Gerunds and Infinitives
- Gerunds and Infinitives are commonly used sentence structures in English. They are the categories of non-finite verbs that can be used as a noun or an object in a sentence.
- Gerunds and infinitives are sometimes referred to as verb complements. They may function as subjects or objects in a sentence.
- Gerunds and Infinitives both function as nouns. They can act as the subject of a verb when placed before it, and as an object when placed after it.
- Gerund is a verb form that ends in ‘-ing’ and is used as a noun in a sentence.
E.g. playing, going, making, writing etc. - Infinitive is the base form of a verb preceded by ‘to’
E.g. to play, to go, to make, to write etc.
Common verbs followed by a Gerund:
| prefer | My father prefers reading story-books. |
| advise | The teacher advises writing important points. |
| enjoy | We enjoyed dancing at the birthday party. |
| like | I like swimming in the morning. |
| love | David loves singing in annual function. |
| postpone | Let’s postpone leaving until Monday. |
| suggest | Father suggested supporting each other. |
| dare | Would you dare climbing Mt.Everest? |
| finish | Mother finished cooking at about nine. |
| discuss | We will discuss doing something special. |
Common verbs followed by an Infinitive:
| manage | John managed to finish his work early. |
| forget | My sister forgot to lock the door. |
| need | Today we need to have your valuable guidance. |
| wait | I will wait to know what you feel about it. |
| plan | We’re planning to visit Tokyo next month. |
| remind | Teacher reminded to attend the online lecture. |
| decide | We decided to stay at home. |
| want | Everyone wanted to drive a car. |
| like | I like to speak English with my teacher. |
| go | Let’s go to play football on our school ground. |
Both Gerunds and Infinitives can serve various functions in a sentence:
| Gerund as a Subject: Swimming is my favorite form of exercise. Dancing requires a lot of coordination. |
| Infinitive as a Subject: To learn a new language is challenging. To succeed takes hard work. |
| Gerund as an Object of a Verb: I enjoy reading in the evenings. She admitted stealing the cookies. |
| Infinitive as an Object of a Verb: I want to learn how to play the guitar. He decided to take a vacation. |
| Gerund as an Object of a Preposition: She is good at playing the piano. They are interested in hiking. |
| Infinitive as an Object of a Preposition: She is afraid of spiders. He is skilled at solving problems. |
| Gerund as a Complement: His favorite hobby is hiking. The best part of the day is swimming in the pool. |
| Infinitive as a Complement: Her goal is to become a doctor. The plan is to finish the project by next week. |
| Gerund after Certain Verbs: I enjoy cooking. They avoid going to crowded places. |
| Infinitive after Certain Verbs: She decided to visit the museum. He promised to help with the homework. |
| Gerunds | Infinitives |
| I like driving. | I like to drive. |
| He started walking. | He started to walk. |
| I stopped smoking. | I stopped to smoke. |
| Smith prefers eating a light dinner. | Smith prefers to eat a light dinner. |
| Dying is better than surrendering. | To die is better than to surrender. |
| He forgot calling his brother. | He forgot to call his brother. |
| Thinking positively makes man ideal. | To think positively makes man ideal. |
| Starving is better than begging. | It is better to starve than to beg. |
| He advised taking that course. | He advised to take that course. |
| Exercising is good for health. | To exercise is good for health. |
| She likes singing classical songs. | She likes to sing classical songs. |
| Gerund: She enjoys reading novels. Infinitive: She enjoys to read novels. |
| Gerund: They are considering renovating the house. Infinitive: They are considering to renovate the house. |
| Gerund: I appreciate your helping me. Infinitive: I appreciate you to help me. |
| Gerund: He apologized for arriving late. Infinitive: He apologized for him to arrive late. |
| Gerund: We can’t imagine living without internet. Infinitive: We can’t imagine to live without internet. |
| Gerund: I delayed making a decision. Infinitive: I delayed to make a decision. |
| Gerund: They discussed implementing new policies. Infinitive: They discussed to implement new policies. |
| Gerund: She is considering accepting the job offer. Infinitive: She is considering to accept the job offer. |
| Gerund: I remember seeing that movie before. Infinitive: I remember to see that movie before. |
| Gerund: They suggest studying in groups. Infinitive: They suggest to study in groups. |
also see:
| ONLINE GRAMMAR QUIZZES with CERTIFICATES |
| ENGLISH GRAMMAR_1 |
| ENGLISH GRAMMAR_2 |
| GRAMMAR: SPOT THE ERROR |
| USEFUL EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH SPEAKING |
| WORD FORMATION PROCESSES |
| PHONETICS |
