Grerund and infinitive

1. 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:

Reading helps you learn English. subject of sentence

Her favorite hobby is reading. complement of sentence
I enjoy reading. object of sentence

Gerunds can be made negative by adding "not."

Examples:
He enjoys not working.
The best thing for your health is not smoking.
2. 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

Infinitives can be made negative by adding "not."

Examples:
I decided not to go.
The most important thing is not to give up.
3. As the object of a sentence, it is more difficult to choose between a gerund or an
infinitive. In such situations, gerunds and infinitives are not normally interchangeable.
Usually, the main verb in the sentence determines whether you use a gerund or an
infinitive.
Examples:
He enjoys swimming. "Enjoy" requires a gerund.
He wants to swim. "Want" requires an infinitive.
4. Some verbs are followed by gerunds as objects.
(keep, suggest, admit, advise, appreciate, avoid, recommend, recall, discuss,...)
Examples:
She suggested going to a movie.
Mary keeps talking about her problems.
5. Some verbs are followed by infinitives.
(want, need, agree, decide, learn, manage, swear, wish, ...)
Examples:

 She wants to go to a movie.

Mary needs to talk about her problems.
6. Gerundsan follow a preposition; infinitives cannot.

E.g. Can you touch your toes without bending your knees?
He was fined for driving over the speed limit.
She got the money by selling the car.
A corkscrew is a tool for taking corks out of bottles.

7 . We use the bare infinitive (the infinitive without 'to'):

After modal verbs - I can meet you at six o'clock

After 'let', 'make' and (sometimes) 'help' - The teacher let us leave early
After some verbs of perception (see, watch, hear, notice, feel, sense) - I watched her
walk away
After expressions with 'why' - why go out the night before an exam?

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/english-as-a-second-language/gerunds
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/gerunds-and-infinitives.html
http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/part_1.htm

Articles

There are two types of articles indefinite 'a' and 'an' or definite 'the'. You also need to
know when not to use an article.

Indefinite articles - a and an (determiners)

A and an are the indefinite articles. They refer to something not specifically known to the
person you are communicating with.
A and an are used before nouns that introduce something or someone you have not
mentioned before:For example
"I saw an elephant this morning."
"I ate a banana for lunch."
A and an are also used when talking about your profession:-

For example
"I am an English teacher."
"I am a builder."
You use a when the noun you are referring to begins with a consonant (b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l,
m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y or z), for example, "a city", "a factory", and "a hotel".
You use an when the noun you are referring to begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u)
Pronunciation changes this rule. It's the sound that matters, not the spelling.
Note! If the next word begins with a consonant sound when we say it, for example,
"university" then we use a. If the next word begins with a vowel sound when we say it, for
example "hour" then we use an.
We say "university" with a "y" sound at the beginning as though it were spelt "youniversity".
So, "a university" IS correct.
We say "hour" with a silent h as though it were spelt "our".
So, "an hour" IS correct.

Definite Article - the (determiners)

We use the when you have already mentioned the thing you are talking about.
For example:

"She's got two children; a girl and a boy. The

girl's eight and the boy's fourteen."
We use the to talk about geographical points on the globe.
For example:
We use the to talk about rivers, oceans and seas

the North Pole, the equator

For example:
the Nile, the Pacific, the English channel
We also use the before certain nouns when we know there is only one of a particular thing.
For example:

the rain, the sun, the wind, the world, the

earth, the White House etc..
However if you want to describe a particular instance of these you should use a/an.
For example:

"I could hear the wind." / "There's a cold wind

blowing."
"What are your plans for the future?" / "She
has a promising future ahead of her."
The is also used to say that a particular person or thing being mentioned is the best, most famous,
etc. In this use, 'the' is usually given strong pronunciation whether or not it preceeds a vowel:
For example:

!Note - The doesn't mean all:-

"Harry's Bar is the place to go."

"You don't mean you met the Tony Blair, do
you?"

For example:

"The books are expensive." = (Not all books

are expensive, just the ones I'm talking about.)
"Books are expensive." = (All books are
expensive.)

http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/articlestext.html