Unit 15 and 16: Gerunds and Infinitives

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 finally 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 bar-hopping (or, so I've heard).
Not always exactly the same...
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.)
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.

Rosa León
AO5F

Unit 15: Gerunds

A gerund is a verbal that ends in -ing and functions as a noun. The term verbal indicates that a gerund, like the other two kinds of verbals, is based on a verb and therefore expresses action or a state of being. However, since a gerund functions as a noun, it occupies some positions in a sentence that a noun ordinarily would, for example: subject, direct object, subject complement, and object of preposition.

Gerund as subject:

* Traveling might satisfy your desire for new experiences. (Traveling is the gerund.)
* The study abroad program might satisfy your desire for new experiences. (The gerund has been removed.)

Gerund as object:

* They do not appreciate my singing. (The gerund is singing.)
* They do not appreciate my assistance. (The gerund has been removed)

Gerund as subject complement:

* My cat's favorite activity is sleeping. (The gerund is sleeping.)
* My cat's favorite food is salmon. (The gerund has been removed.)

Gerund as object of preposition:

* The police arrested him for speeding. (The gerund is speeding.)
* The police arrested him for criminal activity. (The gerund has been removed.)

A Gerund Phrase is a group of words consisting of a gerund and the modifier(s) and/or (pro)noun(s) or noun phrase(s) that function as the direct object(s), indirect object(s), or complement(s) of the action or state expressed in the gerund, such as:

The gerund phrase functions as the subject of the sentence

Finding a needle in a haystack would be easier than what we're trying to do.

Finding (gerund)

a needle (direct object of action expressed in gerund)

in a haystack (prepositional phrase as adverb)

The gerund phrase functions as the subject complement.

Newt's favorite tactic has been lying to his constituents.

lying to (gerund)

his constituents (direct object of action expressed in gerund)

The gerund phrase functions as the object of the preposition for.

You might get in trouble for faking an illness to avoid work.
faking (gerund)

an illness (direct object of action expressed in gerund)

to avoid work (infinitive phrase as adverb)

The gerund phrase functions as the subject of the sentence.

Being the boss made Jeff feel uneasy.

Being (gerund)

the boss (subject complement for Jeff, via state of being expressed in gerund)

STUDENT NAME: JUAN CARLOS POZO QUINTANILLA

COURSE: AO5F