, when a sentence functions in the
structure of a phrase, that is in the structure of a unit lower than itself (i.e.
as postmodifier: the man that came yesterday was a politician; she is afraid
of what may happen here).
Hence, when sentences are embedded in the structure of other sentences
or in the structure of phrases we call them ‘clauses’, which usually
corresponds to the notions of subordination (or embedding) and
coordination. Note that clauses can have other clauses embedded in them,
as in ‘That she is rich is obvious’ or ‘The problem is that they have no
money left’.
Up to this point, we must establish the difference between simple and
complex sentences since the former are sentences in which none of the
functions are realized by a clause, that is, a simple sentence is always an
independent sentence which does not contain an embedded (or
subordinate) sentence as realization of one of its functions (i.e. John is a
bachelor vs. that John is a bachelor ). On the other hand, sentences
involving subordination are called complex and those involving coordination
are called compound (i.e. The conclusion we came to was brilliant vs. Your
conclusion is brilliant but mine is excellent).
Within this context, clauses can be classified in two ways. From a structural
point of view we can distinguish three types: first, finite clauses; second,
non-finite clauses; and finally, verbless clauses. Once we have set up the
notions of phrase, sentence and clause within a linguistic framework, we
can continue with our analysis on sentence and clause structures by
specifying (1) the functions that their constituents have in sentence
structure by reviewing the difference between finite vs. non- finite forms
(since it is the latter we shall deal with throughout our study), and secondly,
(2) the categories to which their constituents belong (examined in the
subsequent section).
2.3. The clause structure: finite vs. non-finite forms.
In order to examine the clause structure at sentence level, that is, finite vs.
nonfinite clauses, we must examine their main differences in terms of
morphology and main syntactic functions.
On the one hand, their main structural features follow morphological and
syntactic guidelines. For instance, first of all, (1) in morphological terms,
finite clauses contain a finite verb phrase whic h is formed by an only word
capable of showing tense, mood, aspect and voice (i.e. He always tells me
frightening stories about ghosts=tense: simple present; mood: third person
singular indicative; aspect: simple; voice:active). If this verb is not first in a
sequence of more verbs, this would be nonfinite (i.e. He is always
laughing).
Therefore, non-finite clauses contain a non-finite verb phrase realized by
an infinitive, with or without ‘to’ (speak or to speak), an –ing participle
(speaking) or an –ed participle (spoken/called ). Yet, any clause in which
one of these verb forms is the first or only word (disregarding the infinitive
marker ‘to’) is a non-finite form. Alike finite verb clauses, nonfinite forms do
not normally occur as the verb phrase of an independent clause. For
instance, ‘To dance like that deserves an award’, ‘I found him dancing like
crazy’ or ‘Having been insulted before, he was more sensitive than ever’.
(2) In general, regarding their main syntactic functions, which is the core of
our study, their main differences are, first, that finite verb forms can occur
as the verb phrase of independent clauses because they always contain a
subject and predicate, except in the case of commands and ellipsis
whereas non-finite forms cannot, since they may be constructed without a
subject, and usually are. Note that the base form, which has no inflection, is
sometimes finite (i.e. You go to school everyday) when it takes first position
in predication, and sometimes nonfinite (i.e. You have gone to school twice
today) when it takes second position.
Thus, the four classes of non-finite verb phrase serve to distinguish four
classes of non-finite clauses, for instance, (1) the bare infinitive (i.e. He
may arrive tonight); (2) the to-infinitive (i.e. We want him to arrive soon); (3)
the –ing participle (i.e. living ) as a nonfinite verb in (a) the progressive
aspect following ‘be’ (i.e. He is living in California) and (b) in –ing participle
clauses (i.e. Calling early, I found her in her office ); and (4) the –ed
participle (i.e. lived/driven ) as a nonfinite verb in (a) the present perfect
aspect following ‘have’ (i.e. He has lived in Madrid for ten years ), (b) the
passive voice following ‘be’ (i.e. Her sister is called Angie ) and (c) –ed
participle clauses (i.e. Called early, he took a hot bath ).
2.4. Grammar categories involved: open vs. closed classes.
So far, in order to confine the non-finite forms to particular grammatical
categories, we must review first the difference between open and closed
classes. Traditionally, the open classes are verbs, nouns, adjectives and
adverbs, and are said to be unrestricted since they allow the addition of
new members to their membership, whereas the closed classes are the
rest: prepositions, conjunctions, articles (definite and indefinite ), numerals,
pronouns, quantifiers and interjections, which belong to a restricted class
since they do not allow the creation of new members.
Then, as we can see, when taking non-finite forms to sentence level, we
are namely dealing with open word classes, since we are dealing with lists
of verbs in the bare infinitive and –ing participle in noun phrase structures
(i.e. The driving was no good at all) and adjectival structures (i.e. That
terrifying accident happened yesterday ) and in adverb phrases as
modifiers. Moreover, we also find closed classes such as prepositions
when dealing with prepositional phrases although non-finite forms are not
the head of the phrase but part of it.
3. MAIN STRUCTURAL FEATURES: FORM, MAIN USES AND
FUNCTIONS.
With respect to the main structural features of the two non-finite forms
under study, that is, the infinitive and the –ing form, both of them will be
analysed in terms of form, main uses and functions, namely following
morphological, phonological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic guidelines.
Thus we shall examine their form regarding morphology (verbal structures)
and phonology (pronunciation) whereas function will be approached in
terms of syntax (verb phrase structure) and semantics (noun and verbal
meanings/differences and therefore, use) in order to get an overall view of
these two forms. Note that the notions of meaning and use (or semantics
and pragmatics) will go hand in hand since it is the everyday usage that
gives us the clue to distinguish them.
