2. 1. Both gerunds and infinitives can be used as the subject or the
complement of a sentence.
2. However, as subjects or complements, gerunds usually
sound more like normal, spoken English, whereas infinitives
sound more abstract.
3. In the following sentences, gerunds sound more natural and
would be more common in everyday English.
4. Infinitives emphasize the possibility or potential for something
and sound more philosophical. If this sounds confusing, just
remember that 90% of the time, you will use a gerund as the
subject or complement of a sentence.
Examples:
Learning is important. normal subject
To learn is important. abstract subject - less common
The most important thing is learning. normal complement
The most important thing is to learn. abstract complement - less
common
3. 1. A gerund is a noun made from a verb by adding
"-ing."
2. 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:
•Reading helps you learn English. subject of
sentence
•Her favorite hobby is reading. complement of
sentence
•I enjoy reading. object of sentence
Gerunds can be made negative by adding "not."
Examples:
•He enjoys not working.
4. We use the to-infinitive:
• to express purpose (to answer "Why...?"):
He bought some flowers to give to his wife.
He locked the door to keep everyone out.
•We sometimes say in order to or in order
not to:
We set off early in order to avoid the traffic.
They spoke quietly in order not to wake the
children
• … or we can say so as to or so as not to:
We set off early so as to avoid the traffic.
5. 1. Verb + INFINITIVE
• After certain verbs (see verbs followed by infinitive),
particularly verbs of thinking and feeling:
choose, decide, expect, forget, hate, hope, intend,
learn, like,
love, mean, plan, prefer, remember, want, would
like, would love
• … and verbs of saying:
agree, promise, refuse
Examples:
They decided to start a business together.
Remember to turn the lights out.
6. 2. VERB + DIRECT OBJECT (SOMEONE) + INFINITIVE
• Some verbs are followed by a direct
object and the infinitive(see verbs followed by
infinitive):
• advise, ask, encourage, invite, order,
persuade, remind, tell, warn,
expect, intend, would prefer, want, would like
• She reminded me to turn the lights out.
He encouraged his friends to vote for him
7. 2-a- After certain adjectives.
Sometimes the to-infinitive gives a reason for the adjective:
•disappointed
•glad
•sad
•happy
•anxious
•pleased
•surprised
•proud
•unhappy
We were happy + to come to the end of our journey
= We were happy because we had come to the end of our
journey
John was surprised + to see me
= He was surprised because he saw me
8. VERB + -ING or INFINITIVE
Some verbs can be followed by either –ing or
infinitive, but the meaning changes:
As GERUND: (-ing) form
As INFINITIVE: (TO + BASE FORM)
Jan stopped talking to journalists.
(Jan used to talk to journalists but then he
stopped)
Jan stopped to talk to a local resident.
(focuses on a reason why he stopped to talk)
9. SOME SPECIAL VERBS
Some verbs that can be followed by –ing or
infinitive with a change in meaning are:
Forget Remember
Go on Stop
Mean Try
Regret
10. 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 + infinitive (to + base form)
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.
11. 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 + infinitive (to + base form)
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).
12. 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 + infinitive (to + base form)
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.
13. 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).
My grandmother stopped driving when she was 85. (Driving is the thing she
stopped).
My boss came into the room, so I stopped browsing the internet.
There was a fire alarm, so I stopped eating and went outside.
Stop + infinitive (to + base form)
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.
She was shopping and she stopped to get a cup of coffee. (She stopped
shopping because she wanted to get a cup of coffee).
Look at the difference:
I stopped smoking. (I gave up cigarettes OR I threw away my cigarette at that
moment).
I stopped to smoke. (I stopped doing something else because I wanted to have a
14. 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
15. VERBS: GO ON, MEAN, REGRET
GERUND INFINITIVE
to continue with the same thing to change the activity
Go on reading the text. Go on to read the text.
GERUND INFINITIVE
sth. has to be done to get a result intend to do sth.
You have forgotten your homework
again. That means phoning your mother.
I meant to phone your mother, but my
mobile didn't work.
GERUND INFINITIVE
you did sth in the past and you are not
happy about it
to tell bad news and you are not happy
about it
I regret being late for school.
We regret to inform you that the flight
has beeen delayed for another two
hours.
16. SOME SPECIAL VERBS
• One important verb that can be followed by –-
-ing or infinitive with very little or no change
in meaning is:
Like
Lizzie likes reading business economics books.
(reading: places emphasis on the action of
“reading” as a hobby)
Lizzie likes to read business economics books.
(to read: places emphasis on the type of books
she likes)
