Gerunds and infinitives

can function as:

To form gerunds, use

the base form + ing

(dont forget the rules for spelling of ing form of verbs)

I enjoy learning English

Gerunds used as
subject of the
sentence.
Dancing is fun.

Gerunds used as
objects
He enjoys working with
children.

Verbs that take only

Gerunds

Appreciate
Avoid
Delay
Deny
Discuss
Dislike
Enjoy
Excuse
Finish
understand

Keep
Mention
Mind
Miss
Postpone
Quit
Recall
Recommend
Resent
suggest

Gerunds used as
object of the
preposition
I am thinking about taking
the children to Mexico.

Common preposition
combinations followed by
Be excited about
, complain about, talk
gerunds

about, think about, worry about

Apologize for, blame for, famous for
Believe in, interested in, succeed in
Take care of, instead of, be accused of
Insist on, count on, concentrate on
Keep from, prevent from, profit from
In addition to, look forward to, be used
to

By + gerund
You get good grades by
studying hard.

Infinitives in the
subject position
To live in the United States is my
dream
It is my dream to live in the
United States.

To form infinitives use

to + base form of the verb

Verbs that take infinitives

Verb + infinitives agree, appear, decide
hope, intend, learn, offer, plan, seem, tend,
wait, can afford
Verb + Noun phrase + infinitive cause,
convince, force, invite, order, persuade,
remind, tell, trust, warn, advise,
encourage
Verbs that come directly after the infinitive
or have a noun phrase ask, beg, choose,
expect, need, want, would like, promise

Adjectives followed
by infinitives
Afraid, amazed, anxious,
ashamed, careful,
delighted, eager,
fortunate, glad, happy,
lucky, pleased, ready, sad,
sorry,

Infinitive
of
In order to
purpose
I came here in order to
learn.

Infinitive with too and

enough

Verbs that are followed by

These verbs are:

advise
allow

Some verbs can be followed

by both gerund or infinitive
with no change in meaning.

I like cooking.
I like to cook.

Some verbs although they can

be used after both gerunds and
infinitives have a difference in
meaning.

She stopped smoking.

She stopped to smoke.
They forgot buying bread.

Used to

Verbs of perception:
infinitives: from start to

Infinitive forms are not

used after the following
verbs of perception:
feel

When a specific performer

of the gerund action needs

Your neglecting your teeth

will cause an earlier return
to the dentist.

I dont mind his leaving

early.
(formal)

When an infinitive
functions as a subject or a

For people to see is a

wonderful gift.
Her desire was for them to

Infinitives can occur in the

Both gerunds and

A gerund can be used in the

passive form

Have

She made her daughter go

to the party.

After causative verbs:

get

Sense-perception verbs:
hear, listen to
feel, smell, see

We saw people living in

poverty.
We saw them perform

Help
can take an infinitive or

perfect infinitive: to have

Perfect gerund: having

moved
passive gerund: being done

The End!