3.1. THE INFINITIVE.
3.1.1. The infinitive: main forms .
As stated above, the infinitive may take two main forms: the infinitive with
‘to’ (more commonly known as the full infinitive) as in ‘He has decided to go
now’ and the infinitive without ‘to’ (or bare infinitive) as in ‘He may leave
tonight’. Moreover, different types of infinitives will be examined in next
sections when its main uses and functions are addressed.
3.1.1.1. The infinitive with ‘to’.
First of all, the infinitive with ‘to’ or full infinitive is formed by the preposition
(or sometimes called proclitic particle) ‘to’ + the base form of the verb (i.e.
He decided to leave tonight). Other frequent structures are ‘so as/in order +
to’. These structures are used to state the verb in assertive contexts (to
be/so as to be/in order to be) whereas in non-assertive contexts the
structure is ‘not’ + full infinitive (not to be/so as not to be/in order not to be),
hence Hamlet’s popular statement ‘To be or not to be’. The full infinitive is
usually pronounced with the weak form /t + schwa/ within the speech chain
but if pronounced separately and slowly, as in short answers (i.e. Do you
ski? No, but I used to) we find the strong form /tu:/.
The infinitive form, as well as other grammatical elements like nouns may
be classified into ‘simple infinitive’ and ‘complex infinitive’ (Sánchez
Benedito, 1975). It is within the various types of full infinitive forms with ‘to’
that we find the presence of finite forms features like aspect (present or
progressive) and voice (active or passive). Thus, the ‘simple infinitive’
includes ‘present infinitive’ (to write), ‘present continuous infinitive’ (to be
writing), ‘present infinitive passive’ (to be written) and ‘present continuous
passive’ (to be being written). On the other hand, the ‘complex infinitive’
includes all the perfect forms, for instance, ‘the perfect infinitive’ (to have
written), ‘the perfect continuous infinitive’ (to have been writing), ‘the perfect
infinitive passive’ (to have been written) and ‘the perfect continuous
passive’ (to have been being written).
In addition, the full infinitive may appear with or without a subject, where
the latter is the most common one since no elements are introduced
between ‘to’ and the ‘bare infinitive’ (i.e. The best thing is to tell him right
now). However, despite that fact that it is not normally advisable to put any
elements between ‘to’ and the verb, we often find the full infinitive with a
subject in between within the structure: for + subject (usually object
pronouns) + full infinitive (i.e. The best thing would be for her to tell him
right now). Moreover, we find other constructions such as ‘split infinitives’
where emphatic elements (usually degree adverbs) are placed after the ‘to’
in colloquial English (i.e. It would take ages to really solve this mystery;
she’s asking you to simply tell the truth ).
3.1.1.2. The infinitive without ‘to’.
Alike the infinitive with ‘to’, the infinitive without ‘to’ or also known as bare
infinitive (Jespersen, 1933,1970;Thomson & Martinet, 1986) and plain
infinitive (Zandvoort, 1973) is namely represented by the base form of the
verb. Because of its simple structure, it is often connected syntactically with
certain elements in order to form a complete unit, for instance, with
auxiliary verbs, both primary (be, have, do) and modals (can, could, may,
etc), idiomatic expressions (had better, would rather) and certain
constructions (make/let + pronoun + bare infinitive). In addition, it is
relevant to mention that the bare infinitive and these structures also form a
unit in phonological terms, that is, regarding accent, stress and intonation
within the speech chain (i.e. You’d better go; she must buy it), particularly
when emphasis falls on the bare infinitive for the sake of clarity or detail
(i.e. I said you must read it, not write it).
3.1.2. The infinitive: main uses.
As mentioned in the second chapter, the infinitive main be used in different
contexts depending on its syntactic sentence structure, but it is namely us
ed in certain contexts where meaning has much to say where form and
function cannot tell the difference, for instance, these two sentences: ‘I like
getting unexpected invitations’ and ‘I like to get unexpected invitations’.
There is a subtle difference of meaning that probably a foreign student of
English at the beginner’s level may not grasp at once, for instance, the
former means ‘I enjoy unexpected invitations’ whereas the latter means ‘I
want/wish unexpected invitations’. Therefore, let us examine the different
uses that the full infinitive and the bare infinitive take in everyday speech.
3.1.2.1. The infinitive with ‘to’.
The infinitive with ‘to’ is frequently found in everyday speech with nominal
features rather than verbal implying different meanings in different contexts.
We must bear in mind though, due to its nominal features, it will be used in
the contexts of noun, adjective, and in less degree, adverb phrases. So, the
infinitive with ‘to’ is namely used (Thomson & Martinet, 1986):
(1) as a noun: at the beginning of a sentence functioning as a subject (i.e.
To stop smoking is almost impossible) or in exclamatory sentences (i.e.
