Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
What is a Gerund?
For example:
In the sentence "I swim every day", the word "swim" is a verb.
Second example:
In the sentence "She reads several books a week", the word
"read" is a verb.
Therefore, "reading" is a g
erund.
The
word "gerund" actually comes from the Latin word gerere,
which means "do".
You could say this actually makes sense: the gerund describes
an action, something you do.
Examples:
(Note how the main underlined verb relates to real or completed
actions.)
Top
What is an Infinitive?
Example Sentences:
The word "infinitive" comes form the Latin word infinitus, from
in- (not) and f initus (finished, limited).
You could say this actually makes sense: the infinitive describes
an action, but unlike a regular verb, it is not limited in any way.
Examples:
Top
Gerunds or Infinitives?
Click the following link for the list of verbs followed only by
gerunds.
Click the following link for the list of verbs followed only by
infinitives.
Here is the full explanation:
Part I
So let's say you eat ice cream every day. This is an actual action
you are doing. Then you could say: "I like eating ice cream".
On the other hand, if you are on a diet, and you don't usually
eat ice cream, then you are talking about a potential action. You
could say: "I like to eat ice cream."
Part II
Some verbs can take both gerunds and infinitives, with only a
slight difference in the meaning (as explained in P
art I above).
Part III
So when you need to decide which one to use, first check
whether the main verb is limited only to gerunds, or only to
infinitives.
If the verb is not on any of the lists, you can use the
following guidelines:
http://www.really-learn-english.com/gerunds-and-infinitives.ht
ml