Gerund and Inf 5

• Come + gerund is like other verbs of movement followed by the gerund, and means that the.. subject is doing something as they move: e.g.She came running across the field.[r]

English presentation

Gerund

&

infinitive

Introduction of Gerund

a present participle or a gerund.

The form is identical, the difference is

in the function, or the job the word d oes in the sentence.

The gerund :

This always has the same function as a noun (although it look

s like a verb), so it can be used:

• as the subject of the sentence:

e.g Eating people is wrong.

• after prepositions:

e.g She is good at painting.

• after certain verbs,

e.g like, hate, admit, imagine

• in compound nouns,

e.g a driving lesson, a swimming pool, bird-watching, train-s potting

THE GERUND

This looks exactly the same as a present participle, a

nd for this reason it is now common to call both forms

'the -ing form' However it is useful to understand t

he difference between the two The gerund always ha

s the same function as a noun (although it looks like a verb), so it can be used:

a as the subject of the sentence:

- Eating people is wrong Hunting elephants is dangerous

Flying makes me nervous

b as the complement of the verb 'to

be':

- One of his duties is attending meetings

- The hardest thing about learning English is understanding the gerund

- One of life's pleasures is having breakfast in bed

c after prepositions The gerund must

be used when a verb comes after a

preposition:

- Can you sneeze without opening your mouth?

- She is good at painting

- They're keen on windsurfing

- She avoided him by walking on the opposite side

of the road

- We arrived in Madrid after driving all night

- My father decided against postponing his trip to Hungary

This is also true of certain expressions ending

in a preposition, e.g in spite of, there's no

point in :

- There's no point in waiting

- In spite of missing the train, we arrived on time time

d after a number of 'phrasal verbs'

which are composed of a verb +

preposition/adverb

Example:

to look forward to, to give up, to be

for/against, to take to, to put off, to keep on:

- I look forward to hearing from you soon (at the end of a letter)

- When are you going to give up smoking?

- She always puts off goi n g to the dentist

- He kept on asking for money

NOTE:

There are some phrasal verbs and other expressio

ns that include the word 'to' as a preposition, not

as part of a to-infinitive:

- to look forward to, to take to, to be accustomed to, to

be used to It is important to recognise that 'to' is a pr eposition in these cases, as it must be followed by a geru nd:

- We are looking forward to seeing you

- I am used to waiting for buses

- She didnt really take to studyin'g English

f after the expressions:

can't help, can't stand, it's no use/good, and th

e adjective worth:

 - The elephant couldn't help falling in love with the mouse

 - I can't stand being stuck in traffic jams

 - It's no use/good trying to escape

 - It might be worth phoning the station to check the time of the train

GERUND OR INFINITIVE?

The two groups of verbs below can be followed either b

y the gerund or by the infinitive Usually this has no eff ect on the meaning, but with some verbs there is a clear difference in meaning

( Verbs marked * can also be followed by a that-clause )

Example:

to prefer

- I prefer to live in an apartment.

- I prefer living in an apartment

A Verbs where there is little or

B Verbs where there is a clear

difference in meaning:

Verbs marked with an asterisk* can

also be followed by a that-clause.

come forget go on

mean regret remember

stop try

• Come + gerund is like other verbs of movement

followed by the gerund, and means that the

subject is doing something as they move:

e.g.She came running across the field.

• Come + to-infinitive means that something

happens or develops, perhaps outside the

subject's control:

e.g.This word has come to mean something

quite different.

Come:

Forget, regret and remember:

• When these verbs are followed by a

gerund, the gerund refers to an action that

happened earlier:

e.g.I remember locking the door (= I

remember now, I locked the door earlier) e.g.He regretted speaking so rudely (= he regretted at some time in the past, he had spoken rudely at some earlier time in the past.)

Forget is frequently used with 'never' in the simple future form:

e.g.I'll never forget meeting the Queen

When these verbs are followed by a to-infi nitive, the infinitive refers to an action happening at the same time, or later:

e.g.I remembered to lock the door (= I thought about it, then I did it.)

e.g.Don't forget to buy some eggs!

(=Please think about it and then do it.)

