GERUND

Verb patterns with the gerund

Verbs that are often followed by a gerund include admit, adore, anticipate, appreciate, avoid,
carry on, consider, contemplate, delay, deny, describe, detest, dislike, enjoy, escape, fancy,
feel, finish, give, hear, imagine, include, justify, listen to, mention, mind, miss, notice, observe,
perceive, postpone, practice, quit, recall, report, resent, resume, risk, see, sense, sleep, stop,
suggest, tolerate and watch. Additionally, prepositions are often followed by a gerund.
It is important to remember that the particle, to, can also be used to introduce the infinitive.
For example, in the sentence: "I went to the store to buy milk", the first "to" acts as a
preposition of place, explaining where I went. However, the second to does not act as a
preposition, but rather introduces the infinitive "buy", which explains why you went.
For example:

We postponed making any decision.

After two years of deciding we finally made a decision.
We heard whispering.
His physician advised leaving home for a week.
They denied having avoided me. (= They denied that they had avoided me.)
He talked me into coming to the party.
They frightened her out of voicing her opinion.

Verbs followed by a gerund or a to-infinitive

With little change in meaning
begin, continue, start; hate, like, love, prefer
With would, the verbs hate, like, love, and prefer are usually followed by the to-infinitive.
For example:

I hate to work. or I hate working.

I love to sleep. or I love sleeping.
I would like to work there. (more usual than working)

In these examples, if the subject of the verb is not the subject of the second verb, the second
verb must be a gerund (instead of an infinitive)
If I am watching sports on television, for example, I can react to the programs only as follows:

I hate boxing.
I love swimming.

With a change in meaning

dread and hate:
These two verbs are followed by a to-infinitive when talking subjunctively (usually when
using to think), but by a gerund when talking about general dislikes.

I dread / hate to think what she will do.

I dread / hate seeing him.

like and dislike, prefer. Begin, case, stop, continue, fear, intend, neglect, deserve, need,
require, want, forget and remember:
When these have meanings which are used to talk about the future from the given time, the toinfinitive is used, but when looking back in time, the gerund.

She forgot to tell me our plans. (She did not tell me, though she should have.)
She forgot telling me our plans. (She told me, but then forgot having done so.)
I remembered to go to work. (I remembered that I needed to go to work, and so I did.)
I remembered going to work. (I remembered the action of previously going to work.)

cannot bear:

I cannot bear to see you suffer like this. (You are suffering now.)
I cannot bear being pushed around in crowds. (I never like that.)

go on:

After winning the semi-finals, he went on to play in the finals. (He completed the semifinals, then later played in the finals.)
He went on giggling, not having noticed the teacher enter. (He continued doing so.)

mean:

I did not mean to scare you off!

Her having got a new job in the city meant leaving behind her familiar surroundings.

advise, recommend and forbid:

These are followed by a to-infinitive when there is an object as well, but with a gerund
otherwise.

regret:

The police advised us not to enter the building, for a murder had occurred. (us is the
object)
The police advised against our entering the building.

We regret to inform you that you have failed your exam. (a polite or formal form of
apology)
I very much regret saying what I said. (I wish I had not said that.)

consider, contemplate and recommend:

These verbs are followed by a to-infinitive only in the passive or with an object pronoun.

People consider her to be the best. She is considered to be the best.

I am considering sleeping over, if you do not mind.

try:
When a to-infinitive is used, it means the subject makes an effort at; attempt or endeavor to do
something. If a gerund is used, it means the subject attempts to do something in testing to see
what might happen.

Please try to remember to post my letter.

I have tried being stern, but to no avail.

Gerunds preceded by a genitive

In traditional English grammar, a noun or pronoun preceding a gerund must be genitive
(possessive).

We enjoyed their (genitive) singing.

It is increasingly common to see the objective used in place of the possessive:

I do not see it making any difference.