Wow! To be on holidays again!) as the object or part of the object of a verb
in predicative position (i.e. He wants to drink a cola) as the complement of
a verb in predicative position, usually after‘be, become, seem’ (i.e. His main
goal is to pass the exam) after interrogative pronouns functioning as a
subordinate noun phrase (i.e. how/where/when, etc + to know) as in ‘I know
where to find her’;
(2) as a modifier: after certain nouns or indefinite pronouns (i.e. a book to
read, shoes to mend; something to eat) after certain adjectives (i.e. easy to
understand, glad to see you, willing to finish). In case the verb is formed
with a particle, this is placed at the end of the phrase (i.e. It was nice to
look at);
(3) to express: purpose or result as predicator complement in adverbial
clauses (i.e. He drove so fast to show off; to speak franklly, I don’t like him);
to express commands or instructions (i.e. No one is to leave this building);
to express purpose (i.e. I’ve come to stay). In this case, it may be
substituted by other frequent constructions such as ‘so as/in order + (not)
to’. Note that when the infinitive does not express purpose, it is necessary
the use of other elements such as ‘only’ (i.e. I came at six, only to find you
gone);
(4) to join two clauses (i.e. He hurried to my house only to find that it was
empty); (5) to replace relative clauses (i.e. He is always the first to come);
(6) after certain verbs: as stated before, after‘be, become, seem’ (i.e. He
seems to be tired after some semi-auxiliaries (i.e. ‘be able to’, ‘be about to’,
‘be due to’, ‘be bound to’, ‘be going to’, ‘be likely to’, ‘be supposed to’ and
‘have to’); some catenative verbs (i.e. start/finish + working/to work); some
modal idioms (i.e. ‘have got to’, and ‘be to’); and finally, after a set of verbs
which express volition, cognition, perception, and so on. They must be
followed by the full infinitive and not the gerund (i.e. afford, aim, allow,
arrange, decide, expect, hope, manage, swear, tend, promise, volunteer,
and so on).
(7) within certain constructions such as: too/enough + adjective/adverb +
full infinitive (i.e. It is too dark to see/He is mature enough to understand
the situation); ‘verb + accusative noun/pronoun’ + full infinitive’ (i.e. I want
him to come back), which are subordinated to another part of the sentence,
usually a preceding verb;
(8) and finally, as part of idiomatic expressions (i.e. To tell you the truth; He
is said to be a criminal; to be honest, I do not agree with you);
3.1.2.2. The infinitive without ‘to’.
Although the full infinitive is the most common form, the bare infinitive is
also found in certain constructions in everyday speech entailing different
meanings but this time with more verbal features than noun ones.
Therefore, the bare infinitive is namely used (Thomson & Martinet, 1986):
(1) in certain type of sentences: subject attributive sentences where the
subject is a whole sentence (i.e. What you’ve done is (to) spoil everything);
some interrogative sentences which express surprise or doubt (i.e. Help
them? Never in my life; Barbar marry you? Don’t be silly!);
in interrogative sentences which begin with ‘why’ or ‘why not’ (i.e. Why wait
for them?; Why not go now?); in answers to questions (i.e. What shall we
do if you don’t come on time? – Begin without me). Note that in any other
case we shall use the to- infinitive as expressing purpose (i.e. Why did you
come so early? – To watch the match).
(2) after certain verbs: after auxiliary modal verbs (i.e. can, could, may,
might, will, shall, should, ought to1 , must) and semi-auxiliaries (i.e. have
to); with verbs of perception such as ‘hear’, ‘see’, ‘watch’, ‘feel’ and so on
(i.e. I saw him enter) when the action is done and completed (in opposition
to ‘I saw him walking’ where the action was taking place). However, note
that in the passive voice these verbs are used with ‘to-infinitive’
constructions (i.e. He was seen to enter); the modal idioms (had
better/would rather); and modal auxiliary marginal verbs (i.e.
can/need/dare/could/might/may/etc). However, note that in the passive,
they take the to- infinitive (i.e. He was dared to fight); with some other verbs
and expressions that take the bare infinitive, for instance, verb +
noun/pronoun + bare infinitive (i.e. make/let); and with the verb ‘help’ (i.e. I
helped him cut the grass) although sometimes it takes the to- infinitive (i.e.
He helped me to do my homework);
3.1.3. The infinitive: main f unctions.
As mentioned in the second chapter, the infinitive main functions are
closely related to the functions of clauses since non-finite forms may only
be embedded in the syntactic structure of the sentence by means of
clauses. We must bear in mind that the functions of subject and predicate
are two obligatory parts of the sentence, where both the to-infinitive and the
bare infinitive may work (i.e. To smoke [subject] can kill [predicate]). Then,
both the infinitive with ‘to’ or without ‘to’ will depend heavily on the type of
clause they represent syntactically and also, to the main uses they express
from a semantic point of view.
Clauses, then, are classified in terms of the functions they can play in the
structure of the sentence where we can namely distinguish the following
types: subject clauses, direct object clauses, indirect object clauses ,
benefactive object clauses, subject attribute clauses, object attribute
clauses, predicator complement clauses and adverbial clauses (Aarts,
1988).
With respect to the functions that infinitive forms may carry out, Aarts
(1988) states that “with the exception of the indirect object and the
benefactive object (a type of indirect object), sentence functions can be
realized by both finite and non-finite clauses” in which the infinitive forms
are included. So let us examine the main functions that both the full
infinitive and the bare infinitive can take: (1) the infinitive as subject, (2) the
infinitive as direct object, (3) the infinitive as a verb complement, (4) the
infinitive after verb + object, (5) the infinitive with subject, (6) the split
infinitive, (7) the infinitive as a connective link and (8) the infinitive as an
adverbial clause.
1
It must be borne in mind that the forms ‘have to’ and ‘ought to’ are full
forms where the ‘to’ particle is part of the verb and it is not considered as a
part of the full infinitive.
3.1.3.1. The infinitive as subject.
The infinitive or the infinitive phrase may take the function of subject of a
clause when
(1) it is placed at the beginning of a sentence with the verbs ‘appear, be,
seem’ (i.e. To have breakfast in bed is nice);
(2) or when it is at the end of the sentence as an attributive subject (i.e. To
know her is to love her). We must bear in mind that the infinitive forms have
nominal character so they may function as nouns (To behave like this
would be madness). Note that the –ing participle may be also used as the
subject of a sentence when the action is being considered in a general
sense (i.e. Saving money seems impossible).
