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GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

Verbs and expressions followed by gerund


COMMON VERBS

LIKES AND dislike, can’t stand,


s enjoy, hate*, like*, love*,
DISLIKES (not) mind, prefer*
IDEAS AND admit, consider, imagine, look forward to,
OPINIONS recommend, suggest, mention, miss, risk,
discuss,tolerate
ACTIONS THAT begin*, continue*, delay, give up, start*,
START, STOP stop*, finish, keep, practise, put off, spend,
AND CONTINUE postpone
OTHERS avoid, can’t help, deny, involve, stand
Go+-ing form
We sometimes use go+-ing form to talk
about doing sports and other activities.
We usually use go+-ing where there is a
verb for the activity surf-go surfing
Gerunds are used after
prepositions
eg. I’m good at painting.

Gerunds are used as subject or the


object of the sentence
Eg. Smoking is bad for your health.
My job involves doing a lot of hours.
Verbs and expressions followed by infinitive
COMMON VERBS

MENTAL STATES OR agree, choose, decide,


ACTIVITIY forget*,remember *,want, wish
FUTURE aim, arrange, expect, hope,
ARRANGEMENTS offer, plan, prepare, promise,
refuse, threaten
APPEARANCE appear, pretend, seem, tend
OTHER attempt,can’t /can afford, ask,
deserve, fail, offer, try*
*These verbs can also be followed by an –ing form with a difference in meaning
Verbs followed by infinitive
• After verbs and expressions such as ask, learn,
find out, wonder, want to know, decide,
explain+ a question word who, what, how,
where,etc
Adjectives are commonly
followed by infinitives

He’ll be surprised to know the news.


I was disappointed to hear that you didn’t pass
It isn’t easy to learn a new language
Some verbs can be followed by a
gerund or an infinitive with little
difference in meaning.
Like, love, hate, prefer .
The gerund is more common when you are
talking generally, and the infinitive when you
are talking about a specific occasion.
I like going to the dentist.
I like to go to the dentist once a year.
VERBS THAT CAN BE FOLLOWED BY
EITHER INFINITIVE OR GERUND
WITHOUT A CHANGE IN MEANING
• Start eg: She started to paint/painting
• Begin eg: I began doing/to do it last night.
• Finish eg: She has already finished to do/doing
the washing up
• Continue eg: the population of poor countries
continues raising/to raise
• Intend eg:The school intends not opening/not to
open the library next year
Infinitive or –ing form with different
meanings
VERB +-ING FORM +TO+INFINITIVE
Forget For an event or situation in the past For something you should do/should have
/remember I’ll never forget riding my first bike. done
Do you remember learning to ride? Don’t forget to phone him.
Remember to do your homework
Go on Continue an activity Change from one action to another.
They stopped but we went on walking After a slow start, she went on to win the race
Regret Feel sorry about something you Say sorry, particularly in formal letters
did/didn’t do We regret to inform you that you have not
I regret not studying harder at school been called for the interview
stop Finish an action Finish an action in order to do something else
Have you stopped doing your No, I stopped to have a glass of water
homework?
Try Do something as an experiment Attempt to do something difficult
Try turning it off and on again I’m not an electrician, but I’ll try to mend it.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3

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