The English verb has 3 forms.

the infinitive, the gerund & the participle

The 3 verb forms are only used to link sentences.

Right answer: not only that but also to shorten speech

The infinitive is the base form of the verb + -ing.

Right answer: It’s the base form of the verb without a personal pronoun-

subject before it & with no ending.

The infinitive is divided in 2 sub-forms: the full infinitive (with ‘to’) & the bare (without ‘to’).

Where/ how is the bare infinitive used?

Where/ how is the bare infinitive used? (cont’d)

Where/ how is the full infinitive used?

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’

Where/ how is the full infinitive used? (cont’d)

The infinitive has time forms that show how it relates to the time/ tense of the main verb.

Which are these time forms and how are they used? (a)

These refer to a time point that is either the same as or later than that of the main verb.

Which are these time forms and how are they used? (b)

These refer to a time point that is earlier than that of the main verb.

When the subject of the infinitive is the same as that of the main verb we have a same-person construction.

And then the subject of the infinitive is not mentioned/ repeated.

e.g. I want to go home.

What happens when the subject of the infinitive is different from that of the main verb?

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

When the subject of the infinitive is the object of the main verb, it’s already in the accusative case.

But what do we do if it’s not?

I held the door wide open for granny to come in.

The gerund is formed by adding –ing to the bare infinitive.

The gerund is a verb-noun & used as one.

i.e. as a preposition complement, subject and object [after i) certain verbs, ii) certain expressions & iii) certain other expressions with the preposition ‘to’]

i) Verbs followed by a gerundadmit 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

ii) Expressions followed by a gerund

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

iii) Expressions with ‘to’ followed by a gerund

be used/ accustomed to get used/ become accustomed to

object to objection to

look forward to in addition to

prefer … to ...

The gerund also has time forms that show how it relates to the time/ tense of the main verb.

Which are these time forms and how are they used? (a)

These (mainly) refer to a time point that is either the same as or later than that of the main verb.

Which are these time forms and how are they used? (b)

These refer to a time point that is earlier than that of the main verb although they are rarely used because: a) they are too formal & b) the order of actions is evident even with the simple forms.

When the subject of the gerund is the same as that of the main verb we have a same-person construction.

And then the subject of the gerund is not mentioned/ repeated.

e.g. I enjoy walking in the rain.

What happens when the subject of the gerund is different from that of the main verb?

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

Which is commoner, the possessive or the accusative case?

e.g. His coming in late made it hard for us to go ahead as planned.

There are 3 distinct cases of verbs that can be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (I).

There are 3 distinct cases of verbs that can be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (II).

+ -ing when the –ing word is their object, + to –inf when there is a person-object & in

the passive voice

There are 3 distinct cases of verbs that can be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III.a).

There are 3 distinct cases of verbs that can be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III.b).

There are 3 distinct cases of verbs that can be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III.c).

How many participle forms are there in English?

Which are the two participle forms?

How are the participles used?

How can you shorten a subordinate clause using a participle?

The participle also has time forms showing its relation to the time of the main verb.

Which are these time forms and how are they used? (a)

These refer to a time point that is either the same as or later than that of the main verb.

Which are these time forms and how are they used? (b)

These refer to a time point that is earlier than that of the main verb.

Which are these time forms and how are they used? (c)

This form replaces the other two passive forms for brevity.

When the subject of the participle is the same as that of the main verb we have a same-person construction.

And then the subject of the participle is not mentioned/ repeated.

e.g. Coming in, she said ‘hello’ to all of us.

What happens when the subject of the participle is different from that of the main verb?

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

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

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

What is the negative form of all the verb forms?

What is an infinitive cut short?

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