The infinitive and the Gerund

Presentation by: Mohamed Reda Aoulad Abdelkrim.

INFINITIVE OR GERUND
 THE GERUND

 * The gerund( also called verbal noun )

refers to the usage of a verb (in its -ing
form) as a noun.
 THE INFINITIVE

 The infinitive of a verb is its basic form

with or without the particle “to”:
therefore, “do” and “to do” , “go” and
“to go” , …
1/ SOME VERBS ARE
NORMALLY FOLLOWED BY
THE GERUND:
 acknowledge , admit , adore , anticipate
, appreciate , avoid , celebrate, confess ,
contemplate , delay, deny, describe,
detest, discuss , dislike , dread , endure ,
enjoy , fancy , finish, imagine , involve ,
keep, justify , mention, mind , miss ,
omit, postpone , practise , quit , recall
,report , resent , resume , risk ,
suggest , tolerate , understand , feel like,
…
For example:

* Peter adores playing computer

games, but he detests watching TV.

* I enjoy going out with my parents.

* The thief admitted having stolen the

car.

* My Mom dislikes eating fast food.

2/ SOME VERBS ARE NORMALLY
FOLLOWED BY THE INFINITIVE :  
   afford , agree , appear , arrange , ask ,
attempt , care , choose , claim , come,
consent , dare, decide, demand, deserve,
determine, elect, endeavour, expect, fail,
get, guarantee, hate, hesitate, hope,
hurry, incline, intend, learn, long,
manage, mean, need, offer, plan,
prepare, pretend, promise, refuse,
resolve, say, seem, tend, threaten, want,
wish … 
For example:

* I can’t afford to buy this car.

* The two countries agreed to settle

their conflict peacefully.

* Don’t hesitate to ask for help if you

have any problem.

* I failed to do the task by myself.

3/ SOME VERBS CAN BE FOLLOWED
BY EITHER THE GERUND OR THE
INFINITIVE:
A/With little or no change in meaning:

begin, continue, hate, like, love, neglect,

prefer, start, recommend, …
For example:
* I like playing / to play chess.
* Our teacher hates being / to be asked
silly questions.
B/With a change in meaning :

forget, remember, stop, try, regret, go on,

mean …
For example:
1/ *I stopped to talk to him. ( interrupt an
activity in order to do something else)
*I stopped talking to him. ( finish an
action in progress )
2/ *I remember closing the door. ( I closed it
and now I remember)
*I remembered to close the door. ( I had
to close it, so I did )
3/ *I regret telling you the bad news. ( I
told you and now I’m sorry about it )
*I regret to tell you the bad news. ( I am
sorry that I have to tell you the bad news)

4/ *He stopped for a while and then went

on talking. ( continued with the same thing)
*The students finished reading the text
and then went on to answer the questions.
( started doing something new)
4/ Expressions followed by the gerund:

_ The gerund is used after prepositions.

I look forward to hearing from you..
Are you thinking of attending the maths evening classes.

_ It’s no use pretending you didn’t see me.

_ It’s no good insisting. He won’t accept.

_ It’s (not) worth watching this movie.

_ There’s no point in shouting at her. She is deaf.

_ Go climbing/ swimming/ skiing/ fishing/ sailing/

shopping...
5/ Expressions followed by the infinitive:

_ After WH words: I didn’t know what to do. / I didn’t know

where to go.

_ After superlatives: London is the best place to visit abroad.

_ After too + adjectives: Tom is too short to play basketball.

_ After adjective + enough: She is not old enough to vote.

_ After every/some/any/no + body/where/thing: There was

nowhere to park. / I felt bored because I had nothing to do.

_ Purpose: He went to the airport to see his father off

 PRACTICE ACTIVITY
Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form (gerund or infinitive):
1/ Suddenly everybody stopped …………………… ( talk ). There was silence.
2/ It isn't cold enough ………………..……. ( wear ) a jacket.
3/ You can improve your English by ……………….………
( read ) more. 4/ I live only a short walk from here. It
isn't worth …………….………. ( take ) a taxi.
5/ It was late, so we decided …………………. ( take ) a taxi.
6/ When I'm tired, I enjoy ………………..…… ( watch ) TV.
7/ There is an interesting article on the paper today. It's worth
………………........... ( read)
8/ David was in a difficult situation, so I decided ……...……… ( lend ) him some
money.
9/ Peter adores ………………...… ( play ) cards with his friends.
10/ I left the door open. I didn't remember
………………..…….( close ) it. 11/ I ran 10km without
…………………..….. ( stop ). 12/ Sandra
has got a good camera but she doesn't know how ………………..……….. ( use ) it.
 ANSWERS
 1/ talking  7/ reading
 2/ to wear  8/ to lend
 3/ reading  9/ playing
 4/ taking  10/ to close
 5/ to take  11/ stopping
 6/ watching  12/ to use
THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK