English, baby!

Gerund and Infinitives Part1

Date: Oct 18 2007

Author: fairy77

Lesson

Gerunds and Infinitives Part 1

1. A gerund is a noun made from a verb by adding "-ing." The gerund form of the verb "read" is "reading." You can use a gerund as the subject, the complement, or the object of a sentence.

Examples:

· Reading helps you learn English. subject of sentence

· Her favorite hobby is reading. complement of sentence

· I enjoy reading. object of sentence

Gerunds can be made negative by adding "not."

Examples:

· He enjoys not working.

· The best thing for your health is not smoking.

2. Infinitives are the "to" form of the verb. The infinitive form of "learn" is "to learn." You can also use an infinitive as the subject, the complement, or the object of a sentence.

Examples:

· To learn is important. subject of sentence

· The most important thing is to learn. complement of sentence · He wants to learn. object of sentence

Infinitives can be made negative by adding "not."

Examples:

· I decided not to go.

· The most important thing is not to give up.

3. Both gerunds and infinitives can be used as the subject or the complement of a sentence. However, as subjects or complements, gerunds usually sound more like normal, spoken English, whereas infinitives sound more abstract. In the following sentences, gerunds sound more natural and would be more common in everyday English. Infinitives emphasize the possibility or potential for something and sound more philosophical. If this sounds confusing, just remember that 90% of the time, you will use a gerund as the subject or complement of a sentence.

Examples:

· Learning is important. normal subject

· To learn is important. abstract subject - less common

· The most important thing is learning. normal complement

· The most important thing is to learn. abstract complement - less common

4. As the object of a sentence, it is more difficult to choose between a gerund or an infinitive. In such situations, gerunds and infinitives are not normally interchangeable. Usually, the main verb in the sentence determines whether you use a gerund or an infinitive.

Examples:

· He enjoys swimming. "Enjoy" requires a gerund.

· He wants to swim. "Want" requires an infinitive.

5. Some verbs are followed by gerunds as objects.

Examples:

· She suggested going to a movie.

· Mary keeps talking about her problems.

6. Some verbs are followed by infinitives.

Examples:

· She wants to go to a movie.

· Mary needs to talk about her problems.

Comments

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mofdy

Saudi Arabia

thank you

so much!!!

1931979

Egypt

the correct is he doesnot enjoy English

springtime1

Philippines

thanks a lot for this kind usefull message for us….

1931979

Egypt

thank you for this lesson but it is easy iwant more difficult lessons.

pass_word

Turkey

hi.

its very clear… thank you… ))

lakshmi_bml

India

I have knowledge about the gerund and infinitives but still i have learnt more from this

Thanks

The l0s3r

Morocco

thank u so much it was very benifet

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tranquyen4387

Germany

Hi everybody! I'm very glad to make friends with you.

tranquyen4387

Germany

The lesson way is very good!

shahram_moobed

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

the lesson is really usefull. i dont know anything about this lesson but now i learn. thank you.

askim

Germany

really instructive ;)

okesho

Nigeria

i enjoyed this lecture

syed414

Pakistan

Really i learned a lot about grammer .

syed414

Pakistan

The lessons are really usefull and I learned again and revived my english grammer and so on/ so thanks for the team created that web and programme. with best wishes (syed_414) from Pakistan