Gerund and Infinitive

Gerund and Infinitive

1. GERUND

   • After verbs of feeling and opinion
     • admit, avoid, consider, deny, dislike, enjoy, fancy, feel like, finish, can’t help, involve, keep, mean, mind, miss, practise, risk, can’t stand, suggest
     • I can't help interrupring you
       • You must consider moving to Alabama. I will practise running Cooper. I can’t help interrupting you I deny stealing /having stolen
   • Afer prepositions that follow verb/adj.
     • be interested in, apologize for, be used to, accuse (someone) of, specialize in, succeed in, insist on
     • Are you accusing him of stealing it?
       • I am interested in playing the piano Why are you accusing him of stealing it? I must apologize for shouting at you
   • Expressions with spend
     • I spent my time doing English esercise
       • My roommate spends hours watching TV.  I spend my time doing English exercises
   • Adj + preposition
     • afraid, anxious, ashamed, careful, determined, free, frightened, happy, keen, quick, ready, sorry, willing
     • He was keen on helping her
       • I am afraid of losing you He was keen on helping her I am sorry for bothering your sister.

2. TO + INFINITIVE

   • After some verbs
     • aim, fail, intend, learn how, long,  manage, need, offer, plan, prefer, refuse, want
     • I need to go to the gym
       • We are planning to have a big party I prefer to stay here My friend offered to take me to the airport I manage to understand
   • After verbs followed by an object
     • advise, allow, dare, encourage, forbid, force, instruct, order, permit, persuade, remind, teach, tell
     • I told him to come
       • Remind me to forget How can we encourage a baby to use the toilet rather than his potty? I tried to persuade them to stay, but they said they were too tired.
   • After adjectives to give an opinion about something
     • agreeable, amusing, boring, difficult, easy, hard, impossible, nice, good, important, necessary
     • It's easy to study maths
       • It’s hard to make dinner this late I find it difficult to describe my feelings It’s not important to bring the keys

3. BOTH (CHANGE IN MEANING)

   • Regret
     • Gerund: an action in the past you wish you had/hadn't done
       • I regret going to bed so late. I'm really tired today.
     • Infinitive: give someone bad news, in quite a formal way
       • The company regrets to inform employees that the London office will close next year.
   • Remember
     • Gerund: Memories with past projection
       • I remember walking in the beach.
     • Infinitive: Remind (not forget to do something) with future projection
       • Remember to study the verbs for tomorrow
   • Forget
     • Infinitive: remind something, future projection
       • Don’t forget to buy the present
     • Gerund: Past event with no solution
       • I forgot buying you some flowers
   • Stop
     • Infinitive: an activity is interrupt with a purpose, in order to do something else
       • I stop to have lunch.
     • Gerund: totally abandoned, quit
       • I stopped smoking. 
   • Try
     • Gerund: Experimenting, see if something works
       • Try asking the teacher
     • Infinitive: Attempt at something difficult, something you've never done before
       • I'm trying to write a poem. 
   • Go on
     • Infinitive: the next thing, sequence
       • Then, she went on to explain the lesson.
     • Gerund: keep going, continue
       • Go on writing

4. BARE INFINITIVE

   • Modal verbs
     • Shall, must, can/might/may, should, will, could, rather/better/had better
       • - You shall invite them. - You must go to the party. - I should study for tomorrow. - You had better consult a doctor. 
   • Verbs+not+inf
     • Need, do, dare
       • - You need not go - Dare not refuse - I do not care
   • Verbs + Obj + inf
     • In active, without to. In passive, with to
     • Bid, watch, see, dare, let, make, help, hear
       • My mother let mego to the party My teacher makes me work a lot

5. BOTH (NO CHANGE IN MEANING)

   • Like/love/hate, begin, prefer, start, propose, continue.
     • - I hate going out when it rains/ I hate to go out when it rains.  - I prefer studying in my room/I prefer to study in the library.  - I like to write for the newspaper/I like writting essays