Gerunds and infinitives
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This document discusses when to use infinitives versus gerunds in English. It notes that infinitives are used after certain verbs like "need" and "want", as well as to show purpose. Gerunds are used after verbs like "enjoy" and "finish", as the subject of a sentence, and after prepositions. Both infinitives and gerunds can be used after verbs like "like" and "start", depending on the intended meaning.
Gerunds and infinitives
- 2. There are some situations when we need to decide between using an infinitive or a gerund.
- 3. We use infinitives after some verbs: Need Decide Would like Want Forget Promise Hope
- 4. Examples *Jenny forgot to pay her bills *Tom would like to have a lot of money *I need to go to the bathroom
- 5. After many adjectives Examples: It’s difficult to get up early It’s nice to see you Negative: It’s important not to be late for the meeting.
- 6. To show purpose Examples: ❑ He went to the UK to study English ❑We turned on the TV to watch the news.
- 7. We use gerunds after some verbs: Enjoy Finish Practice Spend time Feel like
- 8. Examples *Bob doesn’t feel like doing homework. *Susan finished writing the report for her boss. * Kids enjoy being on the beach.
- 9. We use gerunds as the subject of a sentence Examples: Drinking water is good for your body. Talking to my friends is great! Traveling in December is expensive.
- 10. We use gerunds after prepositions Examples: ❖ I’m not good at playing chess. ❖ Mark always has breakfast after taking a shower. Some prepositions: Of , at, for, after, before, with, without, by, about.
- 11. Like, love, hate ( I like singing/I like to sing) Start ( She started writing a novel/ She started to write a novel)