Gerunds and Infinitives

Gerunds and infinitives are forms of verbs that act like nouns. They can follow
adjectives and other verbs. Gerunds can also follow prepositions. A gerund (often
known as an -ing word) is a noun formed from a verb by adding -ing. ee also
!ouns"Gerund. !ot all words formed with -ing are gerunds.
An infinitive is to # the verb.
$hen a verb follows a verb it either takes the gerund or infinitive form. ome verbs
can take either the gerund or the infinitive with no loss of meaning.
%or e&ample'
$ith the verb start - ()t started to rain.( or ()t started raining.( *oth sentences
have the same meaning.
ometimes the use of the gerund or infinitive changes the meaning of the sentence.
%or e&ample'
$ith the verb remember - () remembered to do my homework(. or ()
remembered doing my homework.(
)n the first sentence () remembered to do my homework)+ the person speaking
remembered they had some homework first and then carried out the action and did
it. )n the second sentence () remembered doing my homework.)+ the person
speaking carried out the action (their homework) first and then remembered doing it.
,ther verbs only take one or the other+ unfortunately there is no rule as to which form
the verb takes. The same is true when the verb follows an adjective.
Gerund
Gerund is the name given to the present participle form of a verb that is used
as a noun. )n the following sentences the gerund is shown in red'
moking is bad for your health. (gerund as subject)
A popular hobby in -ngland is stamp-collecting. (gerund as complement)
) dislike shopping. (gerund as object)
Gerunds are not difficult to use as subjects or complements+ as in the above
sentences. The problem arises when the learner wants to use the verb-noun as an
object and does not know whether the gerund or the infinitive is re.uired. /ere are
some e&amples of the variety of use'
he doesn0t enjoy working on undays. (gerund only)
he objects to working on undays. (gerund only)
he agreed to work on unday. (infinitive only)
he hates to work on undays. " he hates working on undays. (both
infinitive and gerund possible: same meaning)
he stopped eating. (gerund - meaning: she did not eat any more)
he stopped to eat. (infinitive - meaning: she stopped what she was doing
and started to eat)
GERUND OR INFINITIVE?
The two groups of verbs below can be followed either by the gerund or by the
infinitive. 1sually this has no effect on the meaning+ but with some verbs there is a
clear difference in meaning. 2erbs marked 3 can also be followed by a that-clause.
Example: to prefer
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) prefer to live in an apartment.
) prefer living in an apartment.
! Ver"s #$ere t$ere is little or no differen%e in meaning:
allow
attempt
begin
bother
cease
continue
deserve
fear3
hate3
intend3
like
love
neglect
omit
permit
prefer3
recommend3
start
Notes:
4. Allow is used in these two patterns'
a. Allow + object + to-infinitive:
Her parents allowed her to go to the party.
b. Allow + gerund:
Her parents don't allow smoking in the house.
5. Deserve # gerund is not very common+ but is mainly used with passive
constructions or where there is a passive meaning'
Your proposals deserve being considered in detail.
hese ideas deserve discussing. (6 to be discussed).
7. The verbs hate, love, like, prefer are usually followed by a gerund when
the meaning is general, and by a to-infinitive when they refer to a particular
time or situation. 8ou must always use the to-infinitive with the e&pressions
'would love to'! 'would hate to'! etc.
&ompare:
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" hate to tell you! but #ncle $im is coming this wee%end.
" hate looking after elderly relatives&
" love dancing.
" would love to dance with you.
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