(3) We use the ‘it’ construction because it is more usual to place the
pronoun ‘it’ first.
Then the infinitive is moved to the end of the sentence (i.e. It was easy to
do it). Usually infinitive constructions of this type consist of ‘it + be +
adjective + infinitive’ (i.e. It would be a crime not to buy it).
(4) It is preceded by verbs of cognition, such as ‘believe, consider, discover,
expect, find, think and wonder (if)’ (i.e. He thought it would be a crime not to
tell him). Moreover, note its use with interrogatives (i.e. Would it be safe to
camp here?).
(5) Within this construction the verbs ‘cost’ and ‘take’ are also used (i.e. It
takes half an hour to get to the castle).
(6) Finally, the perfect infinitive can also be used as the subject of a
sentence (i.e. To have told me a lie is unforgettable) and similarly we may
use ‘it’ first (i.e. It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved
at all).
3.1.3.2. The infinitive as direct object.
The infinitive or the infinitive phrase may take the function of direct object of
a clause when
(1) it is placed after certain verbs, such as “agree, aim, appear, arrange,
ask, attempt, bother, care (negative), choose, claim, condescend, consent,
decide, decline, demand, determine, fail, forget, happen, hesitate, hope,
learn, long, manage, neglect, offer, plan, prepare, proceed, refuse,
remember, resolve, swear, threaten, try, and vow” among others (Thomson
& Martinet, 1986); for instance, ‘He determined/decided/learnt + to leave
the city).
(2) Other verbs or expressions can also be used with a ‘that-clause’ (i.e. I
promise to tell you = I promise that I will tell you) and some of them require
an introductory ‘it’ (i.e. It occurred/happened/appeared/seemed/turn out to
me that he was concealing something).
(3) However, sometimes a verb + full infinitive does not have the same
meaning as the same verb used with a that-clause, for instance, the verbs
‘learn, forget and remember’ (i.e. He learnt to swim vs. He learnt (was told)
that it would be difficult to swim). This construction is also possible in the
continuous infinitive with the verbs “agree, arrange, decide, determine,
hope, manage, plan and the auxiliary verbs” (i.e. He decided to be following
them). The perfect infinitive is also possible (i.e. He would have liked to see
it).
(4) It is within this function as direct object that we find the structure ‘verb +
how/what/when/where/which/why + full infinitive’. In it the most frequently
used verbs are “ask, decide, discover, find out, forget, know, learn,
remember, see, show, think, understand, want to know and wonder” among
others (i.e. I don’t know what to do; I showed her how to do it). Also,
‘whether + full infinitive’ is also used (i.e. I wonder whether to write or
phone).
3.1.3.3. The infinitive as a verb complement.
The infinitive may also function as a verb complement and, in particular,
after certain verbs or expressions. For instance:
(1) the bare infinitive after the auxiliary verbs “be, can, dare, do, have, may,
must, need, ought, shall, will, used” (i.e. He need leave the city now);
(2) the full infinitive after verbs expressing ‘likes and dislikes’ (i.e. care,
hate, like, love and prefer) although they can be also function with the
gerund form;
(3) after verbs of knowing and thinking, such as ‘assume, believe, consider,
feel, know, suppose, understand, think, estimate and presume) as in ‘I
consider him to be the best candidate’;
(4) after certain phrases that can also be followed by an infinitive, such as
“be about, be able + afford, do one’s best, do what one can, make an effort,
make up one’s mind, set out, and turn out” among others (i.e. We can’t
afford to live in the centre; she is just about to leave).
3.1.3.4. The infinitive after verb + object.
The infinitive may function as a direct object or as an infinitive with
accusative, thas is, within the structure verb + object + infinitive (with or
without ‘to’), whose translation corresponds to ‘que + subjunctive’ in
Spanish (i.e. I would like him to sing in public). We shall sum up the main
cases referring to the infinitive with ‘to’ and also to the bare infinitive.
(1) We find the full infinitive (and also the bare infinitive) after:
(a) verbs of knowing and thinking (mentioned above): ‘advise, allow,
command, consider, enable, encourage, implere, invite, judge, know, let,
make, oblige, order, persuade, remind, show, tell how, train, urge, warn and
watch’ among others (i.e. He allowed his son to go out late); and in
particular whe n the passive voice is used (i.e. He is
thought/invited/commanded to go). Note that the infinitive with accusative is
particularly found when the verb complement is the verb ‘to be’(i.e. He is
thought to be older);
(b) after verbs expressing volition, such as ‘want, request, force, cause (i.e.
I wanted him to tell me the truth);
(c) after verbs of command or request in indirect speech (i.e. order, tell,
request, ask) as in ‘I told/ordered/asked him to stay’;
(d) ) after verbs of perception, we may find the full or the bare infinitive (and
sometimes the gerund). For instance, with the verbs ‘feel, hear, see and
watch’ we usually find the bare infinitive in active forms (i.e. I heard him
lock the door) and the full infinitive in the passive form (i.e. He was seen to
enter the office). Note that these verbs are frequently used with present
participles (i.e. He was seen entering the office) when they describe a
progressive action;
(2) after certain structures, such as:
(a) with the verbs ‘let’ and ‘make’ + object. In the active they take the bare
infinitive (i.e. He made him cry) whereas in the passive they take the full
infinitive (i.e. He was made to cry);
(b) would rather/sooner, rather/sooner than (i.e. I’d rather wait until
tomorrow);
(c) had better (i.e. You had better finish at once),
(d) help (i.e. He help you (to) carry those heavy bags).
