We use gerund:
After certain verbs:
appreciate,admit, avoid,delay,deny,discuss,dislike,enjoy,excuse,finish,keep,
mention,mind,miss,postpone,quit,recommend,resent,suggest
He admitted stealing/having stolen the money
He denied copying in his exam
I haven’t finished painting my room yet
We use gerunds:
1.- After preposition:
1.a.- ADJECTIVE+PREP: afraid of, angry about, good/bad at,
dissapointed about, excited about, fond of, keen on, interested
in, sicked of, sorry about, tired of, worried about…
2.b.VERB+PREP: apologize for, be used to, get used to, look forward to, concentrate on,
depend on, give up, insist on, pay for, believe in, interested in, succeed in, take care of, instead
of, be accused of, insist on, count on, concentrate on, keep from, prevent from, profit from…..
- Are you tired of reading?
- He has given up smoking!!!
We use gerunds
2.-After certain expressions : can’t help, can’t stand,
feel like, it’s no use, it’s not worth,
He can’t help falling in love with her
It’s not worth doing exams!!
We use gerunds:
3. As a noun:
Dancing is funny!!
4. After “go”:
He goes fishing every weekend
Complete these sentences with the correct form of
the verb
Being
1.___________ (be) on time is important for the teacher.
getting
2. Students hate _____________ (get) up early
going
3.We enjoy ____________ (go) to parties
having
4.She always washes her teeth after ____________
(have) lunch
playing
5. John is good at _____________ (play) tennis
Drinking
6. ____________ (drink) fizzy drinks is not very healthy
We use infinitive with to:
-A. After certain nouns:
-What a surprise to see you !
-It’s a pleasure to work with you!!
-B. After adjectives: afraid, ashamed, ready, sad,
happy, quick, difficult, easy, funny, impossible,
pleased, ready, sorry:
She was happy to win the prize
She is ready to phone you
-C. After adj.+too/enough
She’s too short to play basket
She isn’t tall enough to play basket
-D.- To express purpose:
He comes to bring/in order to/ so
as to the milk
-E. After certain verbs : agree,
ask,choose, expect, hope,learn manage,
pretend,, promise,
refuse,want…
She refused to pay the bill
F.- After wh-words
Mary didn’t know where to go, how to find her
way, who to ask…
G. After “would love”, “would like”,
“would prefer”:
I’d like to be on the beach now
H. After certain verbs+ object:
advise, allow, ask, beg, expect, forbird permit, force, help,invite, order,
persuade, remind, teach, tell, want, warn….
The doctor advised him to be fit and he wanted him to do some exercise
Complete these sentences with the correct form of
the verb1.Don’t forget __________ (call) us when you arrive.
to call
2. She asked ________________ (park) opposite the
school
to park
to do
3.Do you want ________________ (do) your homework
now or later?
to fix
4.I can’t help you ______________ (fix) the car for
tomorrow to save
5.My father works as a doctor _____________ (save)
people’s life.
to find
6.It was very easy ______________ (find) all the
information for the project
Verbs that take either gerund or
infinitive
Start, begin, like , hate , love, continue, prefer
She started to cry/crying when she saw the doctor
I hate studying / to study this stuff
Gerund or infinitive?
Dan enjoys __________(watch)
watching sci fi movies
Cheryl suggested_________(go)
going to the cinema
Where did you learn _______(speak)to speak Spanish?
He is tired of ___________(do)
doing the same job
helping
Do you mind_______(help)me translate this letter?
He asked _______
To talk (talk) to the store manager
coming
If he keeps _________(come) to work late, he’s going to be fired
I agreed _________(help)
To help Jack wash his car
Jennifer dislikes ________(work)
working in front of a computer all day
Sandra decided __________(study)to study economics in London
swimming
__________(swim) helped me to recover my back
She can’t help ___________
laughing ( laugh) when she watches that movie
She would like ________(try)
to try a bit of your lovely pie
jogging
After work I always go ________(jog) for half an hour
being
Thank you for _________(be) so helpful with us
being
Claire denied _________ (be) related to the Royal family
Rewriting with gerund or inf.
