Unit 10: Sunny's job hunt

Gerunds and infinitives

Verb patterns: gerunds and infinitives
Gerunds are the -ing form of a verb, and infinitives are the to + base form. These words can
be confusing; they combine the meaning of a verb with the grammar of a noun.
My father asked me to phone him. I enjoy talking with my father.
So, how is to phone like a noun? Imagine the first sentence said: My father asked me a
question. You can see how a question and to phone have the same grammatical role.
Similarly, you could replace talking with the noun conversation.
Using gerunds and infinitives correctly with verbs can be difficult because some verbs go with
only the infinitive or only the gerund, and others can go with either one.
I enjoy going to the movies. (enjoy + -ing form only)
Jason wants to visit a museum on Friday. (want + infinitive form only)
Tony likes eating at restaurants. Tony likes to eat at restaurants. (like + either -ing or
infinitive form)
Another difficulty is that sometimes choosing the infinitive or the gerund will change the
meaning of the sentence.
Mary stopped eating at six.
(Mary was eating, and at six oclock, she stopped.)
Mary stopped to eat at six.
(Mary was walking home, and at six oclock she stopped walking and went into a caf
to eat.)
The best way to learn which verbs take infinitives, gerunds, or both, is to notice them in
context when you read, or to consult grammar references. Here are some of the most
common verbs:
Followed by a gerund (-ing form)
admit, advise, consider, discuss, dislike, dread, enjoy, finish, mind, practise,
recommend, suggest
Followed by an infinitive

agree, appear, choose, decide, expect, fail, hope, learn, need, refuse, seem, wait, want

Followed by either, usually with no change in meaning

begin, continue, hate, like, love, prefer, start
Followed by either, with a change in meaning
forget, regret, remember, stop, try

Form
Gerunds and infinitives can follow verbs in the form verb + -ing form of the verb or verb +
infinitive (to + base form of the verb).
Positive
Theresa suggested going to the park.
Ross decided to go home instead.
Negative
The negative form is verb + not + gerund/infinitive.
My grandparents have retired and enjoy not working.
Frank hopes not to travel over the holidays.
Question
What did the doctor advise taking for your cold?
Do you need to do your laundry this weekend?

Take note: split infinitives

A split infinitive has an adverb between to and the verb.
It is important to thoroughly study for an examination.

His sister seems to really want a cat.

Some people think split infinitives are ungrammatical. If you are writing formal English, it is
best to avoid using them in your writing.

Take note: possessives

Remember that gerunds are types of nouns, so you can use possessive adjectives like my,
your, his, her, etc.
Do you mind my going out for a while?
I like his planning our holidays for us.

6 Minute Vocabulary: Job suffixes

Job names ending in er:
presenter, teacher, train driver
Job names ending in or:
actor (some people say actress for female actors), translator
Job names ending in ian:
librarian, politician, optician
Job names ending in ist:
journalist, receptionist, dentist

What comes after the verb?

I hope to be famous one day
I decided to study drama at university
I enjoy singing and performing

I've tried looking everywhere

I hate swimming
In all the sentences, the first verb was followed by either:
A gerund (base verb-ing: looking, singing, swimming)
An infinitive with 'to' (to + base verb: to study, to be)
Gerunds and infinitives can be confusing in English, because they look like verbs, but they
sometimes work like nouns. Some learners of English find it difficult to decide when to use a
gerund after a verb, and when to use an infinitive with 'to'.
Sunny used seven verb-gerund combinations:
tried looking
like doing
love dancing
like travelling
enjoy singing and performing
hate swimming
learn juggling
She used five verb-infinitive combinations:
decided to study
try to keep
hate to be
tried to learn
hope to be

6 Minute Vocabulary
Job suffixes
Neil
lets listen to Anna. Shes going to tell us about the different jobs shes had in her life so far.
Sophie
what is Annas job now?

Anna
When I was a little girl, I always wanted to be a teacher. So I spent years training as a
teacher, and then I got a job in a school and I hated it! After a few months I quit. I worked
for a while as a librarian, but I didnt really like that either. Finally, I started writing for a small
website. Now I work as a journalist, writing for newspapers and magazines.

Neil
Anna is a journalist now. She writes for newspapers and magazines.
Sophie
Did you catch what Annas first job was?
Neil
She was a teacher.
Neil
Now, a lot of English words for jobs end with the sound er, like presenter or teacher.
Sophie
and there are two ways to spell the suffix er in job names. Sometimes this is spelled e-r, in
words like presenter or teacher. Or sometimes its spelled o-r: for example, actor or
translator.
Neil
So, a teacher teaches students, an actor acts in a film, a translator translates from one
language to another, a train driver drives a train. Youre an actor arent you Sophie?
Sophie
Yes, I am, Neil. But because Im female you can also say Im an actress. So, there are lots of
jobs that end with that e-r suffix.
Anna
After a few months I quit. I worked for a while as a librarian, but I didnt really like that either.
Neil
Next, Anna worked as a librarian thats someone who works in a library.
Sophie
Another suffix which we often find at the end of a word for a job is ian, spelled i-a-n.
Sometimes its pronounced shun. For example, if youve got a problem with your eyes, you
might need to go to an optician.
Neil
And someone who works in politics is a politician. Ever thought of being a politician, Sophie?