3.1.3.5. The infinitive with subject.
As stated before, the full infinitive may appear with or without a subject,
where the latter is the most common one since no elements are introduced
between ‘to’ and the ‘bare infinitive’ (i.e. The best thing is to tell him right
now). However, we often find the full infinitive with a subject in between
within the structure: for + subject (usually object pronouns) + full infinitive
(i.e. The best thing would be for her to tell him right now).
3.1.3.6. The split infinitive.
Moreover, we find other constructions such as ‘split infinitives’ where
emphatic elements (usually degree adverbs) are placed after the ‘to’ in
colloquial English (i.e. It would take ages to really solve this mystery; she’s
asking you to simply tell the truth ). This type of infinitive stands for
conventional sentences such as ‘to cover the floor completely’ vs. ‘to
completely cover the floor’.
3.1.3.7. The infinitive as a connective link.
The infinitive may also function as a connective link after the adverb ‘only’
to express a disappointing sequel (i.e. He hurried to the shop only to find it
was closed). However, we may omit the adverb ‘only’ without the idea of
misfortune (i.e. He returned home to find Sally had bought what he needed)
but this use is mainly confined to such verbs as ‘find, hear, learn, see, be
told’ among others.
3.1.3.8. The infinitive as an adverbial clause.
The infinitive as an adverbial clause refers to certain infinitive phrases that
can be placed at the beginning or sometimes at the end of a sentence.
These idiomatic expressions work as introductory sentences with are
similar to introductory sentence adverbs, for instance, ‘To be perfectly
frank; to be honest; to be fair; to cut a long story short; to tell you the truth;
among others’.
3.2. THE –ING FORM.
In this section we shall examine the –ing form, together with their main
uses and functions. But before we shall address an important distinction
which will be present in our study of the –ing form regarding its structure,
uses and functions, that is, the distinction between the definitions of
‘gerund’ and ‘present participle ’.
3.2.1. ‘Gerund’ vs. ‘Present participle’.
Following Sánchez Benedito (1975), we must distinguish between the –ing
form as ‘gerund’ and ‘present participle’ mainly because the verbal form ‘-
ing’ has two main different functions: (1) as a verbal adjective or participle,
hence the definition ‘present partic iple’, which implies adjectival and verbal
features. This form corresponds in Spanish to a gerund (She is working) or
an adjective (a smiling boy).
Secondly, (2) the – ing form may be realized as a verbal noun, hence the
definition ‘gerund’, which implies noun and verbal features. Note that in
Spanish the gerund refers to an infinitive (I like playing tennis) or to a noun
(The reading of the play will take place tonight). We shall not include here
the nouns which end in – ing already, such as ‘ceiling, stocking, and so on’
which have nothing to do with the –ing participle.
Therefore, depending on their adjective or noun features, we will be dealing
with ‘present participles’ or ‘gerunds’. Yet, we shall translate them into
Spanish: (1) as a gerund (i.e. they are reading); (2) as adjectives which
indicate actions (i.e. the crying girl=the girl that is crying); (3) as an infinitive
(i.e. before going to bed); (4) as a noun (i.e. Fishing is my favourite sport);
(5) as a whole sentence (i.e. I didn’t like him saying that); and (6) to form
compound nou ns (i.e. a washing- machine). Therefore, we are ready now
to analyse separately the main forms, uses and functions of the –ing forms
as present participle and gerund.
3.2.2. The –ing: form.
Alike the infinitive, there is only one way to construct the –ing form, that is,
the base form of the verb + – ing. In order to add the suffix –ing to the base
form, we must pay attention to certain spelling rules, such as the omission
of final –e when adding – ing (i.e. come vs. coming); the addition of a
double final consonant (i.e. sit vs. sitting); and the addition of –ing to final –
y (i.e. study vs. studying).
Regarding word formation, the –ing form will show different features
depending on its adjectival, verbal or noun features. Thus, when
considered as an adjective (present particicple), it has both adjectival and
verbal features, and it is shown in active and passive forms. Thus, in the
active, we find present (doing) and perfect forms (having done); in the
passive, we find again present (being done) and perfect forms, usually to
refer to past tenses (having been done).
However, it will be when used as a noun that we shall find more changes in
the way it is formed since it will undergo the same word-formation rules as
for nouns (plural, genit ive, addition of articles, etc) as we shall see in the
next section under the heading of the –ing main uses.
3.2.3. The –ing: main uses.
The main uses of the –ing form depend heavily on its adjectival, verbal or
noun features and therefore, the –ing form can be used in different contexts
as adjectives, verbs and nouns do. Yet, the
–ing form may be used:
3.2.3.1. As an adjective.
As an adjective (present particicple), which has both adjectival and verbal
features, it is used in attributive and predicative position. Thus, first, in
attributive position (a burning candle) it functions as an adjective, so we
find no addition of plural markers or articles to define it. Note that the
present participle in adjectival function must be accented together with the
noun it is defining (a ‘burning ‘candle) as it is done in the formation of
compound nouns; secondly, in predicative position (The girl is playing with
her friends) it functions as part of a verb in order to show the progressive
aspect. Note that this –ing form is equivalent to the Spanish gerund (i.e.
jugando).
