Gerunds and Infinitives

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Gerunds and Infinitives
...and what Precedes them

Gerunds and infinitives are forms of verbs that act like nouns.

Ali quit smoking in 1977.

He just decided to quit one day.

A gerund is a verb + -ing. An infinitive is to + the verb.

In both the examples above, the gerund and the infinitive are the objects of the verbs in the sentence. However, as noun substitutes, gerunds and infinitives can also be the subject of a sentence.

Smoking is hard habit to give up.

To quit takes a lot of will power.

This lesson will focus primarily on verbs that precede infinitives and gerunds when they are used as objects in a sentence. Click here for a list of verbs that are followed by gerunds, verbs that are followed by infinitives, and verbs that can be followed by either.

Some common verbs are always followed by a gerund:

Jeannie admitted taking the money from the desk.

The teacher considered calling the police.

Jeannie said she was so embarrassed that she felt like dying.

The teacher said she would recommend giving Jeannie a light punishment.

Some verbs are always followed by infinitives:

The president said he aimed to bring down taxes.

He asked Congress to pass a tax-reduction bill.

The president's party consented to lower the taxes.

However, the opposition refused to cooperate.

The president promised to fight for lower taxes in the next term.

Some verbs can be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive.

Edina's husband, Bob, began taking cooking lessons last month.

Soon he began to try out all his new creations on her.

Edina said she likes eating as much as Bob likes to cook.

She loves to sample his new recipes and she loves not cooking herself.

However, she told me she regrets eating so much rich food.

She's going to try eating less of his great food...and, she's going to try not to hurt Bob's feelings!

Go, go, go!

A common expression in English is

go + an activity

We go swimming, we go shopping, we go fishing, we go jogging, we go sightseeing, and we go drinking (or, so I've heard).

Not always exactly the same...

As mentioned above, there are certain verbs that can be followed by either an infinitive or a gerund. Some verbs have the same meaning when followed by an infinitive or a gerund:

The same:	I like going to the races.
	I like to go to the races.
The same:	I hate going to the dentist.
	I hate to go to the dentist.
The same:	It began raining.
	It began to rain.

However, some verbs have a slightly different meaning when followed by an infinitive as opposed to a gerund.

remember, forget, stop

The difference is often in the sequence of events. See what you think about the following pairs of sentences.

I remembered to feed the dog this morning.	I remember feeding him his favorite food.
first second	second first
(I remembered and then I fed him.)	(I fed him and later I remembered the action.)

I forgot to go to the bank.	I forgot going to the bank.
-----------------	second first
(I didn't remember and I didn't go to the bank.)	(I went to the bank, but later I forgot that I did.)

I stopped to smoke.	I stopped smoking.
first second	second first
(I paused what I was doing to have a cigarette.)	(I was a smoker, but now I'm not.)

One more difference

You can also use either an infinitive or a gerund after go on. However, note the difference:

I told Billy to stop, but he went on putting his fingers in the soup.

(The use of a gerund after go on indicates a continuing or persistent activity.)

I was very proud of Billy. We went on to become a famous chef.

(The use of an infinitive after go on indicates a noteworthy or notorious future activity.)

And finally...

The real test for you will be how well you get the feel of when to use infinitives or gerunds. You can get a better understanding of this if you read English novels and other materials critically.

Practice #1 Practice #2 List of Lessons