GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

GERUNDS
El gerundio es la forma verbal terminada en ing que, adems de utilizarse para la formacin de
tiempos de continuo, tiene otros usos:

GERUNDIO COMO SUJETO

Cuando un verbo funciona como sujeto de la oracin, este verbo se pondr en gerundio (para
hablar de acciones en general)

e.g. Breaking up a relationship is never easy

Smoking is very unhealthy

GERUNDIO COMO CD

Hay muchos verbos que van seguidos de gerundio. Los ms comunes son:

ADMIT ADVISE ANTICIPATE APPRECIATE AVOID COMPLETE CONSIDER DELAY

DENY DETEST DISCUSS DISLIKE ENJOY FINISH FORGET HATE IMAGINE KEEP
LIKE LOVE MENTION MIND MISS POSTPONE PRACTICE PREFER QUIT RECALL
RECOLLET RECOMMEND REGRET REMEMBER RESENT RESIST RISK STOP
SUGGEST TOLERATE UNDERSTAND

e.g. I enjoy swimming

We discussed holding the wedding at home

GERUNDIO DETRAS DE DETERMINADAS EXPRESIONES O FORMAS VERBALES

I cant help laughing at him

I cant stand waiting in queues
Theres / its no use crying over spilt milk
That car isnt worth buying
Helen isnt used to driving on the left.
I look forward to seeing you again
David couldnt get used to living in a city.
John has given up smoking
Lets go swimming!
Your car needs cleaning (need + -ing = sentido pasivo)

GERUNDIO DETRAS DE PREPOSICION

Cuando una preposicin va seguida de un verbo, este normalmente se pondr en gerundio:

e.g. He apologized for not paying the bill

Lucy doesnt like his way of thinking
INFINITIVES
El infinitivo es otra forma invariable del verbo. Puede ir precedida de to o no. Si no lo lleva se
llama BARE INFINITIVE. Sin embargo, aqu vamos a hablar de los que van con to

INFINITIVO COMO SUJETO

Cuando un verbo funciona como sujeto de la oracin, este verbo se pondr en infinitivo (para
hablar de acciones concretas)

e.g. To live alone is not very good for you now

INFINITIVOS COMO CD VERBOS SEGUIDOS DE TO+ INFINITIVO

Hay muchos verbos que van seguidos de infinitivo con to. Los ms comunes son:

AFFORD AGREE APPEAR ARRANGE ASK BEG CARE CHOOSE CLAIM CONSENT
DECIDE DEMAND DESERVE EXPECT FAIL FORGET HESITATE HELP HOPE
LEARN MANAGE MEAN NEED OFFER PLAN PERSUADE PREPARE PRETEND
PROMISE REFUSE REGRET REMEMBER SEEM STRUGGLE SWEAR THREATEN
VOLUNTEER WAIT WANT WISH

e.g. Angela promised to arrive on time.

They decided not to take the car.

INFINITIVO DETRAS DE VERBOS QUE LLEVAN CI

Estos verbos llevan un nombre o un pronombre entre el primer verbo y el infinitivo.

e.g. Alan told me to call him at 7.00

I permitted my daughter to take the car
Harry warned me not to drive too fast
She wants you to do the shopping.

Verbos de este tipo son:

ADVISE ALLOW ASK BEG CAUSE CHALLENGE CONVINCE DARE ENABLE

ENCOURGE EXPECT FORBID FORCE HIRE INSTRUCT INVITE NEED ORDER
PERMIT PERSUADE REMIND REQUIRE TEACH TELL URGE WANT WARN

Algunos verbos frasales y ciertas expresiones van seguidas de infinitive con to.

e.g. The whole affair turned out to be an embarrassment.

We were about to leave, so hurry up
Helen made up her mind to buy a house
Its up to you to decide

INFINITIVO DETRAS DE ADJETIVOS Y ADVERBIOS

e.g. This text is difficult to understand

The car went too fast to see the traffic lights.
VERBOS SEGUIDOS DE INFINITIVO SIN TO

1. Modales y semi-modales:

e.g. We should leave soon

The boys will have to travel on Tuesday

2. Verbos auxiliaries:

e.g. Did you see the accident?

She would like to help me

3. Let/ Make + objeto + bare infinitive

e.g. He made me feel bad

My mother didnt let me go to the party

PERO, cuando ponemos en pasiva una frase con MAKE, hemos de ponerle TO

e.g. They made the pupil do his homework

The pupil was made to do his homework

El verbo LET no tiene pasiva; en su lugar se pone TO BE ALLOWED TO

e.g. I let my son borrow the car

My son was allowed to borrow the car

4. Los verbos de los sentidos (SEE HEAR WATCH NOTICE FEEL) pueden ir con:

- GERUNDIO: implica que la accin est incompleta

e.g. I saw the plane falling (lo vi mientras estaba cayendo, pero no vi donde cayo)

- INFINITIVO SIN TO: implica que vimos u omos una accin completa

e.g. I saw the plane fall (lo vi en el suelo)

OJO!: el verbo SMELL se suele emplear solo en GERUNDIO

e.g. I could smell something burning

 VERBOS + GERUNDIOS / INFINITIVOS SIN CAMBIO DE SIGNIFICADO

Algunos verbos pueden ir seguidos tanto de gerundio como de infinitive SIN QUE CAMBIE
SU SIGNIFICADO. Si el verbo esta en un tiempo de continuo, se suele preferir el infinitivo.
Los mas comunes son:

ADVISE ALLOW BEGIN CEASE CONTINUE HATE INTEND LIKE LOVE

PERMIT PREFER RECOMMEND START

1. Con ADVISE, ALLOW, PERMIT Y RECOMMEND:

- Si se menciona el nombre o pronombre se pone infinitivo, pero si no lo hay debe usarse el

gerundio:

e.g. I advised him to sell the car

I advised selling the car

- Despues de INTEND, es mas frecuente el infinitive:

e.g. I intend to move house in the summer

- PREFER + infinitive es mas frecuente cuando estamos pensando en una ocasion particular

e.g. I prefer to go to the pool today

VERBOS + GERUNDIO / INFINITIVO CON CAMBIO DE SIGNIFICADO

STOP

He stopped smoking last year

He stopped to smoke a cigarette

REGRET

I regret wasting so much money

I regret to tell you that he has died

REMEMBER

I remember taking the suitcase

Please remember to take the suitcase before you leave

FORGET

I will never forget visiting The Tower of London

David always forgets to visit his grandmother

TRY

Please try to help me if you can

He t