[accuse:
1. They were accused ___leaking the information.
concentrate:
2. We need to concentrate ____ensuring this does not happen again.
congratulate
3. Let me congratulate you ____ making such an effective speech.
decide
4. Eventually I decided ______ having the operation.
deter:
5. The warning might deter them ____ doing such a thing again.
insist:
6. They insisted ____ paying for everything.
prevent:
7. The event prevented justice ____ being done.
specialise:
8. The company specialises ____ renovating old cinemas.
succeed:

9. I finally succeeded ____ getting the car started.

warn:
10. I warned them ______ taking such a dangerous route.
worry
11. Some people worry ______ getting older.
participate
12. She participated fully _____ the setting up of the section.
Answers: 1. of; 2. on; 3. on; 4. against; 5. from; 6. on; 7. from; 8. in; 9. in; 10. against/about;
11. about; 12. in

We use the Gerund after the following phrases:

accuse of They were accused of breaking into a shop.
approve of
boast of
complain of
consist of
delight of
participate of
succeed of
think of Frank thinks of playing chess.
agree with I agree with playing darts.
cope with He is not sure how to cope with getting older
aim at
hesitate at
agree to
contribute to
look forward to I'm looking forward to seeing you soon.
object to
resort to
apologize for They apologize for being late.
blame for The reporter is blamed for writing bad stories
care for
believe in She doesn't believe in getting lost in the wood.
consist in
delight in

participate in
succeed in How then can I succeed in learning chemistry?
specialize in The firm specialized in designing websites.
complain about She complains about bullying.
dream about/of Sue dreams of being a pop star.
talk about/of They often talk about travelling to New Zealand
learn about
worry about
agree on
concentrate on Do you concentrate on reading or writing?
congratulate sb. on I wanted to congratulate you on making such a good speech.
count on
decide on
depend on Success may depend on becoming more patient.
focus on
insist on The girls insisted on going out with Mark
live on
rely on sth. He doesn't rely on winning in the casino.
decide against They decided against stealing the car.
struggle against
feel like They feel like going to bed. get used to You must get used to working long hours..
stop sb. from I stopped Andrew from smoking.
recover from
refrain from
retire from
prevent sb. from sth. How can I prevent Kate from working in this shop?
worry about The patient worries about having the check-up.
begin by
conclude by
end by

Noun + Preposition Combinations Followed by Gerunds

The following is ONLY A SAMPLE LIST of the most commonly used noun + preposition
combinations that can be followed by gerunds.
addiction to

His addiction to surfing the Internet is a problem.

advantage of

He has the advantage of speaking English fluently.

anxiety about

Her anxiety about speaking in public caused her to lose the job.

belief in

His belief in not harming animals was something he learned from his
mother.

credit for

She took credit for improving the filing system.

dedication to

His dedication to teaching was impressive.

delay in

The delay in processing the visa caused problems.

devotion to

His devotion to biking allowed him to win the competition.

disadvantage
of

The disadvantage of flying is that you can't see the scenery along the way.

experience in

She has a great deal of experience in introducing new products to

international markets.
With the noun "experience," sometimes a gerund is added without the
preposition "in." "Experience introducing new products" would also be
acceptable.

fear of

His fear of flying made travel difficult.

fondness for

Her fondness for travelling led to her career in the travel industry.

habit of

His habit of smoking in restaurants caused many problems in California.

interest in

Her career as a pilot evolved out of her interest in flying.

knowledge of

Her knowledge of climbing helped her during the competition.

love of

His love of singing developed when he was a child.

memory of

Their memories of travelling in Africa will stay with them forever.

preference for

I think his preference for speaking his native language is natural.

process of

The process of painting such a large mural is more complicated than you
might think.

reaction to

His reaction to winning the prize was quite funny.

reason for

The main reason for taking the course is to improve your language skills.

regret for

The criminal's regret for committing the crime did not convince the judge.

report on

The magazine's report on choosing the right car was not well researched.

reputation for

Her reputation for lying is well known.

responsibility
for

His responsibility for completing the project on time was acknowledged by

the company.

story about

I don't know if I believe his story about seeing a UFO.

talent for

His talent for learning languages was impressive.