Sophie
Do you remember what Anna does now? Shes a journalist.
Neil
There are also quite a lot of words for jobs in English which end in ist, spelled i-s-t.
Sophie
The person who greets you in an office or a hotel is a receptionist
Neil
And a person who looks after your teeth is a dentist.
Neil
if someone translates from one language to another, are they a) a translatist b) a translator or
c) a translatician?
Sophie
And the answer is, b) a translator. Well done if you got that right. Second question: which job
ends with the letters o-r? Is it a) actor; b) teacher or c) presenter?
Neil
And the answer is actor. Teacher and presenter end with e-r. Well done if you got both of
those questions right. Its almost time for the end of the show. But before we go, theres just
time for a top tip for learning vocabulary.
Sophie
When you record a new word, dont just write the word and the translation try drawing a
picture in your notebook too!

Gerund or infinitive?
When we use two verbs together, the second verb usually changes its form to either a gerund
or an infinitive. Gerunds and infinitives combine the meaning of a verb with the grammar of a
noun.
Sunny said: I really, really like travelling here, the verb like is followed by a gerund:
travelling.
Sunny also said she decided to study drama the verb decided here is followed by an
infinitive: to study.
Gerunds are made by changing a verb to an ing form.

play playing

watch watching

run running

swim swimming

Infinitives are made of to + the base form of the verb.

to play

to watch

to run

to swim

But we need to learn which form comes after each verb. Some verbs can only be followed by
a gerund, and some only by an infinitive. Others can be followed by either.

More gerunds and infinitives

Do gerunds and infinitives change the meaning or not?
Now we know that some verbs like consider, recommend and enjoy are followed by
gerunds. Some other verbs like decide, hope and learn need an infinitive after them.
But did you know that there are some other verbs which can be followed by gerunds or
infinitives without changing the meaning of the sentence?
And there are some other verbs that can be followed by gerunds or infinitives, but this can
change the meaning.
For example:
Mary stopped eating at six. (Mary was eating, and at six oclock she stopped.)
Mary stopped to eat at six. (Mary was doing something, and at six oclock she stopped what
she was doing and started to eat.)

Top tip
Deciding whether to use a gerund or infinitive after verbs can be difficult. And its not easy to
know if this can change the meaning. The best thing to do is to notice these verbs in context
when you read that means look at the words before and after these verbs when you see
them written down.

6 Minute Grammar: Verb patterns

Finn
Our first pattern is: verb plus gerund.
Alice
A gerund is the i-n-g form of a verb - words like seeing, complaining and giving are all
gerunds.
Catherine
I really enjoyed seeing Rachel again last night.
Jackie kept complaining, so I went home.
Would you mind giving me a lift to the station?
Finn
Thanks Catherine. So we had the verb enjoy plus the gerund seeing...
Alice
We had keep plus complaining...
Finn
And the verb mind plus the gerund giving.
Alice
Good. Enjoy seeing; keep complaining; mind giving. Other verbs that can be followed by
gerunds include: finish, practise, suggest, and recommend.
Finn
So I can say: I suggest keeping a list of verbs that take gerunds.
Alice
Now for the second pattern: verb plus infinitive. An infinitive is the word to plus a base verb,
for example: to see, to drive, to study. Some examples please Catherine?
Catherine
I really want to see the football tonight.
My brother's learning to drive.
Mario's hoping to study medicine.
Finn
So that's: want to see, learning to drive, hoping to study... Other verbs in this group are

agree, decide, choose and learn. Now for the third pattern: these verbs can be followed by
either a gerund or an infinitive - without changing the meaning.
Catherine
I've started learning Arabic - and my boyfriend's started to learn French.
Finn
So started learning and started to learn have more or less the same meaning. Now,
another example please?
Catherine
Snow will continue to fall in the mountains and temperatures will continue falling
throughout the night.
Finn
So continue to fall and continue falling have the same meaning.
Alice
OK. Time for pattern 4.
Finn
Yes - and this one's a bit tricky. With some verbs, you can use either a gerund or an infinitive
afterwards, BUT...
Alice
So if I say... I stopped drinking coffee last week.
Alice
this means I drank coffee regularly in the past, but last week, I decided to give up coffee. I
completely stopped and now I never drink coffee.
Finn
But, if I say, on my way home yesterday, I stopped to have a cup of coffee...
Alice
This means that yesterday you interrupted your journey and you went into a cafe for a cup of
coffee.
Alice
Here's an example, with the verb remember:
Catherine
We remembered closing the door.
We remembered to close the door.

Finn
OK, in the first one, we formed a picture in our mind of us closing the door. The second
example means we didn't forget to close the door.
Alice
And it's time for a quiz. Question one. Which is correct: a) They decided taking the train - or
b) They decided to take the train.
Finn
OK, so this is: b) They decided to take the train. After decide, we need the infinitive.
Alice
Number 2: a) Catherine hates cooking in the evening. b) Catherine hates to cook in the
evening.
Finn
And that's a trick question. They are actually both correct, because after hate, you can use
either a gerund or an infinitive.
Alice
Yes you can. Finally, number 3: is it a) Do you want to go for a coffee? Or b) Do you want
going for a coffee?
Finn
This one is: a) Do you want to go for a coffee? Because after want you need the infinitive...

When we use two verbs together, what form does the second verb take?
Followed by a gerund
admit, advise, consider, discuss
Followed by an infinitive
agree, appear, choose, decide
Followed by either, same meaning
begin, continue, hate, like
Followed by either, change in meaning
forget, regret, remember, stop