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    Gerunds Vs Infinitives

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    Viviana Billordo
    This document discusses the differences between gerunds and infinitives. Some verbs can be followed by either gerunds or infinitives with no change in meaning, while other verbs can only take gerunds or only take infinitives. There is no set of rules to determine which verbs can take which forms. With some verbs like remember, forget, try, and stop, using a gerund versus an infinitive can subtly change the meaning of the sentence. Context is needed to understand the precise meaning when using one of these verbs.

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    Gerunds Vs Infinitives

    Uploaded by

    Viviana Billordo
    37 views2 pages
    This document discusses the differences between gerunds and infinitives. Some verbs can be followed by either gerunds or infinitives with no change in meaning, while other verbs can only take gerunds or only take infinitives. There is no set of rules to determine which verbs can take which forms. With some verbs like remember, forget, try, and stop, using a gerund versus an infinitive can subtly change the meaning of the sentence. Context is needed to understand the precise meaning when using one of these verbs.

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    Gerunds vs Infinitives

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    This document discusses the differences between gerunds and infinitives. Some verbs can be followed by either gerunds or infinitives with no change in meaning, while other verbs can only take gerunds or only take infinitives. There is no set of rules to determine which verbs can take which forms. With some verbs like remember, forget, try, and stop, using a gerund versus an infinitive can subtly change the meaning of the sentence. Context is needed to understand the precise meaning when using one of these verbs.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    37 views2 pages

    Gerunds Vs Infinitives

    Uploaded by

    Viviana Billordo
    This document discusses the differences between gerunds and infinitives. Some verbs can be followed by either gerunds or infinitives with no change in meaning, while other verbs can only take gerunds or only take infinitives. There is no set of rules to determine which verbs can take which forms. With some verbs like remember, forget, try, and stop, using a gerund versus an infinitive can subtly change the meaning of the sentence. Context is needed to understand the precise meaning when using one of these verbs.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Gerunds vs.

    Infinitives
    Gerunds and infinitives are both verb forms that can function as nouns, and, as such,
    they are both often used as the objects of “main” verbs. In many cases, we can use
    either the infinitive or the gerund in addition to “standard” nouns.
    Some verbs, however, can only be followed by infinitives and not gerunds. In each
    example below, we can see how a gerund does not fit with the main verb:
    ✔ Infinitive (Correct) ✖ Gerund (Incorrect)
    “They promised to be quiet in the car.”
    “They promised being quiet in the car.”
    “I agreed to leave him alone.”
    “I agreed leaving him alone.”
    “She asked to see the landlord about the faulty stove.”
    “She asked seeing the landlord about the faulty stove.”
    Likewise, some verbs are followed only by gerunds and not infinitives. In most
    cases, these are action verbs. For example:
    ✔ Gerund (Correct) ✖ Infinitive (Incorrect)
    “I recall seeing an advertisement for that somewhere.”
    “I recall to see an advertisement for that somewhere.”
    “I recommend reading Moby Dick at some point in your life.”
    “I recommend to read Moby Dick at some point in your life.”
    “He’ll consider hearing your side of the story later, if he has time.”
    “He’ll consider to hear your side of the story later, if he has time.”
    Unfortunately, there is not a set of rules to determine which verbs can take which
    forms as their objects.

    Verbs followed by both gerunds


    and infinitives
    For other verbs, we can use either the infinitive or the gerund.
    Most of the time, there is no difference in meaning when we substitute the infinitive
    for the gerund. This is especially true for stative verbs. For
    example, each of the following pairs mean the same thing:
    Gerund Infinitive
    “I like hiking.” “I like to hike.”
    “I love swimming.” “I love to swim.”
    “I prefer going out on the weekend.”
    “I prefer to go out on the weekend.”
    With some verbs, we can use both the infinitive and the gerund, but the
    meaning of the sentence changes subtly as a result. In this case, we have to use
    context to understand the meaning completely. For example:
    Infinitive Gerund
    “I remembered to close the window.” (I didn’t forget to do this)
    “No, I didn’t leave the window open. I remember closing it.” (I recall doing this)
    “I forgot to read this book for school.” (I didn’t remember to do this, so it didn’t
    happen)
    “I forget reading this book for school.” (I don’t recall this fact)
    “I’ve been trying to call you all day, but the line has been busy.” (Attempt
    to do something)
    “Try calling my cell phone next time.” (This is a possible solution to the problem)
    “I stopped drinking sugary drinks because of my health.” (I don’t drink sugary
    drinks anymore)
    “I stopped to drink at the well.” (I interrupted what I was doing to drink from the
    well)

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