Nouns / Nouns with Prepositions followed by the Gerund

Example: There's no point in waiting any longer.

advantage of
alternative of
believe in
confidence in
chance of
choice between
charge of
cause for
contribution to
danger of
difficulty in
delight in
doubt about
experience in
fun
faith in

favour of
hope of
habit of
idea of
interest in
intention of
luck in
opportunity of
objection to
opposition to
place for
pleasure in
point in
possibility of
problem
pride in
point of
reason for
trouble
trouble in
no use
way of
waste of money
waste of time

Adjective + Preposition Combinations Followed by

Gerunds
The following is ONLY A SAMPLE LIST of the most commonly used adjective + preposition
combinations that can be followed by gerunds.
accustomed to

He is accustomed to having his own office.

addicted to

She is addicted to watching TV.

afraid of

She is afraid of speaking in public.

anxious about

Norma is anxious about making the presentation.

angry about/at
annoyed with
astonished at

ashamed of
aware of
based on
bored of/with

I am bored of doing the same old job.

bad at
capable of

He is capable of winning a gold medal.

committed to

She is committed to improving her English.

concerned about

Nancy was concerned about being late.

consistent in
certain about/of
content with

Tim is content with winning second place.

conscious of
convinced of
clever at
correct in
dedicated to

The organization is dedicated to ending poverty.

devoted to

The money will be devoted to protecting the environment.

delighted at/with
dependent on
disappointed with

Fiona was disappointed with coming in third place.

discouraged by

He was discouraged by not getting the job.

diligent in
equal to
equivalent to
excited about

The researcher was excited about going to Africa.

excellent for
enthusiastic about
expert at/in
experienced in
famous for

That actor is famous for being extremely weird.

fond of

She is fond of having picnics.

fortunate in
frightened of

She is frightened of being alone at night.

furious with
guilty of

The banker was guilty of stealing money.

good at
happy about

He was happy about winning the lottery.

happy with
helpful in
interested in

She is interested in becoming a doctor.

involved in

He was involved in making the movie.

intend on

known for

She was known for causing problems.

keen on
late in
opposed to

They are opposed to building a new road in the park.

optimistic about
pleased about/at/with
proud of

He was proud of having completed the marathon.

prompt in
quick in
remembered for

She is remembered for protecting mountain gorillas.

responsible for

He is responsible for causing the damage.

right in
satisfied with
scared of
skilful at
sick with
slow in
succesful in
sure about
surprised at
suitable for

Tina is scared of being alone at night.

sorry for
terrified of

The surfer is terrified of being attacked by a shark.

tired from

She is tired from working all day.

tired of

Margaret is tired of making dinner every night.

useful for
used to
upset with
worried about

The hikers were worried about not having enough water.

PHRASES THAT REQUIRE THE USE OF GERUND

Hear of
Looking forward to
Contribute to
No use
Worth
Object to
Agree to
Used to
Accustomed with
Delighted at

Dupa verbe tranzitive: admit, avoid, consider, deny, detest, dislike,

escape, fancy, finish, give up, cannot help, keep (on), dont mind, miss,
postpone, practise, put off, resent, resist, risk, cannot stand, stop,
suggest, etc.
Dupa verbe exprimand o activitate mintala: forget, remember,
understand, etc. sau o stare sufleteasca cannot bear, dread, hate, like,
love, neglect, prefer, regret, in alternanta cu infinitivul.
Dupa verbe indicand un proces: plan, try, undertake, inceputul: begin,
start; continuarea: continue, sau sfarsitul unei actiuni: cease in alterananta
cu infinitivul
Dupa prepozitii ca: after, before, by, for, from, on etc.