Gerund Or Infinitive

By Mubarak Abdessalami Which one to use and why? Put the verb between brackets in the correct form. Leila stopped (say) hello to her friends. What a quandary! Shall I use the infinitive ‘to say’ or the gerund ‘saying’? I asked my teacher about it but all that she said was: "It depends ...!" But it depends on what? I figured out that she wanted me to work out my brains to see to what extent I could solve this enigma. Well! 1. Leila stopped to say hello to her friends. 2. Leila stopped saying hello to her friends. I bet they are both correct, but they bear each a completely different meaning. I got it now; the teacher meant that it all depends on what I wanted to say! Grammatically speaking, example “1” respects the rule which says that in a successive verb situation the second should be in the infinitive. That's why I used the infinitive with its particle ‘to’. As for example “2”, the verb "stop" is followed by the gerund just like other verbs such as, remember, forget, regret etc. Meaning will probably make things clearer: 1. Leila was walking around or riding a bike when she saw her friends and stopped to greet them. 2. Leila used to say "Hello!" to her friends, but now she stopped doing that. She no longer greets them because of something. It could be a quarrel or whatever. That's none our business. Now let me tell you something! To get rid of such dilemma, one has to read a lot and from time to time to check for rules, they really help. The verbs that are followed by both the gerund and infinitive are to my mind tricky and fiddly. Look at this one: 1. He remembered telling her the news. 2. He remembered to tell her the news. 1. I tried to tell her the news, but she refused to listen. 2. I tried telling her but in vain. In the first example the telling has taken place before thinking about it, in the second, however, the speaker thought about telling her then he did it. Many other verbs give the same headache: start, begin, continue, love, hate, like, neglect and others. Is it clear? If not allow me some time to give you more situations where the gerund and the infinitive are the main actors.

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GERUND: Bear in mind that: Only the gerund is used after these expressions: • • • • • • • • • •

It's no use.... Look forward to ... Get/be used to ... Be keen on ... Couldn't help ... Feel like ... Be busy ... Would you mind ... How / what about ... Worth ...

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"It's no use crying over spilt milk" proverb I'm looking forward to seeing you soon. I'm used to drinking a cup of coffee after lunch. She's keen on singing pop songs When I met her, I couldn't help hugging her tightly. I feel like having a cold drink now. She is busy doing her homework right now. Would you mind mailing this letter for me, please? How about inviting your grandmother for the party. The film is actually worth viewing.

As well as after these verbs: o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

admit avoid consider deny enjoy finish forget imagine include involve justify keep need postpone quit reconsider regret remember stop suggest

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He admitted breaking the window pane. She always avoid talking to him about the problem. The manager considered phoning the police He denied breaking into the office. She enjoys making fun of everybody. They finished doing their work very early. Sorry, I forgot sending you the catalogue. He imagined being able to impress them. The treaty includes not interfering with the others' inner problems. The contract involves building a fence. He can't justify being late for school everyday. The clerk kept shouting at everybody like a madman. She needed repainting her car. We postponed organising the party. It was hard for her to quit smoking. She finally reconsidered involving the authorities in her own affairs. He eventually regretted damaging the window. I remembered sweeping the floor before I came here. He stopped teasing his sister after her mother shouted at him. They suggested travelling by bus.

Other verbs that are followed by a gerund are: adore, anticipate, appreciate, contemplate, delay, describe, detest, dislike, escape, fancy, feel, give, hear, include, justify, listen to, mention, mind, miss, notice, observe, perceive, practice, recall, report, resent, resume, risk, see, sense, tolerate and watch. And after some "phrasal verbs" and after verbs + prepositions like:  Carry on

| She didn't even look at me. She just carried on typing the letter. 2

            

Go on Give up Cope with Apologize for Complain about Keep on Put off Insist on Blame for Succeed in Think of Worry about etc

| They went on playing tennis despite the rain. | She wanted him to give up nagging at her. | They tried to cope with working in cold weather. | She apologizes for making noise. | She continues to complain about keeping the door wide open. | She kept on complaining... | She puts off meeting us until next week. | She insisted on doing the task herself. | She blames me for damaging her CD player. | She succeeds in keeping the children busy for a longer time. | We are thinking of moving to a bigger city. | They worry about losing their jobs.

What about adjectives + prepositions then? We also use the gerund after the following:             

Be proud of Be tired of Be afraid of Be fond of Be sick of Be worried about Be happy about Be glad about Be angry about Be crazy about Be excited about Be sorry about Be interested in

=> They’re proud of participating in that humanitarian project. => I’m tired of repeating the same thing all the time. => She’s afraid of being wrong. => Her children are fond of eating dates in the morning. => I’m sick of eating burgers everyday. => He’s worried about letting her go abroad alone. => We were all happy about celebrating the new year in Paris. => She’s glad about receiving the award. => They are angry about staying under the rain for hours. => She’s crazy about singing in the bathroom. => They are excited about attending the scientist’s lecture. => She’s sorry about breaking the vase unintentionally. => The students seem interested in doing quizzes.