Go on + to-infinitive means to do the next

action, which is often the next stage in a process:

e.g.After introducing her proposal, she

went on to explain the benefits for the

company

Mean:

Mean + gerund expresses what the result

of an action will be, or what will be necessary:

e.g.If you take that job in London it will me

an travelling for two hours every day

Stop:

Stop + gerund means to finish an action in

progress:

e.g.I stopped working for them because th

e wages were so low

Stop + to-infinitive means to interrupt an

activity in order to do something else, so th

e infinitive is used to express a purpose:

e.g.I stopped to have lunch (= I was workin

g, or travelling, and I interrupted what I w

as doing in order to eat.)

Try:

Try + gerund means to experiment

with an action that might be a

solution to your problem.

e.g If you have problems sleeping,

you could try doing some yoga before you go to bed, or you could try

drinking some warm milk

e.g I can't get in touch with Carl.'

'Have you tried e-mailing him?'

Try + to-infinitive means to make an

effort to do something It may be so mething very difficult or even impossi ble:

e.g.We'll try to phone at 6 o'clock, b

ut it might be hard to find a public tel ephone

e.g Elephants and mice have to try to live together in harmony

VERBS FOLLOWED BY THE

GERUND

The gerund is used after certain

verbs.

Example:

• miss : I miss living in England.

• The most important of these verbs

are shown below.

Those marked can also be followed by

a that-clause

THAT-CLAUSE

• that she had broken the window

miss, pardon, postpone, prevent, propose, recall, recollect, remember, report,

resent, risk,

save (=prevent the

wasted effort)

stop,

go + gerund

• In some phrases, the gerund after “G

o” mean that 休閒活動 。

• Example ： My mother and my sister g

o shopping quite often

• They go fishing every weekend

after retirement

• go jogging 去 慢跑

Form of infinitive

The infinitive is the base form of a verb.

It may be preceded by 'to' (the to-infinitive)

or stand alone

(the base or zero infinitive).

To-infinitiveThe to-infinitive is used:

a after certain verbs

e.g want, wish, agree, fail, mean, decide, learn

b after the auxiliaries

• The elephant decided to marry the mouse

• The mouse agreed to marry the elephant

• You will have to ask her

• You are to leave immediately

• He ought to relax

• She has to go to Berlin next week

• It's easy to speak English

• It is hard to change jobs after twenty years

• It's stupid to believe everything you hear

Bare infinitive

The bare infinitive is used:

a after most auxiliaries

(e.g must, can, should, may, might)

b after verbs of perception, (e.g see, hear, feel)

with the pattern ‘ V + O + zero infinitive ‘

c after the verbs 'make' and 'let',

with the pattern make/let + O + zero infinitive

d after the expression 'had better‘

Examples:

After auxiliaries:

- She can't speak to you

- He should give her some money

- Shall I talk to him?

- Would you like a cup of coffee?

- I might stay another night in the hotel

- They must leave before 10.00 a.m

After verbs of perception :

Pattern : S + See + O + V+ing

Notice bare infinitive Observe

After the verbs ' make ' and ' let ' :

Pattern : S + Let + O + V(bare infinitive)

Make

Have

E.g I let him go

I make her cry

I have my mother wash my clothes

NOTICE that the 'to-infinitive' is used when 'make' is in the

passive voice:

      -  I am made to sweep the floor every day

After 'had better' :

- We had better take some warm clothing.

- She had better ask him not to come.

- You'd better not smile at a crocodile!

- We had better reserve a room in the hotel.

- You'd better give me your address.

- They had better work harder on their

grammar!

Function of infinitive

The most common uses of the infinitive are:

~ As a subject/object – noun

e.g To err is human, to forgive is divine ( S )

I saw a dog cross the road ( O )

~ As an adjective

e.g Their offer to reduce your workload is quite attractive ( acts as adjective to qualify “their offer” )

~ As an adverb

happen hasten have (= be obliged) hesitate

hope*

learn long manage offer prepare

promise*

propose prove (= turn out) refuse resolve*

seek seem strive swear*

tend threaten*

trouble undertake volunteer

The to-infinitive is used after the verbs in this group,

without a preceding noun ( * can also followed by “that-clause” )

incite induce inspire instruct*

invite lead leave (make someone

order*

persuade*

press prompt provoke remind*

require*

stimulate summon teach tell tempt trust*

warn*

B These are the most common of the verbs that are normally

followed by a noun + infinitive.

Thank you for your attention~