GERUND & INFINITIVE

Compiled by:

Catharina Awang Wara Kinanthi S.Pd.

A gerund is a noun made from a verb by adding "-ing." The gerund form of the

verb "read" is "reading." You can use a gerund as the subject, the complement, or

the object of a sentence.

Examples:

a. Reading helps you learn English. subject of sentence

b. I'm excited about reading novel. object of preposition

c. I enjoy reading. object of sentence

There are some functions related to the use of gerund.

1. As subject of a verb

e. g :

Teaching is a very challenging job

Being a soldier requires physical strength and bravery

Sam’s coming late all the time causes the teacher to lose her temper

2. As object of a verb

e.g :

Do you like cooking?

He loves singing

3. The complement of to be

e.g :

His favorite activity is watching television

My dream is travelling all around the world

4. After preposition

e.g :

I am not interested in reading romantic novel

Nobody was impressed by his doing the job all by himself

5. After determiners (a, the, this, some, a lot of)

e.g :

The bombing of civilians horrified everyone

6. After possessive adjectives, object pronouns, or nouns

e.g :

Nobody likes his/him/Jack boasting about his achievements

7. After adjectives

Regular swimming is very good for you

It was awful working here

Verbs Followed by Gerunds

Admit He admitted cheating on the test advice Mom advised me taking regular exercise Anticipate I anticipated arriving late. Appreciate I appreciate hearing from them Avoid He avoided talking to her Complete He completed renovating the house. Consider I will consider going with you Delay He delayed leaving for school Deny She denied committing the crime Discuss They discussed opening a new business Dislike She dislikes working after 5 PM. Enjoy We enjoy hiking Finish She finished studying about ten Go We went fishing yesterday / did you go shopping? Forget I’ll never forget visiting Napoleon’s tomb. Can’t help I can’t help worrying about it Keep I keep hoping he will come Mention She mentioned going to a movie Mind Would you mind helping me with this? Miss I miss being with my family Postpone Let’s postpone leaving until tomorrow Practice She practiced singing the song. Quit She quit worrying about the problem Recall Tom recalled using his credit card at the store. Recollect She recollected living in Kenya.

Recommend Tony recommended taking the train. Regret She regretted saying that. Remember I remember telling her the address yesterday. Resent Nick resented Debbie's being there. Resist He resisted asking for help. Risk He risked being caught. Stop She stopped working at 5 o'clock. Suggest They suggested staying at the hotel. Tolerate She won’t tolerate cheating during an examination Try Sam tried opening the lock with a paperclip. Understand I don’t understand his leaving school

INFINITIVE

Infinitives are the "to" form of the verb. The infinitive form of "learn" is "to

learn." You can also use an infinitive as the subject, the complement, or the object

of a sentence.

Examples:

To learn is important. subject of sentence

The most important thing is to learn. complement of sentence

He wants to learn. object of sentence

1. After certain verbs + person (object)

e.g :

He called me to ask about his test result

I asked her to come here

2. Indicating intention or purpose

e.g :

To win the final match, the players have to work every hard in training

He came here to tell the good news

3. After to be

e.g :

My first thought was to phone you

4. After the first/second/last/ only/ best (and other superlative adjectives) +

noun or pronoun ‘one’

e.g :

He was the only one to die

5. After a noun/pronoun. The verb in the infinitive relates to the preceding

noun/pronoun

e.g:

There are a lot of work to do

I’ve got a few people to see

6. After an adjective/adverb or an adjective/adverb with too, enough, and so….

e.g:

It is very dangerous to let a child with a gun

He didn’t speak clearly enough for me to understand what he was saying

Nobody is crazy enough to drive a car at high speed in such a heavy

traffic

He was so foolish as to leave his car unlocked

7. After certain verbs

e.g :

They had to have the secretary retype the letter

Everybody finally agrees not to involve the police in this matter

Verbs Followed by Infinitives

Common verbs followed by either infinitive of gerund Remember + gerund

This is when you remember something that has happened in the past. You have a

memory of it, like being able to see a movie of it in your head.

