English for Philology and

Philosophy
Advanced grammar structures – Infinitive or –ing
Karen Jacob
2017-2018
 Infinitive or –ing? The basics
 Infinitive with to  Infinitive with to
 1. I offered to open the window.  1. After certain verbs

 2. It’s very difficult to read his writing  2. After adjectives

 3. I need to go to the supermarket  3. After have to / need to
 4. I went to the cinema to see the new James Bond  4. Purpose (in order to)
film.
 5. Be careful not to stay in the sun too long.  5. After imperatives/adjectives + not

 Infinitive without to  Infinitive without to

 6. He can speak English very well.  6. After can / could (semi-modals)
 7. We mustn’t be late.  7. After modals
 Gerund (verb + -ing)
 Gerund (verb + -ing)
 8. Gerund used as a noun subject
 8. Watching TV helps me to relax in the evening.
 9. After prepositions
 9. I’m not very good at remembering names.
 10. After specific verbs
 10. I enjoy lying in the sun.
 Infinitive and gerund
 Infinitive and gerund
 11. After verbs love/like/hate/prefer and begin
 11. I love reading / to read the newspaper at /start/continue (context: General/specific)
breakfast.
 12. These verbs have different meanings with
 12. Try, stop, remember the gerund and the infinitive
 Infinitive with to /without to
 1. Verbs followed by to-infinitive
 She agreed to come with me.
 They decided to go home early.
 We wanted to visit the Tate Gallery.
 2. Verbs followed by to-infinitive, or that-clause
 We decided to leave early.
 We decided that we would leave early.
 Jack pretended to be ill.
 Jack pretended that he was ill
 3. Verbs followed by bare infinitive, or to-
infinitive
 Computers can help us analyse / to analyse
large amounts of information.
 Nobody dared to make / make a noise.
 4. Verbs followed by an object and to-infinitive
 They advised me to try again later.
 5. Verbs followed by an object and bare
infinitive
 Factory owners made young chldren work.
 My parents don’t let me hold noisy parties.
 1. We use the infinitive with to after the
following verbs:
 aim, fail, intend, learn how, long,
manage, need, offer, plan, prefer,
refuse, try, want, would like, seem,
choose, afford, agree
 2. We use the infinitive with to or with a
that –clause after the following verbs:
 decide, expect, hope, promise,
threaten, warn, pretend.
 As these verbs often refer to the future,
the that clause often contains would
 With the verb pretend, the that-clause
often contains a past tense verb
 3. Some verbs can be followed by a
bare infinitive or the infinitive with to:
 Help / dare
 4. The following verbs are followed by an
object and the to-iinfnitive:
 advise, allow, ask, dare, encourage,
forbid, force, instruct, invite, order,
permit, persuade, remind, teach, tell,
invite, need, want
 5. Make and let are followed by the
object and the bare infinitive
Be + adjectives followed by to-infinitive
 Some adjectives describe how someone feels about
something:
Afraid to, anxious to, ashamed to, careful to,
determined to, free to, frightened to, happy to, keen
to, quick to, ready to, sorry to, willing to.
 Some adjectives are used to give an opinión:
Agreable to, amusing to, boring to, difficult to, easy
to, hard to, imposible to, nice to, good to, important
to, necessary to
 Some adjectives are used in phrases with be:
Be supposed to, be expected to, be allowed to, be
prepared to
 -ing
 1. Various verbs are followed by an –ing form.
 They enjoy watching DVDs at home.
 I’ve finished reading the paper you gave me.
 I hate being late for school.
 2. After phrasal verbs and after prepositons
 She’s given up working on Saturdays.
 I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
 I’m going to keep on studying Italian for a few
more years.
 I’m good at learning new languages
 3. Expressons with it
 It’s no good crying over spilt milk
 4. Expressions with spend/come/go
 I spent my time swimming and sunbathing
 Do you want to come swimming?
 They’ve gone shopping
 5. Expressions with like, hate, etc.
 6. To be used to doing something
 1. Verbs of feeling and opinion:
 Admit. avoid, condsider, deny, dislike, enjoy. fancy,
feel like, finish, can’t help, involve, keep, mean,
mind, miss, practise, risk, can’t stand, suggest.
 2. We use the gerund after phrasal verbs and
prepositions
 3 Expressions wth it:
 It’s no use, It’s no good, It’s not worth, It’s a waste of
time
 4. Spend one’s time / spend quality time.
 Many expressions , mainly connected with sport use
come/go + gerund
 5. Some verbs can be use with to + infinitive or –ing.
As a general rule, we use the –ing with general
statements and to + infinitive with more specific
statements.
 like, hate, love, prefer, continue, start, begin
 BUT – would like/love/prefer + to + infinitive
 Verbs followed by –ing or to-infinitive with
different meanings
 1. STOP  1. Stop:
 It’s a good idea to stop eating sweets between meals
(stop an activity)
 They stopped to buy food and then continued their
journey stop (in order to do something)
 2. TRY  2.Try
 Try going for a swim – it’s a good way to get fit (see if it
works, advice)
 They tried to reach the island, but it was too far away
(make an effort)
 3. REMEMBER  3. Remember
 Remember to warm up before you start exercising (don’t
forget!)
 I remember going to school for the first time (past
memory)
 Verbs with infinitive + to (English File Intermediate Plus,2014)
 Be able (to swim)
 Afford (to buy a flat)
 Agree (to help someone)
 Choose (to do something)
 Arrange (to meet someone)
 Decide (to buy a new computer)
 Expect (to fail an exam)
 Forget (to lock the door)
 Help (to cook dinner)
 Hope (to go to university)
 Learn (how)(to swim)
 Manage (to escape)
 Need (to leave early)
 Fail (to meet the deadline)
 Offer (to do the washing-up)
 Plan (to do something)
 Pretend (to be a famous pop star)
 Promise (to pay someone back)
 Refuse (to sign the documents)
 Remember (to buy a present)
 Seem (to be broken)
 Try (to repair the car)
 Want (to go on holiday)
 Would like (to travel abroad)
 Have (to go to class)
 Aim (to go to university)
 Intend (to make this company successful)
 Like/hate/prefer/love/start/begin/continue
 Verb + gerund (English File Intermediate Plus, 2014)

