The infinitive and the Gerund

Presentation by: Mohamed Reda Aoulad Abdelkrim.

INFINITIVE OR GERUND

THE GERUND

* The gerund( also called verbal noun ) refers to the usage of a verb (in its -ing form) as a noun.

THE INFINITIVE

The infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle “to”: therefore, “do” and “to do” , “go” and “to go” , …

1/ SOME VERBS ARE NORMALLY FOLLOWED BY THE GERUND:

acknowledge , admit , adore , anticipate , appreciate , avoid , celebrate, confess , contemplate , delay, deny, describe, detest, discuss , dislike , dread , endure , enjoy , fancy , finish, imagine , involve , keep, justify , mention, mind , miss , omit, postpone , practise , quit , recall ,report , resent , resume , risk , suggest , tolerate , understand , feel like, …

For example:

* Peter adores playing computer games, but he detests watching TV.

* I enjoy going out with my parents.

* The thief admitted having stolen the car.

* My Mom dislikes eating fast food.

2/ SOME VERBS ARE NORMALLY FOLLOWED BY THE INFINITIVE :  

  afford , agree , appear , arrange , ask , attempt , care , choose , claim , come, consent , dare, decide, demand, deserve, determine, elect, endeavour, expect, fail, get, guarantee, hate, hesitate, hope, hurry, incline, intend, learn, long, manage, mean, need, offer, plan, prepare, pretend, promise, refuse, resolve, say, seem, tend, threaten, want, wish … 

For example:

* I can’t afford to buy this laptop.

* The two countries agreed to settle their conflict peacefully.

* Don’t hesitate to ask for help if you have any problem.

* I failed to do the task by myself.

3/ SOME VERBS CAN BE FOLLOWED BY EITHER THE GERUND OR THE INFINITIVE:

A/With little or no change in meaning:

begin, continue, hate, like, love, neglect, prefer, start, recommend, …For example:* I like playing / to play chess.* Our teacher hates being / to be asked silly questions.

B/With a change in meaning :

forget, remember, stop, try, regret, go on, mean …For example:1/ *I stopped to talk to him. ( interrupt an activity in order to do something else) *I stopped talking to him. ( finish an action in progress )2/ *I remember closing the door. ( I closed it and now I remember) *I remembered to close the door. ( I had to close it, so I did )

3/ *I regret telling you the bad news. ( I told you and now I’m sorry about it ) *I regret to tell you the bad news. ( I am sorry that I have to tell you the bad news)

4/ *He stopped for a while and then went on talking. ( continued with the same thing) *The students finished reading the text and then went on to answer the questions. ( started doing something new)

4/ Expressions followed by the gerund:

_ The gerund is used after prepositions. I look forward to hearing from you.. Are you thinking of attending the maths evening classes.

_ It’s no use pretending you didn’t see me.

_ It’s no good insisting. He won’t accept.

_ It’s (not) worth watching this movie.

_ There’s no point in shouting at her. She is deaf.

_ Go climbing/ swimming/ skiing/ fishing/ sailing/ shopping...

5/ Expressions followed by the infinitive:

_ After WH words: I didn’t know what to do. / I didn’t know where to go.

_ After superlatives: London is the best place to visit abroad.

_ After too + adjectives: Tom is too short to play basketball.

_ After adjective + enough: She is not old enough to vote.

_ After every/some/any/no + body/where/thing: There was nowhere to park. / I felt bored because I had nothing to do.

_ Purpose: He went to the airport to see his father off

PRACTICE ACTIVITYPut the verbs in brackets into the correct form (gerund or infinitive):1/ Suddenly everybody stopped …………………… ( talk ). There was silence. 2/ It isn't cold enough ………………..……. ( wear ) a jacket. 3/ You can improve your English by ……………….……… ( read ) more. 4/ I live only a short walk from here. It isn't worth …………….………. ( take ) a taxi. 5/ It was late, so we decided …………………. ( take ) a taxi. 6/ When I'm tired, I enjoy ………………..…… ( watch ) TV. 7/ There is an interesting article on the paper today. It's worth ………………........... ( read) 8/ David was in a difficult situation, so I decided ……...……… ( lend ) him some money. 9/ Peter adores ………………...… ( play ) cards with his friends. 10/ I left the door open. I didn't remember ………………..…….( close ) it. 11/ I ran 10km without …………………..….. ( stop ). 12/ Sandra has got a good camera but she doesn't know how ………………..……….. ( use ) it.

ANSWERS 1/ talking 2/ to wear 3/ reading 4/ taking 5/ to take 6/ watching

7/ reading 8/ to lend 9/ playing 10/ to close 11/ stopping 12/ to use

THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK