GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

Question 1

Gerunds

Answer 1

Gerunds are used in different positions of the sentence:

• as subjects (swimming makes you fit)
• as objects (she likes jogging)
• as complements (his favorite activity is going to the gym)
• after possessive adjectives, object pronouns and nouns (i hope you don’t mind his/him/john coming here)
• after determiners (the threatening frightened us)
• after adjectives (regular exercise is good for your health)
• in certain expressions (it’s no use trying to help her, no smoking)

Question 2

Infinitives

Answer 2

Infinitives are used:

• after certain verbs (i agreed to go)
• after certain verbs + object (he was asked to leave)
• after verbs of knowing and believing (active and passive voice: I know him to be, he was known to be nice)
• as complements (my first thought was to phone you)
• after adjectives (nice to meet you, anxious to see you) or adjectives + of (person) (it was very nice of you to join us)
• after the first, second, only, best, last + one
• to express purpose (i’m here to help you)
• after verb + question word (i dont know what to do)
• after too+ adj or adj+enough (it is too expensive to buy it/isnt cheap enough to buy it)
• after is/are to express future event or plan (he is to become president next month)

Question 3

Verb + infinitive / verb + gerund

Answer 3

The verb + infinitive often indicates a future plan or event.
The verb + gerund often describes an action that doesnt have a sequence or a specific time.

Question 4

The Bare Infinitive

Answer 4

The bare infinitive is often used:

• after modals (i can go)
• after why not…? (why not take the opportunity?)
• after would rather (i’d rather stay at home)
• after had better (you’d better run)
• after let’s (let’s go to the party)
• after make + obj pronoun (she made me do it)
• after help (i’ll help you find him)
• in a list of verbs (she came and saw me)
• after verbs of perception (i didnt see you leave)