Gerunds & Infinitives

Gerunds in English

In English the gerund is identical in form to the present participle (ending in -ing) and can behave as a verb within a clause (or phrase), but the clause as a whole (sometimes consisting only of one word, the gerund) acts as a noun within the larger sentence. For example:

Editing this article is very easy.

In the phrase "Editing this article," the word "Editing" behaves as a verb; the phrase "this article" is the object of that verb. But the whole phrase "Editing this article" acts as a noun within the sentence as a whole; it is the subject of the verb "is."

Other examples of the gerund:

I like swimming. (direct object)

Swimming is fun. (subject)

 

Infinitives in English

In English, a verb's infinitive is its unmarked form, such as be, do, have, or sit, often introduced by the particle to. When this particle is absent, the infinitive is said to be a bare infinitive; when it is present, it is generally considered to be a part of the infinitive, then known as the full infinitive (or to-infinitive).
 

 

Uses of the bare infinitive

The bare infinitive is used in a rather limited number of contexts, but some of these are quite common:

The bare infinitive is used as the main verb after the dummy auxiliary verb do, or any modal auxiliary verb (such as will, can, or should), except that ought usually takes a to-infinitive. So, "I will/do/can/etc. see it."

Several common verbs of perception, including see, watch, hear, feel, and sense take a direct object and a bare infinitive, where the bare infinitive indicates an action taken by the main verb's direct object. So, "I saw/watched/heard/etc. it happen."

Similarly with several common verbs of permission or causation, including make, bid, let, and have. So, "I made/bade/let/had him do it."
The bare infinitive is the dictionary form of a verb, and is generally the form of a verb that receives a definition; however, the definition itself generally uses a to-infinitive.

 

GERUNDS & INFINITIVES

We use the Gerund or the Infinitive after the following verbs:
begin	He began talking. He began to talk.
continue	They continue smoking. They continue to smoke.
hate	Do you hate working on Saturdays? Do you hate to work on Saturdays?
like	I like swimming. I like to swim.
love	She loves painting. She loves to paint.
prefer	Pat prefers walking home. Pat prefers to walk home.
start	They start singing. They start to sing.

 

We use the Gerund or the Infinitive after the following verbs. There are two possible structures after these verbs. Gerund: verb + -ing Infinitive: verb + person + to-infinitive
advise	They advise walking to town. They advise us to walk to town.
allow	They do not allow smoking here. They do not allow us to smoke here.
encourage	They encourage doing the test. They encourage us to do the test.
permit	They do not permit smoking here. They do not permit us to smoke here.

 

We use the following structures with the word recommend:

recommend

They recommend walking to town. They recommend that we walk to town.

 

 

 

 

 

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