 Admit (stealing the money)  Practise (pronouncing words in English)

 Avoid (driving through the city centre)  Recommend (studying languages)
 Can’t stand (queueing)  Stop (raining)
 Can’t help (thinking about the film)  Suggest (seeing a doctor)
 Consider (working in a bank)  Spend (your time playing online games)
 Deny (being involved)  love/like/prefer/hate
 Dislike (studying in the afternoon)  begin/start/continue
 Enjoy (playing tennis)
 Feel like (eating fish and chips tonight)
 Finish (writing my essay)
 Imagine (living without wifi)
 Keep (forgetting his name)
 Mind (working in the evenings)
 Miss (living in Spain)
 Infinitive with / without to + Object

Verb +object+infinitive with to Verb + object + infinitive without to

 Advise (me to pay cash)
 Allow (us to leave early)
 Let (me stay up late)
 Ask (her to help)
 Make (me tidy my room)
 Encourage (me to study)
 Forbid (me to see him)
 Invite (us to her party)
 Instruct (them to close the gates)
 Need (you to fill in a form)
 Order (him to sit down)
 Permit (him to enter the library)
 Persuade (me to go shopping with her)
 Teach (me to play the piano)
 Tell (them to be quiet)
 Want (you to explain what happened)
 Practice
 Complete the sentences
 1. We really enjoy …………. to concerts. (go)
 2. ………… to a live sporting event is much more exciting than ……….. it on TV. (go,
watch)
 3. I hate ………. to visit my family more often, but they live so far away. (not be
able)
 4. I tried ……….tickets for the Olympics, but I didn’t manage ……… any. (buy, get)
 5. We went to the box office ………… the tickets we’d booked. (pick up)
 6. It’s cheaper ……….. tickets for the theatre than for a football match. (get)
 7. They told me ………… in the front row. (not sit)
 8. They love ……….. which film to see. (choose)
 9. I can’t afford ……….. in this area. (live)
 She moved to a small village and she really misses …….. to plays and exhibitions.
(go)
 11. It’s difficult ……… ……… a mobile phone. (imagine, not have)
 Answers
 Complete the sentences
 1. We really enjoy going to concerts. (go)
 2. Going to a live sporting event is much more exciting than watching it on TV. (go,
watch)
 3. I hate not being able / not to be able to visit my family more often, but they live
so far away. (not be able)
 4. I tried to get tickets for the Olympics, but I didn’t manage to get any. (buy, get)
 5. We went to the box office to pick up the tickets we’d booked. (pick up)
 6. It’s cheaper to get tickets for the theatre than for a football match. (get)
 7. They told me not to sit in the front row. (not sit)
 8. They love choosing / to choose which film to see. (choose)
 9. I can’t afford to live in this area. (live)
 She moved to a small village and she really misses going to plays and exhibitions.
(go)
 11. It’s difficult to imagine not having a mobile phone. (imagine, not have)
 Practice
 Rewrite the sentences to mean the same

 1. I didn’t remember to turn my mobile phone off. / I forgot ............................

 2. He said he wouldn’t help her. / He refused ……………........................... ..…..
 3. Her teacher allowed her to leave school early. / Her teacher let …………………
 4. They told me I should go to the cinema with them. / They persuaded ……………
 5. My husband thinks I should go to the dentist. / My husband wants ………………
 6. The police ordered him to move his car. / The police made ……………….......
 7. He said that he’d help us. / He agreed ………………………………………………
 8. I practise the piano for twenty minutes a day. / I spend twenty minutes a day
…..........
 9. It`s going to continue raining this afternoon. / It’s going to carry on ……….....
 10. We don’t smoke any more. / we’ve given up ……………………………………..
 Answers
 Rewrite the sentences to mean the same
 1. I didn’t remember to turn my mobile phone off. / I forgot to turn my mobile
phone off.
 2. He said he wouldn’t help her. / He refused to help her.
 3. Her teacher allowed her to leave school early. / Her teacher let her leave early.
 4. They told me I should go to the cinema with them. / They persuaded me to go
to the cinema with them.
 5. My husband thinks I should go to the dentist. / My husband wants me to go to
the dentist.
 6. The police ordered him to move his car. / The police made him move his car.
 7. He said that he’d help us. / He agreed to help us.
 8. I practise the piano for twenty minutes a day. / I spend twenty minutes a day
practising the piano.
 9. It`s going to continue raining this afternoon. / It’s going to carry on raining.
 10. We don’t smoke any more. / we’ve given up smoking.
Extra practice

 MacMillan
 Murphy
Available on Campus Extens