• How many forms does the English verb have?

Unit 8 – Presentation 1

3: the infinitive, the gerund & the participle

• What is their main use?

To shorten speech & link sentences (among others)

The base form of the verb without a personal pronoun-subject before it.

What is the ‘infinitive’?

And what is it divided into?

Full Infinitive (with ‘to’)

Bare Infinitive (without ‘to’)

a) After the Modal Verbs (except for ought)b) After: had better, would rather/ soonerc) After the verbs make, let IN THE ACTIVE VOICEd) After the verbs see, hear, feel, watch, notice,

observe, look at, listen to IN THE ACTIVE VOICE for an action that we perceived in its entirety

e) After ‘why’ (not)

Bare Infinitive Uses

f) After and that links 2 infinitives

g) After the auxiliary or main verbs do/ does/ did

h) After the verb have in the structure:

have sb do sth

i)After the verb help (to infinitive is also possible)

j) After but (meaning except), in negative statements.

Bare Infinitive Uses (cont’d)

a) After adjectives expressing emotion (in same person constructions)

b) After nouns c) To express Purpose d) In too & enough constructions e) After certain verbs, like:

Full Infinitive Uses

agree arrange care decide fail

want wish need urge beg

claim pretend seem appear attempt

tend seek cause dare hope

manage enable empower promise tell

encourage trust force compel expect

choose hesitate ask demand instruct

turn out oblige order prepare refuse

require either immediately or in the structure: sb + to-infinitive

Verbs followed by a ‘to-infinitive’

f) In impersonal constructions, starting with Itg) After the Indefinite Pronouns & adjectives

like: the first, the last, the only (one), in place of a relative clause

h) After Question Words (exc. why), in place of a subordinate clause

i) To show Negative Result (usu. after only)j) After be (omitting should).

Full Infinitive Uses (cont’d)

These are unchanged forms that show how the infinitive relates to the main verb time-wise.

They are:

Infinitive Time Forms

Infinitive Time Forms – Uses

• If the subject of the infinitive is the same as that of the main verb (same-person construction), it is not repeated. e.g. I want to go home.

• If it is different, then:a) it is markedly mentionedb) it comes before the infinitivec) it is in the accusative case

e.g. I want Jim to go home/ I want him to go home

Change of Person for the Infinitive

• If the subject of the infinitive (Jim/ him) is the object of the main verb (want), it is already in the accusative. When it is not, we turn it with the preposition for, using the rule:

accusative after a preposition, i.e. e.g. I held the door wide open for granny to come

in. • Here, the object of the main verb (held) is ‘the

door’ and therefore ‘granny’, which is the subject of the infinitive, has nothing to do with it, so we need for to make it into an accusative noun.

Change of Person – Infinitive (cont’d)

How is the ‘gerund’ formed?

And what is it grammatically?

A verb-noun

The Bare Infinitive

+ -ing

a) After prepositionsb) As (part of) a Subjectc) As (part of) an Object

i) after certain verbs:ii) after certain expressions:iii) after certain expressions with the preposition ‘to’:

Gerund Uses

admit avoid appreciate anticipate carry on

consider delay deny dislike despise

detest discuss enjoy entail escape

envisage excuse finish fancy foresee

forgive give up hate imagine involve

justify keep (on) love like loathe

lose miss mind mention necessitate

postpone put sth off quit risk recall

recollect report resent resist save

suggest set/ start sb

spend stop sb tolerate

understand waste

Verbs followed by a ‘gerund’ (i)

be busy can’t stand

can’t bear can’t help

it’s no use/ good how/ what about

it’s (not) worth what’s the use of

what’s the point of there’s no point in/ it’s pointless

feel like it’s a waste of

there is no have difficulty/ trouble/ a hard time

Expressions followed by ‘gerund’ (ii)

be used/ accustomed to get used/ become accustomed to

object to objection to

look forward to in addition to

prefer … to ...

Expressions with ‘to’ followed by ‘gerund’ (iii)

These are more or less the same as those of the infinitive, i.e. unchanged forms that show how the gerund relates to the main verb time-wise.

They are:

Gerund Time Forms

Gerund Time Forms – Uses

NB. The perfect forms are rarely used, if ever, because they are too formal & the order of actions is often obvious even with the simple forms.

• If the subject of the gerund is the same as that of the main verb (same-person construction), it is not repeated. e.g. I enjoy walking in the rain.

• If it is different, then:a) it is markedly mentionedb) it comes before the gerundc) it is in the possessive (Jim’s/ his) OR the accusative case (Jim/ him)

e.g. I object to Jim’s/ his – Jim/ him going home alone.

Change of Person for the Gerund

• The Possessive is not very common and can’t be used in all cases, except when the different-person gerund is the Subject of the sentence (or part of it).

e.g. I can’t envisage him living the good life. (the possessive here would be too awkward) BUT

His coming in late made it hard for us to go ahead as planned. (no accusative here!)

Change of Person – Gerund (cont’d)

There are 3 distinct cases with these verbs:

I) Without meaning changes

Start, begin, continue, intend, propose botherRESTRICTION: No –ing if start & begin are in Continuous forms themselves.

e.g. It started raining OR it started to rain BUT It was beginning to get dark

Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (I):

II) Without meaning changes but depending on structure

Allow/ permit, forbid, advise, recommend, encouragea) + -ing when the –ing word is their object

e.g. We don’t allow parking here.

b) + to inf. when there is a person-objecte.g. We don’t allow visitors to park here.

c) + to inf. in the Passive Voice e.g. Visitors are not allowed to park here.

Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (II):

III) With meaning changes (a)

Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):

remember/ forget/ regret/ be sorry

remember/ forget/ regret/ be sorry

-ing: the –ing action happened before

these verbs

-ing: the –ing action happened before

these verbs

to-inf.: the to-inf. action happens after

these verbs

to-inf.: the to-inf. action happens after

these verbs

III) With meaning changes (b)

Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):

stop/ go onstop/ go on

-ing: stop/ continue what I’ve been

doing so far

-ing: stop/ continue what I’ve been

doing so far

to-inf.: purposeto-inf.: purpose

III) With meaning changes (c)

Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):

be afraid/ dreadbe afraid/ dread

-ing: fear the possibility of sth

happening

-ing: fear the possibility of sth

happening

to-inf.: fear the prospect (& so don’t

do it)

to-inf.: fear the prospect (& so don’t

do it)

III) With meaning changes (d)

Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):

trytry

-ing: experiment with/ test sth

-ing: experiment with/ test sth

to-inf.: normal meaning: make an

effort

to-inf.: normal meaning: make an

effort

III) With meaning changes (e)

Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):

meanmean

-ing: normal meaning: entail

-ing: normal meaning: entail

to-inf.: intendto-inf.: intend

III) With meaning changes (f)

Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):

verbs of like/ dislikeverbs of like/ dislike

-ing: normal meaning: general

preference

-ing: normal meaning: general

preference

to-inf.: habit/ state & feelings about itto-inf.: habit/ state & feelings about it

to-inf.: ALWAYS when ‘would’

precedes these verbs

to-inf.: ALWAYS when ‘would’

precedes these verbs

III) With meaning changes (g)

Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):

teach/ learnteach/ learn

-ing: describes the process of teaching/

learning

-ing: describes the process of teaching/

learning

to-inf.: describes the completed

process

to-inf.: describes the completed

process

III) With meaning changes (h)

Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):

need/ want/ requireneed/ want/ require

-ing: passive meaning (same as

passive inf.)

-ing: passive meaning (same as

passive inf.)

to-inf.: normal structure & meaning

of these verbs

to-inf.: normal structure & meaning

of these verbs

• How many participle forms are there in English?

Mainly 2, but with Time forms.

• Which are they?

i) The Present Participle (same form as the Gerund)

Bare Infinitive

+ -ing &

ii) The Past Participle (same form as the Past Tense)

Bare Infinitive

+ -ed

We use the participles in 3 ways:

a) to form the verb tensesb) as adjectives (or parts of compound

adjectives)c) to shorten subordinate clauses

Participle Uses

a) take out the link/ linking phraseb) omit the subject (if same as that of the

main clause) & the auxiliary verb (if any) & c) turn the verb into a participle (an –ing one

if replacing an active tense OR an –ed one if replacing a passive tense).

How to shorten a subordinate clauseusing a participle:

These are also the same as those of the infinitive & the gerund, i.e. unchanged forms that show how the participle relates to the main verb time-wise.

They are:

Participle Time Forms

Participle Time Forms – Uses

• If the subject of the participle is the same as that of the main verb, it is not repeated.

e.g. Coming in, she said ‘hello’ to all of us.• If it is different, then:

a) it is markedly mentionedb) it comes before the participlec) it is in the nominative (Jim/ he) case

e.g. Jim being present, she couldn’t lie about it.

Change of Person for the Participle

Some verbs are followed by a present participle or an infinitive (full or bare) but with differences in meaning/ message (a):

see/ hear/ feel/ notice/ observe/ etc

see/ hear/ feel/ notice/ observe/ etc

-ing: part of an action was perceived

-ing: part of an action was perceived

to-inf.: in the Passive (instead of

the bare above)

to-inf.: in the Passive (instead of

the bare above)

bare inf.: action perceived in its

entirety

bare inf.: action perceived in its

entirety

Some verbs are followed by a present participle or an infinitive (full or bare) but with differences in meaning/ message (b):

motion verbs: come/ go – take sb/ send

sb

motion verbs: come/ go – take sb/ send

sb

-ing: activity-ing: activity

to-inf.: purpose/ intention

to-inf.: purpose/ intention

Some verbs are followed by a present participle or an infinitive (full or bare) but with differences in meaning/ message (c):

have/ gethave/ get bare inf. (for ‘have’): asking sb

to do sth for us

bare inf. (for ‘have’): asking sb

to do sth for us

to-inf. (for ‘get’): asking sb to do sth

for us

to-inf. (for ‘get’): asking sb to do sth

for us

-ing: seeing the completed result of

sth we caused

-ing: seeing the completed result of

sth we caused

Some verbs are followed by a present participle or an infinitive (full or bare) but with differences in meaning/ message (d):

find/ leavefind/ leave

-ing: when sb/ sth is caught in the middle

of sth

-ing: when sb/ sth is caught in the middle

of sth

to-inf.: (for ‘find’)= discover/ (for

‘leave’)= assign duty

to-inf.: (for ‘find’)= discover/ (for

‘leave’)= assign duty

Some verbs are followed by a present participle or an infinitive (full or bare) but with differences in meaning/ message (e):

bebe

-ing: Continuous forms

-ing: Continuous forms

to-inf.: arrangements

to-inf.: arrangements

• The negative form for the infinitive, gerund and participles alike is:

not + the full form• Infinitive cut short: when the same verb

is implied in a second sentence, we tend to use the infinitive particle ‘to’ alone, not the whole verb/ sentence:

e.g. I’d love to join you but I’m afraid I won’t be able to.

Notes on all the verb forms: