GERUND & INFINITIVE Compiled by: Catharina Awang Wara Kinanthi S.Pd.
A gerund is a noun made from a verb by adding "-ing." The gerund form of the verb "read" is "reading." You can use a gerund as the subject, the complement, or the object of a sentence. Examples: a. Reading helps you learn English. subject of sentence b. I'm excited about reading novel. object of preposition c. I enjoy reading. object of sentence There are some functions related to the use of gerund. 1. As subject of a verb e. g : Teaching is a very challenging job Being a soldier requires physical strength and bravery Sam s coming late all the time causes the teacher to lose her temper 2. As object of a verb Do you like cooking? He loves singing 3. The complement of to be His favorite activity is watching television My dream is travelling all around the world 4. After preposition I am not interested in reading romantic novel Nobody was impressed by his doing the job all by himself 5. After determiners (a, the, this, some, a lot of) The bombing of civilians horrified everyone
6. After possessive adjectives, object pronouns, or nouns Nobody likes his/him/jack boasting about his achievements 7. After adjectives Regular swimming is very good for you It was awful working here Verbs Followed by Gerunds Admit advice Anticipate Appreciate Avoid Complete Consider Delay Deny Discuss Dislike Enjoy Finish Go Forget Can t help Keep Mention Mind Miss Postpone Practice Quit Recall Recollect He admitted cheating on the test Mom advised me taking regular exercise I anticipated arriving late. I appreciate hearing from them He avoided talking to her He completed renovating the house. I will consider going with you He delayed leaving for school She denied committing the crime They discussed opening a new business She dislikes working after 5 PM. We enjoy hiking She finished studying about ten We went fishing yesterday / did you go shopping? I ll never forget visiting Napoleon s tomb. I can t help worrying about it I keep hoping he will come She mentioned going to a movie Would you mind helping me with this? I miss being with my family Let s postpone leaving until tomorrow She practiced singing the song. She quit worrying about the problem Tom recalled using his credit card at the store. She recollected living in Kenya.
Recommend Regret Remember Resent Resist Risk Stop Suggest Tolerate Try Understand Tony recommended taking the train. She regretted saying that. I remember telling her the address yesterday. Nick resented Debbie's being there. He resisted asking for help. He risked being caught. She stopped working at 5 o'clock. They suggested staying at the hotel. She won t tolerate cheating during an examination Sam tried opening the lock with a paperclip. I don t understand his leaving school
INFINITIVE Infinitives are the "to" form of the verb. The infinitive form of "learn" is "to learn." You can also use an infinitive as the subject, the complement, or the object of a sentence. Examples: To learn is important. subject of sentence The most important thing is to learn. complement of sentence He wants to learn. object of sentence 1. After certain verbs + person (object) He called me to ask about his test result I asked her to come here 2. Indicating intention or purpose To win the final match, the players have to work every hard in training He came here to tell the good news 3. After to be My first thought was to phone you 4. After the first/second/last/ only/ best (and other superlative adjectives) + noun or pronoun one He was the only one to die 5. After a noun/pronoun. The verb in the infinitive relates to the preceding noun/pronoun e.g: There are a lot of work to do I ve got a few people to see
6. After an adjective/adverb or an adjective/adverb with too, enough, and so. e.g: It is very dangerous to let a child with a gun He didn t speak clearly enough for me to understand what he was saying Nobody is crazy enough to drive a car at high speed in such a heavy traffic He was so foolish as to leave his car unlocked 7. After certain verbs They had to have the secretary retype the letter Everybody finally agrees not to involve the police in this matter Verbs Followed by Infinitives
Common verbs followed by either infinitive of gerund Remember + gerund This is when you remember something that has happened in the past. You have a memory of it, like being able to see a movie of it in your head. I remember going to the beach when I was a child. (= I have a memory of going to the beach). He remembers closing the door. (= He has a memory of closing the door) Remember + to + infinitive This is when you think of something that you need to do. (And usually, you then do the thing). I remembered to buy milk. (= I was walking home and the idea that I needed milk came into my head, so I bought some). She remembered to send a card to her grandmother. Forget + gerund This is the opposite of remember + gerund. It's when you forget about a memory, something that you've done in the past. Have we really studied this topic before? I forget reading about it. I told my brother that we'd spent Christmas at Granny's house in 1985, but he'd forgotten going there. Forget + to + infinitive This is the opposite of remember + to + infinitive. It's when you want to do something, but you forget about it.
I forgot to call my mother. (= I wanted to call my mother, but when it was a good time to call her, I forgot. I was thinking about something else, and the idea to call my mother didn't come into my head). Try + gerund This is when you do something as an experiment. The thing you do is not difficult, but you want to see if doing it will have the result that you want. I wanted to stop smoking, so I tried using nicotine patches. (= Using nicotine patches was easy, but I wanted to know if it would help me stop smoking). She tried giving up chocolate, but it didn't help her lose weight. (It was easy for her to give up chocolate. She gave it up to see if it would help her lose weight, but it didn't). Try + to + infinitive This is when the thing you do itself is difficult and you don't succeed in doing it. I tried to lift the suitcase, but it was too heavy. She tried to catch the bus, but she couldn't run fast enough. Look at the difference: It was too hot in the room. I tried opening the window (it was easy to open the window). It didn't help though, because it was very hot outside too. I tried to open the window, but I couldn't because it was stuck. Stop + gerund When we stop doing something it means the verb in the gerund is the thing that we stop. It can mean 'stop forever' or 'stop at that moment'. I stopped working when I was expecting a baby. (Working is the thing I stopped). Stop + to + infinitive In this case, we stop something else in order to do the verb in the infinitive.
I stopped to eat lunch. (I stopped something else, maybe working or studying, because I wanted to eat lunch. Regret + gerund This is when you are sorry about something you did in the past and you wish you hadn't done it. I regret going to bed so late. I'm really tired today. She regrets leaving school when she was sixteen. She wishes that she had studied more and then gone to university. Regret + to + infinitive We use this construction when we are giving someone bad news, in quite a formal way. The verb is almost always something like 'say' or 'tell' or 'inform'. I regret to tell you that the train has been delayed. The company regrets to inform employees that the London office will close next year EXERCISES Use gerund/infinitive in the following. Alan can t stand on trains. (riding/ to ride) Mr. Harris enjoys people out to dinner. (inviting / to invite) In the old days, gentlemen challenged their rivals. (fighting / to fight) Jim stopped his shoelace. Wait for him. (tying / to tie) My wife always volunteers cakes PTA meetings. (baking / to bake) Don t waste my time about your salary. (complaining/ to complain) Eva is having trouble on the exam. (concentrating / to concentrate)
Please allow me your Facebook page. (joining / to join) You won t forget milk on your way home, will you? (picking up /to pick up) She pretended (be) a student in order to get a student discount. She waited to (see) what would happen next. The child denied (steal) the piece of candy. We fully intend (pay) you for all the work you have done for us. You seem (be) a little distracted. Is everything alright? Laura and Ed discussed (move) to the city to find work; however, in the end, they decided against relocating. She refused (admit)that she had made a mistake. After his accident last year, he would never consider (buy) another motorcycle. Margaret just happened (find) the lost car keys while she was looking for something else. He never admitted (have) the wild party while his parents were out of town. The doctor ordered Mr Gray (smoke, not)