GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES
The full infinitive (with to) is used:
Dr Goodenough is just going to the bank to get some money out.
- after certain adjectives.
eg (I am / She was, etc) amazed, delighted, disappointed;
(It is / was) easy, important, necessary
We are delighted to see you. It is easy to criticize others.
eg agree, appear, arrange, attempt, demand, deserve, expect, help, hesitate, hope, learn, manage, need, offer, pretend, refuse, seem, struggle, threaten, would like, promise
Dr Goodenough has decided to take the exam but do not expect to pass.
- after certain verbs with an object.
eg advise, allow, ask, enable, encourage, expect, force, help, invite, persuade, recommend, remind, teach, tell, warn
The experience taught me not to trust anyone but myself.
eg ability, chance, decision, effort, failure, intention, opportunity, plan, power, refusal, right, tendency, way
The defendant exercised his right to remain silent.
The bare infinitive (without to) is used:
You can look at it, but you mustn’t touch.
help, had better, let, make, would rather / sooner
I’d better go - I promised to help my brother clean his car.
The gerund is used:
She got tired of waiting for him and went home.
- as the subject, object or complement of a sentence or clause.
Eating the right kind of food improves learning.
eg admit, adore, advise, appreciate, anticipate, avoid, consider, deny, dislike, enjoy, feel like, imagine, keep, mind, miss, prevent, recommend, resent, risk, suggest
He admitted breaking the window, but denied stealing anything.
If the subjects of the main verb and the gerund are different, an object or possessive adjective is used.
I really appreciate you / your helping me like this.
- after verbs which include the preposition to.
eg get round to, be /get used to, look forward to, object to
I still can’t get used to working with a computer.
- after these verbs and expressions:
can’t help, can’t stand, have difficulty, it is / there is no use, it is not worth
It is no use worrying about it - it will sort itself out.
The gerund is used after forget, remember, stop and regret to refer to something which occurs before the act of forgetting, remembering, etc. The full infinitive is used for actions which occur afterwards.
I remember studying this last year.
Remember to study this for the exam next week.
When followed by a gerund, go on means to continue with the same activity. With an infinitive, it means to change to a different activity.
Dr Goodenough went on working well after normal retirement age.
After outlinging the problems, Dr Goodenough went on to offer some solutions.
- Try + gerund means experiment with: try + infinitive means attempt.
Try eating it with honey - it makes it easier to digest.
Dr Goodenough tried to arrange a meeting but he is always too busy.
These verbs can be followed by the gerund or the full infinitive with no change in meaning:
begin, continue, hate, intend, like, love, prefer, start
Don’t start writing / to write until I say so.