3.2.3.2. As a verb.
When the –ing form has verbal features (present participle), the –ing form
enjoys the status of a verb and may take, first, a direct object (i.e. He likes
drinking wine) and second, it may be modified by an adverb (i.e. He likes
eating slowly). Moreover, it may even take its own subject when the subject
of the –ing form and the subject of the sentence are the same (i.e. The last
bus having gone, we had to wait for a taxi). In addition, it may function as
an adverbial subordinate sentence (i.e. Being the only man at the party, he
had a great success with women) or predicator complement after
prepositions (i.e. After visiting me, he went home).
3.2.3.3. As a noun.
And finally, since the –ing form or gerund may function as a verb or a noun,
we find on the one hand, noun formation features such as plural formation,
addition of articles, genitive construction and so on. Thus, it may add a
plural (i.e. His talkin gs are so boring); an article (i.e. Your travelling was
successful); a genitive (i.e. I can’t stand my mother’s complainings); the
addition of prepositions (i.e. The sinking of the ‘Titanic’); noun compound
(i.e. washing-up liquid) or coordination with other nouns (i.e. Diet or jogging
is what she has to do); and finally, the functions a noun can take: subject
(i.e. Smoking is bad for your health); object (i.e. She loves horse-riding);
predicator complement (i.e. This is working hard), or prepositional
complement (i.e. He usually gives me a surprise by preparing dinner with
candles).
3.2.4. The –ing: main functions.
The main functions, as stated above, of the –ing form depend heavily on its
adjectival, verbal or noun features as seen above, and therefore, the –ing
form can function in different contexts as adjectives, verbs and nouns do.
Yet, the –ing form may function in the following cases: (1) as subject of a
sentence (i.e. Dancing is really funny); (2) as the predicate of a sentence
(i.e. Seeing is believing); (3) as complement or direct object of certain verbs
(i.e. His hobby is fishing; He loves dancing); (4) after prepositions when
used as a verb complement (i.e. He was interested in painting); (5) as
relative clauses (i.e. The children playing in the garden did not hear her
mum); ( 6) as an adverbial subordinate clause (i.e. Seeing that he was
upset, they apologized for being late); (7) as idiomatic expressions.
3.2.4.1. As subject.
As stated before, the gerund may function as the subject of a sentence
(when used as a noun) when an action is being considered in a general
sense (i.e. Reading German is easier than speaking it) whereas the to-
infinitive is used when referring to a specific time (i.e. I would like to read
German rather than speaking it). Note the difference between the two
sentences where the former means ‘always’ or ‘in general’ and the latter
means ‘now’ or ‘at a specific time’.
The gerund, then, can be the subject of a clause placed after certain verbs
of knowing and thinking (cognition) such as ‘believe, consider, discover,
expect, find, think, and so on (i.e. He thought that parking in the city was so
difficult). In addition, the gerund is used in short prohibitions, such as ‘No
smoking’, ‘No parking’, ‘No swimming’, and so on, although these cannot
be followed by an object since prohibitions involve an object which is often
expressed by the imperative form (i.e. Do not smoke cigarettes here).
3.2.4.2. As predicate.
The gerund may also function as the predicate of a sentence, as in ‘Seeing
is believing’. This function is usually related to the verbs ‘be, seem,
become’.
3.2.4.3. As a verb complement.
The gerund may also function as a verb complement or direct object, as in
‘I hate fishing’. This function is usually related to certain transitive verbs,
such as ‘admit, anticipate, avoid, consider, deny, detest, dislike, enjoy,
excuse, fancy, keep, mean, mind, miss, postpone, recollect, resist, save,
suggest, and understand’ among others.
It is also related to certain verbs making reference to ‘likes, dislikes’, such
as ‘care, like, love, hate, detest and wish’ (i.e. They like /detest dancing);
‘preference’ (i.e. I prefer running to jogging); ‘volition’ when we are not
thinking of a particular action but are considering the subject’s tastes
generally (i.e. She would like riding if she could ride better); and ‘continuity’
shown by verbs such as ‘start, go on, continue, keep on, finish, end’ (i.e. He
kept on talking all night long).
There is a specific construction with this type of verbs, which can take the
previous construction or that of verb + a possessive adjective or pronoun +
gerund. ‘If a verb or verb + preposition is followed directly by the gerund,
the gerund refers then to the subject of the verb (i.e. Tom insisted on
working=Tom worked). But if we put a possessive adjective or pronoun
before the gerund, the gerund refers to the person denoted by the
possessive adjective or pronoun’ (i.e. He insisted on my/me working=I had
to work) (Thomson & Martinet, 1986).
3.2.4.4. After prepositions.
When a preposition is followed by a verb, the –ing form must be used,
except for the preposition ‘to’. ‘To’ can cause confusion as it can be either a
part of an infinitive or a preposition. Thus, after the auxiliary verbs ‘be,
have, ought, used’ and after ‘be going’, it is part of the following verb and is
only added to remind us that the preceding verb takes the infinitive. Also,
‘to’ is often placed after certain verbs which are usually followed by gerund,
for instance ‘hate, hope, intend, love, mean, plan, etc’ and some others, but
then they have different meanings (i.e. I love dancing vs. I love to dance).
However, ‘to’ may not always indicate a to-infinitive. For instance, it is used
in certain expressions, such as ‘look forward to, take to, be accostumed to,
get used to, be used to, in addition to, devoted to + gerund’ (i.e. I am
looking forward to seeing you). Following Thomson & Martinet (1986), ‘a
good way of finding out whether a ‘to’ is a preposition or a part of an
infinitive is to see if it is possible to put a noun/pronoun after it. For
instance, ‘I am used to listening to the radio/it every morning = preposition).
