Gerunds and Infinitives

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Gerunds	and	Infinitives	
	
When	we	have	more	than	one	verb	in	a	sentence	we	must	decide	if	the	form	
of	the	second	verb	is	a	gerund	(learning),	an	infinitive	with	to	(to	learn)	or	
and	infinitive	without	to	(learn).	
	
We	use	gerunds	(verb	+	ing):	
1. After	certain	verbs		
Admit																		“She	admitted	making	a	mistake.”	
Avoid																			“He	avoids	going	to	the	dentist.”		
	
Can’t	help,	can’t	stand,	carry	on,	deny,	enjoy,	fancy,	finish,	give	up,	keep	on,	imagine,	
involve,	mind,	miss,	postpone,	practise,	risk,	stop,	suggest	
	
2. After	prepositions	-	I’m	interested	in	learning	English.	
										She’s	good	at	playing	tennis.	
	
	
3. As	the	subject	or	object	of	a	sentence	–	Walking	is	good	exercise	
						Smoking	is	bad	for	your	health.	
	
We	use	infinitive	with	to:	
1. 	After	certain	verbs		
Agree																	“Our	boss	agreed	to	give	us	the	day	off.”	
Appear															“I	appear	to	have	lost	my	keys.”	
	
Be	able	to,	can’t	afford,	can’t	wait,	decide,	expect,	happen,	have	(got),	help,	learn,	manage,				
offer,	plan,	pretend,	promise,	refuse,	seem,	teach,	tend,	threaten,	want,	would	like		
	
2. After	many	adjectives	-	It's	difficult	to	learn	English.	
			It’s	easy	to	spend	hours	watching	Netflix.		
	
3. To	show	purpose-	I	go	to	the	gym	to	get	fit.	
							I	joined	SEDA	Online	to	learn	English.	
	
	
	
We	use	infinitive	without	to:	
1. After	modal	verbs	-	I	can	meet	you	at	six	o'clock	
You	mustn’t	throw	litter	on	the	street.	
	
	
2. After	'let',	'make'	and	(sometimes)	'help'	-	The	teacher	let	us	leave	early	
	My	parents	make	me	clean	my	room	
every	week.		
Can	you	help	me	move	house?	
	
3. After	some	verbs	of	perception	(see,	watch,	hear,	notice,	feel,	sense)	–		
																																						The	police	saw	them	break	into	the	bank.	
	 	 	 				I	watched	him	walk	away.	
4. After	expressions	with	'why'	-	why	go	out	the	night	before	an	exam?	
	
Verbs	followed	by	the	gerund	or	infinitive	with	to:	
Some	verbs	can	be	followed	by	the	gerund	or	infinitive	with	to	with	no	change	of	meaning-	
begin,	start,	continue.		
E.g.	It	started	to	rain	when	we	got	to	the	park.	
								It	started	raining	when	we	got	to	the	park.		
	
Verbs	followed	by	the	gerund	or	infinitive	with	to:	
Some	verbs	can	be	followed	by	the	gerund	or	infinitive	with	to	with	a	change	of	meaning-	
remember,	forget,	try,	need.	
E.g	Remember	to	lock	the	door.	(You	remember	first,	then	you	do.)	
							I	remember	going	to	Paris	as	a	child.	(You	do	something	and	then	you	remember	it.)	
	
Sorry,	I	forgot	to	lock	the	door.	(You	didn’t	remember	to	do	something.)	
I’ll	never	forget	seeing	The	Eiffel	Tower.	(You	did	something	and	you	won’t	forget.)	
	
I	tried	to	open	the	jar	but	it	was	too	tight	for	me.	(Make	an	effort	to	do	something.)	
Try	turning	your	computer	off	and	on	again.	(Experiment	to	see	if	something	works)	
	
I	need	to	clean	the	kitchen.	(Active	sentence)	
The	kitchen	needs	cleaning.	(Passive	sentence)	
	
NOTE:	like,	love,	hate,	prefer	can	also	be	used	with	the	gerund	or	infinitive	with	to	but	the	
gerund	is	more	common	when	you	are	talking	generally	and	the	infinitive	when	you	talk	
about	a	specific	occasion	e.g.	I	love	skiing.	I	love	to	ski	in	Austria	in	March.