1. What is the Gerund?
finish risk
-ing form used as a noun They finished working in the You risk catching a cold.
2. Form garden. suggest
infinitive + -ing give up She suggested flying to
3. Examples Susan gives up playing ice- Cairo.
Gerund as Subject: hockey. * After regret the to-infini-
Going to parties is fun. imagine tive is used when announc-
Gerund as Object: He imagined driving a new ing bad news: We regret to
I enjoy reading. car. inform you that the flight to
4. Gerund after the include Munich has been cancelled.
following verbs Your responsibility in- 5. Gerund after special
admit cludes taking reservations phrases
He admitted having driven on the phone. to be busy
too fast. involve He is busy reading the pa-
avoid The project will in- per.
They avoid going on holiday volve growing plants. don't mind
on Saturdays. justify I don't mind telling them my
carry on I cannot justify paying $100 opinion.
If we carry on sleeping so for this ticket. feel like
badly, we may need help. keep (on) We feel like having a cup of
consider They keep on running. tea.
Ralph is considering buy- mention how about
ing a new house. Did Alex ever mention play- How about walking home
delay ing baseball? instead of taking the car?
I delayed telling Max the mind it's (no) good
news. I don't mind sleeping on the It's no good talking to this
deny couch. girl.
She denies reading the miss it's no use
book. They miss playing with their It's no use talking to the
dislike friends. headmaster.
We dislike reading poems. practise spend one's time
can't/couldn't help She practised playing hocke They spend their time read-
He couldn't help falling in y. ing.
love with her. regret* there's no
enjoy Do you regret having men- There's
I enjoy playing chess. tioned it? no cheating anymore.
there's no point They are afraid of losing the keen on
There's no point in com- match. Joe is keen on drawing.
plaining further. angry about/at proud of
what about Pat is angry about walk- She is proud of speak-
What about going to the ing in the rain. ing English.
zoo? bad at/good at sick of
worth John is good at working in We're sick of sitting around
The book is worth reading. the garden. like this.
crazy about sorry about/for
The girl is crazy about play- He's sorry for eating in the
1. Gerund after prepositions ing tennis. lesson.
1. Gerund after prepositions disappointed about/at tired of
that stand alone He is disappointed I'm tired of waiting for you.
after about seeing such a bad re- used to
After having a shower, I port. She is used to smoking.
waited for Steven. excited about worried about
before We are excited about mak- I'm worried about mak-
The tablet must not be ing our own film. ing mistakes.
taken before getting up in famous for 3. Gerund after Noun +
the morning. Sandy is famous Preposition
by for singing songs. advantage of
I manage it by work- fed up with What is the advantage
ing much longer than 40- I'm fed up with be- of farming over hunting?
hour weeks. ing treated as a child. chance of
in spite of fond of There's a chance of catch-
In spite of studying a lot he Hannah is fond of going to ing a cold these days.
didn't pass the exams. parties. choice between
on glad about There's a choice be-
What was her reac- She is glad about get- tween flying to London
tion on hearing the news? ting married again. Heathrow or Stansted.
without happy about/at danger of
He told the joke with- The children are not happy Peggy is in danger of mak-
out laughing. about seeing a doctor. ing a mistake.
2. Gerund after Adjective + interested in difficulty in
Preposition Are you interested in writ- He has difficulty in texting.
afraid of ing poems? doubt about
He is in doubt about buy- This is a new way of build- Success may depend on be-
ing the correct software for ing a wall. coming more patient.
his computer system. 4. Gerund after Verb + dream about/of
hope of Preposition Sue dreams of being a pop
There's little hope of catch- accuse of star.
ing the new Corvette. They were accused of break- feel like
idea of ing into a shop. They feel like going to bed.
I like the idea of setting up a agree with get used to
new email account. I agree with playing darts. You must get used to work-
interest in apologize for ing long hours.
There's no interest in writ- They apologize for be- insist on
ing letters. ing late. The girls insisted on go-
method of believe in ing out with Mark.
This is a simple method She doesn't believe in get- look forward to
of finding solutions. ting lost in the wood. I'm looking forward to see-
opportunity of blame for ing you soon.
There's some opportunity The reporter is blamed prevent sb. from sth.
of bringing her parents to- for writing bad stories. How can I prevent Kate
gether again. complain about from working in this shop?
possibility of She complains rely on sth.
These wheels offer the pos- about bullying. He doesn't rely on win-
sibility of riding tubeless. concentrate on ning in the casino.
problem of Do you concentrate succeed in
He has the problem on reading or writing? How then can I succeed
of swimming too slow. congratulate sb. on in studying chemistry?
reason for I wanted to congratulate specialize in
There's a real reason you on making such a good The firm specialized in de-
for winning the contest. speech. signing websites.
risk of cope with stop sb. from
There's a risk of digging too He is not sure how to cope I stopped Andrew
deep. with getting older. from smoking.
trouble for decide against talk about/of
He was in trouble for steal- They decided against steal- They often talk
ing. ing the car. about travel(l)ing to New
way of depend on Zealand.
think about/of
Frank thinks of play- We warned them The patient worries
ing chess. against using this computer. about having the check-up.
warn sb. against worry about
Gerund and the Infinitive after the verb – no difference in meaning
. These verbs can be followed by a Gerund and an Infinitive without changing
their meaning:
These verbs can also be followed by a Gerund or an Infinitive without changing their
meaning. Mind the structure with the infinitive:
Gerund: Verb + -ing
Infinitive: Verb + Person (as object) + infinitive with to