In addition, there is a number of verb + preposition or adverb combinations,
more commonly known as phrasal verbs which take the gerund. The most
common are ‘be for/against, care for, give up, go on, keep on, leave off,
look forward to, put off, see about, take to, and so on’ (i.e. He kept on
saying the same thing; he took to ringing us at midnight).
3.2.4.5. As relative clauses.
Given the adjectival character of the –ing form, it may also function as a
relative sentence by substituting the relative pronouns which, who, that. For
instance, ‘The man who is coming towards us is my uncle’ may be realized
by the sentence ‘The man coming towards us is my uncle’.
3.2.4.7. As adverbial clauses.
The –ing form may also function as an adverbial clause in absolute
construction. Note that this construction is considered to be informal or little
literary and therefore, in colloquial English it is usual to introduce the
subordinate clause by a conjunction, for instance, ‘Being the best
candidate, he won the elections’ vs. ‘As he was the best candidate, he won
the elections’.
3.2.4.8. As idiomatic expressions.
In colloquial English we usually find the –ing form functioning in everyday
usage in constructions such as ‘it is no good/use, there’s no point in, what’s
the point of, feel like, cannot stand, cannot help, it’s worth, to be fond of,
what/how about…? + gerund among many others. In addition, we find
some idiomatic expressions, such as ‘Generally speaking, I think it is a
mistake’, ‘Considering the circumstances, …’, ‘Bearing in mind the reports,
…’, etc.
3.3. THE INFINITIVE VS. THE –ING FORM.
As mentioned in the second chapter, the infinitive and the –ing form may be
used in different contexts depending on their syntactic sentence structure,
but they are namely used indistinctively in certain contexts where form and
function cannot tell the difference, and therefore we can only rely on
meaning. For instance, these two sentences: ‘I like getting unexpected
invitations’ and ‘I like to get unexpected invitations’. There is a subtle
difference of meaning that probably a foreign student of English at the
beginner’s level may not grasp at once, for instance, the former means ‘I
enjoy unexpected invitations’ whereas the latter means ‘I want/wish
unexpected invitations’.
We shall distinguish two types of verbs when both forms are used
indistinctively, first, those which do not have any changes in meaning; and
second, those which undergo semantic changes. Therefore, let us examine
the different uses that the full infinitive and the bare infinitive take in
everyday speech.
First of all, there is a group of verbs which do not change in meaning when
they are followed by a full infinitive or a gerund. This group of verbs
includes verbs of ‘start, continuity and end’ (i.e. start, begin, continue, keep
on, go on, finish, end’ (i.e. I started to play/playing chess). However, one of
these verbs, ‘stop’ will undergo relevant changes which will be examined
next. In addition, verbs indicating ‘likes and dislikes’ may also take the full
infinitive or gerund with slight differences of meaning.
Secondly, we find a reduced group of ve rbs which undergo relevant
changes in meaning. For instance, ‘remember and forget; regret and dread;
like, love, hate and prefer; try; mean; need and want; go on; and stop’.
Thus, (1) remember and forget take the gerund when they refer to an
action which occurred beforehand (i.e. Do you remember taking this
bus?/I’ll never forget arriving in Rome) whereas they take an infinitive when
they refer to an action which comes afterwards (i.e. Remember to take the
car keys/I’m afraid you will forget to take the car keys).
(2) Verbs ‘regret’ and ‘dread’ take the gerund when they refer to the past or
likely future (i.e. Do you regret not having studied?/I’m dreading going to
the dentist). However, ‘dread’ takes the infinitive ‘to think’ and ‘regret’ takes
the infinit ives ‘to say’, ‘to tell’ and ‘to inform’ to talk about the future (i.e. I
dread to think what might have happened if you’d stopped insulting me/I
regret to tell you that you are not pregnant).
(3) Verbs ‘like, love, hate and prefer’ may take either a geru nd or an
infinitive when they mean ‘enjoy’ or ‘take pleasure in’ (i.e. I simply love
cooking/Do you prefer typing or writing by hand?) but in negative sentences
they usually take the gerund (i.e. I don’t like cooking). Yet, when they mean
‘want’ or ‘wish’, they take the infinitive (i.e. Would you like to have a tea?)
and when ‘prefer’ is used in a comparison, the gerund is always used (i.e.
He prefers skating to snowboarding).
(4) When the verb ‘try’ takes the gerund (i.e. Try climbing that wall. Maybe
you can see the old house from up there), the meaning is ‘experiment’
meaning that you’ll have no difficulty in climbing the wall but the action may
or may not be successful in enabling you to jump. However, when the
infinitive is used, the meaning is ‘attempt’, where you may be or not be
successful in climbing the wall (i.e. Try to climb that wall).
(5) When the verb ‘mean’ is used with the gerund (i.e. The job means
moving to another area), the verb means ‘involve’ but when it is used with
the infinitive (i.e. We are meant to be together), it means ‘intend’.
(6) Verbs ‘need and want’ mean ‘be in need of’ when used with the gerund
(i.e. The hedge needs trimming) whereas with the infinitive ‘need’ means
‘have a need’ (i.e. We’ll need to take a bus tomorrow) while ‘want’ means
‘should/ought to’ or ‘wish’ (i.e. You want to ask John. He’s the expert).
(7) The verb ‘go on’ means ‘continue an action’ with the gerund (i.e. He
went on describing his house) whereas it means ‘introduce a new action’
with the infinitive (i.e. After describing his mansion, he went on to describe
his castle).
(8) And finally, the verb ‘stop’ means ‘cease’ with a gerund (i.e. He stopped
smoking) whereas it means ‘to interrupt one action in order to perform
another’ with the infinitive (i. e He stopped to smoke).
4. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS.