I remember going to the beach when I was a child. (= I have a memory of

going to the beach).

He remembers closing the door. (= He has a memory of closing the door)

Remember + to + infinitive

This is when you think of something that you need to do. (And usually, you then

do the thing).

I remembered to buy milk. (= I was walking home and the idea that I

needed milk came into my head, so I bought some).

She remembered to send a card to her grandmother.

Forget + gerund

This is the opposite of remember + gerund. It's when you forget about a memory,

something that you've done in the past.

Have we really studied this topic before? I forget reading about it.

I told my brother that we'd spent Christmas at Granny's house in 1985,

but he'd forgotten going there.

Forget + to + infinitive

This is the opposite of remember + to + infinitive. It's when you want to do

something, but you forget about it.

I forgot to call my mother. (= I wanted to call my mother, but when it was

a good time to call her, I forgot. I was thinking about something else, and

the idea to call my mother didn't come into my head).

Try + gerund

This is when you do something as an experiment. The thing you do is not difficult,

but you want to see if doing it will have the result that you want.

I wanted to stop smoking, so I tried using nicotine patches. (= Using

nicotine patches was easy, but I wanted to know if it would help me stop

smoking).

She tried giving up chocolate, but it didn't help her lose weight. (It was

easy for her to give up chocolate. She gave it up to see if it would help her

lose weight, but it didn't).

Try + to + infinitive

This is when the thing you do itself is difficult and you don't succeed in doing it.

I tried to lift the suitcase, but it was too heavy.

She tried to catch the bus, but she couldn't run fast enough.

Look at the difference:

It was too hot in the room. I tried opening the window (it was easy to

open the window).

It didn't help though, because it was very hot outside too.

I tried to open the window, but I couldn't because it was stuck.

Stop + gerund

When we stop doing something it means the verb in the gerund is the thing that

we stop. It can mean 'stop forever' or 'stop at that moment'.

I stopped working when I was expecting a baby. (Working is the thing I

stopped).

Stop + to + infinitive

In this case, we stop something else in order to do the verb in the infinitive.

I stopped to eat lunch. (I stopped something else, maybe working or

studying, because I wanted to eat lunch.

Regret + gerund

This is when you are sorry about something you did in the past and you wish you

hadn't done it.

I regret going to bed so late. I'm really tired today.

She regrets leaving school when she was sixteen. She wishes that she had

studied more and then gone to university.

Regret + to + infinitive

We use this construction when we are giving someone bad news, in quite a

formal way. The verb is almost always something like 'say' or 'tell' or 'inform'.

I regret to tell you that the train has been delayed.

The company regrets to inform employees that the London office will

close next year

EXERCISES

Use gerund/infinitive in the following.

Alan can’t stand _________ on trains. (riding/ to ride)

Mr. Harris enjoys _________ people out to dinner. (inviting / to invite)

In the old days, gentlemen challenged their rivals _______. (fighting / to

fight)

Jim stopped _________ his shoelace. Wait for him. (tying / to tie)

My wife always volunteers ___________ cakes PTA meetings. (baking / to

bake)

Don’t waste my time ___________ about your salary. (complaining/ to

complain)

Eva is having trouble _________ on the exam. (concentrating / to

concentrate)

Please allow me ____________ your Facebook page. (joining / to join)

You won’t forget _________milk on your way home, will you? (picking up

/to pick up)

She pretended ___________ (be) a student in order to get a student discount.

She waited to ___________ (see) what would happen next.

The child denied___________ (steal) the piece of candy.

We fully intend ___________ (pay) you for all the work you have done for us.

You seem ___________ (be) a little distracted. Is everything alright?

Laura and Ed discussed ___________ (move) to the city to find work;

however, in the end, they decided against relocating.

She refused ___________ (admit)that she had made a mistake.

After his accident last year, he would never consider___________ (buy)

another motorcycle.

Margaret just happened ___________ (find) the lost car keys while she was

looking for something else.

He never admitted___________ (have) the wild party while his parents were

out of town.

The doctor ordered Mr Gray ___________(smoke, not)