Before, after, without, No: The gerund is mostly applicable after ‘before’ and ‘after’ Examples - She ran away without looking behind. - You have to train before doing any sport. - Take this medicine after warming it. - No smoking!

Infinitive: The infinitive is known in terms of "to + verb" and this is the base verb. Yet the verb without its particle (to) is also a verb but it is bare. This information, I guess, is not witty at all because the verb without "to" is also imposing in some circumstances. Language is sometimes too much demanding, isn't it? 3

Whole Infinitive {to + verb} This is compulsory after conjugated verbs       

I wanted to buy that car but unfortunately it was very expensive for me. She advises me to see a doctor as soon as possible. They'd prefer to take a taxi. I’d like to stay at home this afternoon. At last, they decided to rent the apartment. They agreed to pay the bills cash. etc

As you notice, when two verbs are successive the second is forced into the infinitive with "to" of course. Apart from the cases in which both gerund and infinitive are usable, there are cases in which only the use of the whole infinitive (to + verb) is accurate such as the case above. And after some question words! • She told us what to do. • She explained why to do it • She showed us how to do it. • She also told us where to find the necessary material. • Etc And after some adjectives like: Important | It is important to surf the net for more lessons. Easy | It is not easy to learn a language without practising it regularly. Difficult | It seems difficult to know everything about the topic in one session. etc

Bare Infinitive = [without "to"] Now let me insist on the fact that some verbs require to be followed by the bare infinitive (verb without ‘to’). These verbs are:

to help, to let and to make:  My mother helped me do my homework.  She didn't let me go out at night.  Her jokes were so funny that they made me laugh all day long. As well as after

"would rather" and "had better"  

I'd rather read the book than watch the film. She'd better get married before it is too late.

And, of course, after Modal verbs like:

can, could, must, may, might, should, ought to, etc 

You can do it easily. 4

       

She could do all the work alone. You must respect the elderly. It may rain this evening. She might arrive at any time. People should take care of the environment. You ought to be punctual. They will build a new hospital in town. He would come if you invited him.

Both Infinitive and Gerund Some verbs require both infinitive and gerund and the meaning is often almost the same like: • •

The boys started to throw stones at the thief. The boys started throwing stones at the thief.

o They began to shout after him. o They began shouting after him.  

They continued to swear. They continued swearing.

But be careful, it is not always like this. Sometimes they have different meanings. Once again, “It all depends...” So let me show you an amazing little thing about the use of infinitive and gerund after some verbs: Now can you tell me the difference - if there's any – between?  Leila likes to eat couscous.  Leila likes eating couscous. Depending on intention, we can infer that  Leila likes to eat couscous (now).  Leila likes eating couscous. (habit) The action with the gerund form is mostly a long lasting one. Now see if you can decipher the meaning from these two statements: 1. The man stopped smoking. 2. The man stopped to smoke. I guess you’ll surely do it if you read this paper from the beginning. Well, these two sentences don’t say the same thing. - The first one says that the man quitted or gave up smoking. He used to smoke, but now he no longer does. - The second sentence however says the ma was walking when he stopped to light a cigarette. Now if you did it right, try to explain these two other sentences:

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1. I forgot to send them a letter of invitation. 2. I forgot sending them a letter of invitation. Which sentence says that I have already sent the letter? Obviously it’s number 2 because it says that I had sent them the letter of invitation but I only forgot doing so. The first says that I still don’t send them the Invitation because I forgot to do. It is the same for: 1. I remembered to give him the money I owed him. 2. I remembered giving him the money I owed him. Now can you tell me which of the two sentences below is correct? 1. It stopped to rain. 2. It stopped raining.

Gerund and Infinitive as subjects: Both the gerund and the infinitive can act as nouns like in:  Smoking is dangerous for your health.  To err is human. (proverb) In both sentences, the gerund (present participle) and the whole infinitive have the force of a noun. In the above examples they are subjects.

Put the verbs between parentheses in their correct form. 1. The following questions are easy (answer) __________. 2. Just avoid (make) __________ unintentional mistakes. 3. He asks the children to stop (play) __________ football in the lane. 4. He promised to help me (chop up) __________ the wood. 5. Unlike Gene Kelly, I hate (sing) __________ in the rain. 6. We are used to (get up) __________early in the morning. 7. I can't stand (wait) __________ while she is at the hairdresser’s. 8. Can you manage to finish (repair) __________my car before noon? 9. I don’t feel like (go) __________ jogging today. 10. She failed many times but she kept (try) __________until she made it. Check for the key a little downwards

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Key: 1. The following questions are easy to answer. 2. Just avoid making unintentional mistakes. 3. He asks the children to stop playing football in the lane. 4. He promised to help me chop up the wood. 5. Unlike Gene Kelly, I hate singing in the rain. 6. We are used to getting up early in the morning. 7. I can't stand waiting while she is at the hairdresser’s. 8. Can you manage to finish repairing my car before noon? 9. I don’t feel like going jogging today. 10. She failed many times but she kept trying until she made it.

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