The relevant difference between the two non-finite forms dealt with in this
study are so important to the learning of a foreign language since
differences between the vocabulary related to non-finite forms of the
learner’s native language (L1) and that of the foreign language (L2) may
lead to several problems, such as the incorrect use of each of them,
especially because of the syntactic, morphological, pragmatic and semantic
processes implied in these categories.
This study has looked at the structure of the infinite and the – ing form in
terms of form, main uses and functions, that is, regarding morphological
and phonological forms, and syntactic, semantic and pragmatic functions,
all those related by the relevance of usage in everyday speech. This study
is mainly intended for teachers to help Spanish-speaking students establish
a relative similarity between the two languages that would find it useful for
communicating in the European framework we are living in nowadays.
According to Thomson & Martinet (1986), a European student may find
especially troublesome the use of the infinitive and the –ing form , and
particularly when there are subtle difference between
their uses. Then, when communicating in English he has to know first the
specific constructions in which both forms are embedded (i.e. I am looking
forward to + gerund) and, second, which non- finite form to use when
certain situations are given depending on the context (i.e. He stopped
crying/to cry: ‘cease’ or ‘interrupt’?) and on top of that, learn long lists of
verbs related to each type of non-finite form (i.e. He likes/avoid/prefer
playing chess).
This choice becomes problematic for our Spanish students when they deal
with the two non-finite forms and their semantic offer. For instance, the
most common mistakes for Spanish students, both at ESO and Bachillerato
level, is to write incorrectly the infinitive of purpose (i.e. He came home
yesterday to have dinner); to learn that prepositions are followed by the –
ing form (i.e. He insisted on having dinner) or sometimes by omitting
certain elements (i.e. She is used to sing ing in contests). Often, they make
serious grammatical mistakes.
It has been suggested that a methodology grounded in part in the
application of explicit linguistic knowledge enhances the second language
learning process. In the Spanish curriculum (B.O.E. 2002), the use of non-
finite forms is envisaged from earlier stages of ESO in the use of verbs
regarding ‘likes and dislikes’ (like, love, hate, prefer) to talk about their
everyday life and, usually in the context of ‘hobbies’, up to higher stages of
Bachillerato, towards more complex verbal forms, such as verbs followed
by infinitive or gerund, or certain constructions (i.e. It’s worth studying all
night/I am looking forward to seeing you) , past habits (i.e. He was/got used
to + gerund) and above all, idiomatic expressions in certain modal idioms
(i.e. Generally speaking, …/Seeing is believing, etc ).
So, the importance of how to handle non-finite forms cannot be understated
since you can communicate but not successfully because of the relevant
distinction of meaning between the use of both, especially when we may
use indistinctively infinite or –ing forms. We must not for get that Spanish
students are likely to write the infinitive of purpose incorrectly (i.e. He came
for to talk to me) or not to write the –ing form after prepositions (i.e. He is
interested in dance), and so on.
Current communicative methods foster the ‘teaching’ of this kind of specific
linguistic information to help students recognize the main differences with
the L2 words. Learners cannot do it all on their own. Language learners,
even 2nd year Bachillerato students, do not automatically recognize
similiarities which seem obvious to teachers; learners need to have these
associations brought to their attention.
So far, we have attempted in this discussion to provide a broad account of
the infinitive and the –ing form by means of form, main functions and uses
within verb phrase morphology, phonology, syntax, semantics and usage in
order to set it up within the linguistic theory, going through the localization
of non-finite forms in syntactic structures, to a broad presentation of the
main grammatical categories involved in it. We hope students are able to
understand the relevance of handling correctly the expression of both forms
to successfully communicate in everyday life.
5. CONCLUSION.
All in all, although the question ‘What is an infinitive or gerund?’ may
appear simple and straightforward, it implies a broad description of non-
finite forms in terms of form, function and use so as to get to the paradigms
of morphology, phonology, syntax, semantics and use which, combined,
give way to the study we have presented here. The appropriate answer
suitable for students and teachers, may be so simple if we are dealing with
ESO students, using simple structures (hobbies: gerunds) or so complex if
we are dealing with Bachillerato students, who must be able to handle
more complex verb structures (to be used to + gerund).
So far, in this study we have attempted to take a fairly broad view of non-
finite forms since we are also assuming that there is an intrinsic connexion
between its learning and successful communication. Yet, we have provided
a descriptive account of Unit 21 dealing with The infinitive and the –ing
form whose main aim was to introduce the student to the different
paradigms that shape the whole set of verbal forms in English regarding
their form, main uses and functions.
In fact, the correct expression of these two non-finite forms is currently
considered to be a central element in communicative competence and in
the acquisition of a second language since students must be able to use
and distinguish these forms in their everyday life to avoid embarrassing
situations. As stated before, the teaching of them comprises four major
components in our educational curriculum: phonology, grammar, lexicon,
and semantics, out of which we get five major levels: phonological,
morphological and syntactic, lexical, and semantic.
Therefore, it is a fact that students must be able to handle the four levels in
communicative competence in order to be effectively and highly
communicative in the classroom and in real life situations, now we are part
of the European Union. The expression of the se verbal paradigms in form,
use and function, proves highly frequent in our everyday speech, and
consequently, we must encourage our students to have a good managing
of it.
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
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Categories in Sentence Analysis. Prentice Hall Europe.
– B.O.E. RD Nº 112/2002, de 13 de septiembre por el que se establece el
currículo de la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria/Bachillerato en la
Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia.
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– Council of Europe (1998) Modern Languages: Learning, Teaching,
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Language. Longman Group UK Limited.
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