Gerunds and infinitives are forms of verbs that act like nouns. They can follow adjectives and other verbs. Gerunds can also follow prepositions.

A gerund (often known as an -ing word) is a noun formed from a verb by adding –ing. Not all words formed with -ing are gerunds.

An infinitive is to + the verb.

e.g. I enjoy searching the Internet.

e.g. To enter the university is my dream.

I enjoy playing the guitar.

Sara is dreaming of becoming a teacher.

My father has recently thought of traveling abroad.

verb + ing = gerund

To form negative gerunds, use not + gerund

e.g. Not speaking Hebrew well is my biggest problem in this country.

There are some words that look like gerunds. However, they are NOT.

Which ones are gerunds here?

1. Nir is going to the cinema this afternoon.

2. I enjoy reading books in the evening.

3. The movie was really boring.

4. We talked about moving to a new apartment.

5. The family is planning to go to Eilat in the summer.

All gerunds can be the subject of a sentence.

e.g. Breathing is necessary.Driving a car requires good vision.Helping other people makes me feel good.A gerund can be a direct object .

e.g. Daniel gives swimming all of his energy and time.

e.g. Daniel enjoys swimming more than spending time with his friends.

A gerund can be an indirect object.

A gerund can be used as an object of preposition

e.g. The police arrested him for speeding.

admitdelayimaginepracticeadvisedenyinvolverejectallowdislikekeepresistappreciate

enjoymentionrisk

avoidescapemindstopcan’t help

fancymisssuggest

can’t stand

finishpermitunderstand

considergo (swimming)

postponewaste (time)

Stop shouting!Jim admitted robbing the bank.Do you enjoy playing tennis?She couldn’t help laughing.

admit toapprove ofapologize forargue aboutbe accused of

be excited about

be used tobelieve in

blame forcare aboutcomplain aboutconcentrate onconfess tocount ondepend ondisapprove ofdiscourage from

dream aboutfeel likeforget about

famous forinsist oninstead ofinterested inkeep fromlook forward toobject toplan onprevent from

profit fromrefrain fromsucceed in

take care about

talk aboutthink aboutworry about

I want to eat lunch after class.

I would like to visit Eilat in two weeks.

The pupils have to present their projects tomorrow.

to + base form of the verb

To form negative infinitives, use not + base form of the verb

e.g. He decided not to go to the party.

Infinitives and infinitive phrases can be both subjects and objects in sentences. Take a look at these examples:

agreeconsenthaveofferstartaimcontinuehesitateoughtstopappeardarehopeplanstrivearrangedecidehurrypreferswearaskdeserveintendpreparethreatenattemptdetestleapproceedtrybe abledislikeleavepromiseusebegexpectlikeproposewaitbeginfaillongrefusewantcareforgetloveremembe

rwish

choosegetmeansaycondescend

happenneglectshoot

advisechoosehaveloveremindallowcomman

dhiremotivaterequire

askdareinstructordersendbegdirectinvitepayteachbringencoura

geleadpermittell

buildexpectleavepersuade

urge

buyforbidletpreparewantchallenge

forcelikepromisewarne.g. Everyone expected her to win.Note: Some of these verbs are included in the list above and may be used without an object.

When more than one verb follows the above verbs, only the first verb needs to.e.g. When I go to Eilat this summer, I hope to visit many interesting places, go swimming and surfing, and generally have an unforgettable time .

After the verbs seem, appear, and pretend we can use to be + V-ing or to have+V3

e.g. She pretended to be reading. She seemed to have disappeared.

After certain verbs we can use either a gerund or an infinitive. These verbs are: begin, continue, hate, not stand/bear, intend, like, love, remember, start, stop, try.

e.g. As soon as we left, the baby began to cry . As soon as we left, the baby began crying.

Remember! After the following verbs we can use either the infinitive or object + infinitive

want ask expect help

would likemean=intend

would prefer

e.g. I want to be home early tonight. I wanted Gil to help me. I would like to drink a cup of coffee. I would like my friends to visit me.

After the following verbs we can us either object + infinitive or gerund.

allow permit advise encourage

e.g. They don’t allow people to smoke in here (verb + object + infinitive) They don’t allow smoking in here (verb + gerund)

After “suggest” we use a gerund or a that… construction:

e.g. I suggest going there. I suggest that you go now.

Need + Infinitive = “it is necessary to…”

Need + Gerund = “need to be done”

Needn’t + base form is used as a modal

e.g. The students need to do these exercises.

e.g. The car is broken. It needs fixing.

e.g. You needn’t hurry up. You don’t have to hurry up.

We use the base form (the infinitive without to):

After the verbs make (force), let (allow) and have (get).

Note that make, let and have are followed by object+ base form whereas force, allow and get are followed by object + infinitive (to + base form)

e.g. They let us go home early. They allowed us to go home early.

The teacher made the students stay after classes. He forced then to clean the classroom.