Peter was anxious to date Mary
Peter was looking forward to dating Mary
If you do exercise, you will keep fit
Doing exercise will keep you fig
Jake is upset as he split up with his girlfriend
Jake is upset about spliting up with his girlfriend
Janet lost the race . She was angry
Jane was angry about losing/having lost the race
Gillian read the newspaper then she phoned her friend
Before phoning/having phoned her friend, Gillian read the newspaper
•Some verbs although they can be used after both gerunds and infinitives have a
difference in meaning.
Remember /forget to: remember/ forget to do something= recordar/olvidar hacer
algo
•“Remember to buy the milk!/ I forgot to buy the milk”
•Remember ___ing/ Forget____ing = recall a past event/forget a past
event (recordar, olvidar haber hecho algo)
•“I can’t remember seeing him before”/ “I will never forget meeting you at the
party”
•Stop to= pause temporaly (parar para…)
•“He stopped to smoke a cigarette after working so hard”
•Stop ___ing= (parar de)“ He stopped smoking five years ago
•Regret to: be sorry to : “I regret to tell you that you didn’t pass”
•Regret + ___ing: (arrepentirse) I regret buying/ having bought
•Try to: do one’s best/ attempt: (intentar hacer) I will try to get better marks
this year
•Try+ ____ing : do as an experiment (probar a hacer algo): Try mixing
mentos and Coke, you’ll see
•Need+ to or without to: it is necessary to… : I need to go to the bathroom
•Need + ……..ing: passive meaning: This house needs painting (Esta casa
necesita ser pintada)
SPECIAL CASES: USED TO/ BE USED TO/GET USED TO
•USED TO + INF “SOLÍA…..”
•WE DIDN’T USE TO WEAR A FACE MASK IN OUR CLASSES
LAST YEAR
•BE USED TO + GERUND: “ESTAR ACOSTUMBRADO A ….”
•MANY PEOPLE ARE USED TO WEARING IT NOW
•GET USED TO + GERUND: “ACOSTUMBRARSE A ….”
•SOME PEOPLE FIND IT DIFFICULT TO GET USED TO WEARING
IT DUE TO DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES
SPECIAL CASES: PREFER/ WOULD PREFER/ WOULD RATHER
•I PREFER GOING/ TO GO TO THE CINEMA
** BUT : I PREFER READING TO WATCHING TV
I PREFER TO READ RATHER THAN WATCH TV
•WOULD PREFER (ALWAYS INFINITIVE WITH TO)
• I WOULD PREFER TO STAY
• I WOULD PREFER TO STAY RATHER THAN GO TO THE CINEMA
•WOULD RATHER (ALWAYS INFINITIVE WITHOUT TO)
•I’’D RATHER STAY
•I’D RATHER STAY AT HOME THAN GO OUT
SPECIAL USE: HAD BETTER:
•YOU SHOULD STUDY MORE
•YOU’D BETTER STUDY MORE
•I SHOULDN’T GET UP LAT
•I’D BETTER NOT GET UP LATE
Rewriting
He hasn’t smoked for three years He stopped…
He stopped smoking three years ago
You have to attempt to study harder. Try……
Try to study harder
Can you close the door, please? Would you…
Would you mind closing the door?
Why don’t we go to a concert tonight? How about…..
How about going to a concert tonight
He sat by the window so that he could enjoy the views . He sat
He sat by the window to enjoy the views
Driving at high speed is dangerous . It is …..
It is dangerous to drive at high speed
The wateris too cold to swim. (enough)
The water is not hot enough to swim
He failed his driving test because he got nervous. Because of…
Because of getting nervous, he failed his driving test
He took an hour to learn to play. It took
It took him an hour to learn to play
He often speaks in public . He is
He is used to speaking in public
Living in a big city will be soon easy for you . You will
You will get used to living in a big city
I would pass John’s house almost every day . I
I used to pass John’ts house almost every day
I prefer going to the cinema to watching TV at home. I’d rather….
I’d rather go to the cinema than watch TV at home
I like travelling by train more than going by air.
I’d prefer to travel by train rather than travel by air
