Gerunds and infinitives.

Hi everybody!! My lesson of today is about Gerunds and Infinitives, a difficult lesson because is difficult to know when to use Gerunds and Infinitives.  Well when one verb follows another, the first verb determines the form of the second.

  

We use gerund:  (verb + ing)

- After verbs.

- After preposition.

- As the subject of a sentence.

This is the list of the common verbs that are usually followed by the gerund:

Admit, avoid, can’t help, can’t stand, carry on, deny, enjoy, fancy, finish, give up, keep on, imagine, involve, mind, miss, postpone, practise, risk, stop, suggest.

For example:

I enjoyed living in France.

I fancy seeing a film tonight.

We discussed going on holiday together, I dislike waiting for buses.

We have finished preparing for the meeting.

I don’t mind coming early. 

He suggested staying at the grand hotel. 

We use infinitive with to:

- After verbs.

- After many adjectives.

- To show purpose.

The list of verbs which is followed by “to” and the infinitive:

Agree, appear, be able to, can’t afford, can’t wait, decide, expect, happen, have (got), help, learn, manage, offer, plan, pretend, promise, refuse, seem, teach, tend, threaten, want, would like.

She agreed to give a presentation at the meeting. 

I asked to leave early.

We decide to go out for dinner. 

He helped to clean the kitchen. 

He helped this flatmate to clean the kitchen. 

She plans to buy a new flat next year.

I hope to pass the exam.

We use infinitive without to:

-           After modal verbs.

-           After let, make, and sometimes help.

-           After some verbs of perception such as see, watch, hear, notice, feel, sense.

-          After expressions with why.

The list of modal verbs: Can, may, might, must, should, had better, and would rather.

I can meet you at six o’clock. 

The teacher let us leave nearly.

Why go out the night before an exam?

• Some verbs can be followed by either with no change meaning:

Begin, start, continue, like, prefer, hate, love.

Gerund: Generally---- Infinitive: Specific occasion.

• But some verbs that can be followed by either with a change of meaning:

1.       Remember + infinitive: Remember first, and then you do  something.

      Remember + gerund: You do something then you remember it.

2.       Forget + infinitive: You dind’t remember to do something.

      Forget+ gerund: You did something and you won’t forget it.

3.      Try+ infinitive: make an effort to do something.

     Try+ gerund: Experiment to see if something works.