Gerund & Infinitives::

Gerunds:

Gerunds are an important grammar form to understand and to be able to use effectively in your English more generally.

They are nouns and they are formed by adding -ing onto a verb. Take a look at this paragraph - the gerunds are in red.

Here are examples of the words before and after they are changed:

Verb	Gerund
Learn Speak Read Write Listen Know Spend Take	Learning Speaking Reading Writing Listening Knowing Spending Taking

How are they used?

As a subject

·         Walking is a good form of exercise

Notice that a gerund takes a singular verb ('is' in this case). You must use the singular verb, even if there are multiple objects:

·         Eating bananas, apples and oranges everyday is good for you.

However, if there is more than one, then the plural verb is used:

·         Walking and swimming are both good forms of exercise.

To make the sentence negative, 'not' is placed before the gerund.

·         Not exercising regularly is dangerous for your health.

As a direct object

·         Some people like swimming to keep fit.

As subject complements after the verb "to be"

·         A good way to improve your English is watching American TV series.

This sentence is also commonly written this way:

·         Watching American TV series is a good way to improve your English.

Objects of prepositions

In this usage, it is after the preposition:

·         Another method of learning English is to read lots of fiction books.

Common verbs before gerunds

If you wish to put two verbs together, then the second verb will need to be a gerund and / or infinitive.

For example, you can't say this:

We always finish eat very late.

We always finish to eat very late.

If "finish" is followed by another verb, it needs to be a gerund.

We always finish eating very late.

There is no grammatical reason for this as such, so you just need to learn the verbs and practice writing some sentences with those verbs.

Remember, certain verbs should be followed by an infinitive, not a gerund, and some verbs can be followed by either. For example:

I like to swim (verb + infinitive)

Or

I like swimming (verb + gerund)

Go to the infinitives grammar lesson to learn more and the gerund and infinitive lesson to learn about verbs that take both.

Here is a list of verbs that are very commonly followed by a gerund (not an infinitive):

Verbs Commonly Followed By A Gerund

VERB	EXAMPLE SENTENCE
appreciate	I appreciate you taking the time out to see me.
avoid	You should avoid drinking sugary drinks.
consider	The government considered banning fox hunting.
delay	I delayed paying the fine for speeding.
deny	He denied committing the crime.
discuss	We discussed sending the children to another school.
dislike	Most people dislike getting up early.
enjoy	I enjoy having a day off.
finish	We always finish eating very late.
involve	My job involves moving around the country a lot.
miss	I miss seeing my family everyday.
postpone	We postponed marrying until we had the money.
practice	He practiced hitting the ball against the wall.
quit	I will quit smoking next month.
recall	I can't ever recall shouting at my children.
recommend	This book recommends studying for IELTS everyday.
resent	I resent my manager firing me from my job.
risk	I wouldn't risk taking IELTS before you are prepared.
stop	If you stop worrying, you will perform better.
suggest	She suggested studying in Australia.

A Verb After a Preposition

If you place a verb after a preposition, the gerund form is used.

Here are some examples:

I am interested in learning a new language.

There are many advantages of taking a sabbatical from work.

I passed my exams without trying too hard.

I'm worried about sitting for the IELTS test.

I got a band 7 by studying very hard.

I was shocked upon hearing the news.

I'm sorry for talking so loud.

The best way to learn these is to understand collocations - words that commonly go together.

For example, we always talk about being "interested in" something, or the "advantages of" something.

Talking about an activity

We also use them to talk about an activity with the word 'go'.

For example:

I wanted to go jogging but my friend said he'd prefer to go swimming instead.

With reduced adverb clauses

They are also used to make reduced adverbial clauses. Below are some examples.

However, there are various rules for reducing adverbial clauses so you should make sure you understand these rules before attempting them.

We will look at the rules for this in another lesson.

While I study, I listen to music.

Reduced: While studying, I listen to music

Before I went out, I turned the lights off.

Reduced: Before going out, I turned the lights off

I locked the doors after I got home.

Reduced: I locked the doors after getting home.

Because I was tired, I could not study any longer.

Reduced: Being tired, I could not study any longer.

As mentioned above, you should avoid using them until you have studied and practiced them, otherwise you may make mistakes.

Infinitives:

Infinitives are created by to + verb.

It is important that you can use them correctly in your IELTS speaking and writing or when you use English more generally.

We have already looked at gerunds, which are verbs ending in –ing(which makes them nouns).

The Grammar

The infinitive form of the verb means that it does not take a tense. It is the bare form of the verb, but with 'to' before it.

Here are some examples

to go
to see
to wait
to manipulate
to consider
to amend

A common mistake in writing is to think of it like a finite verb (a verb that has a subject and takes a tense). It does not change its form.

Here is an example of a common mistake with the infinitive:

It took me five hours to reached the destination.

The person has made the infinitive verb, reach, in the past tense. Only the main verb (take in this case) can be given a tense.

This is how it should be written:

It took me five hours to reach the destination.

How are they used?

The table below explains some of their common uses. This is followed by some tables with examples.

As direct objects

When an infinitive is used as a direct object, it is placed after the verb:

I wanted to make sure that my grammar was as good as it could be.

I decided to study abroad, but my parents are refusing to pay.

To show purpose

They are sometimes used as a reduction of the phrase 'in order to'.

In order to improve my IELTS score, I joined a writing class in a college in my home town.

To improve my IELTS score, I joined a writing class in a college in my home town.

I joined the exercise class in order to lose weight.

I joined the exercise class to lose weight.

As a subject

To help me like this was very kind.

To get involved in charity work is a very noble cause.

However, note that the use of the gerund in these structures is much more common:

Helping me like this was very kind.

Getting involved in charity work is a very noble cause.

If you do see an infinitive at the beginning of a sentence, it is much more likely to be showing purpose i.e replacing in order to.

With phrases beginning with 'it' (it + be + infinitive)

It is impossible to be perfect in a short time.

(Adjective + Infinitive)

It could be a mistake to leave my job.

(Noun + Infinitive)

With the verb 'take' (it + take + noun + infinitive)

It took me five hours to reach the destination.

It takes a lot of concentration to read this book.

After certain adjectives

My brother was surprised to see me.

I was careful not to speak too loudly.

Common Verbs before infinitives

If you wish to put two verbs together, then the second verb will need to be an infinitive and / or gerund.

For example, you can't say this:

He hoped see me again.

He hoped seeing me again.

If "hope" is followed by another verb, it needs to be an infinitive:

He hoped to see me again.

Remember, certain verbs should be followed by an infinitive, not a gerund, and some verbs can be followed by either. For example:

I like to swim (verb + infinitive)

Or

I like swimming (verb + gerund)

Here is a list of verbs that are very commonly followed by an infinitive (not a gerund):

Verbs Commonly Followed by an Infinitive

VERB	EXAMPLE SENTENCE
afford	I can't afford to pay for IELTS lessons.
agree	He agreed to postpone his test.
appear	Obesity appears to be getting worse.
ask	He asked me to go with him.
claim	She claimed to have the answer to the question.
decide	My partner and I decided to move house next year.
demand	I demand to see the manager!
deserve	I didn't deserve to get a 7.5 as I studied very little.
expect	She expected to get a band 5 but she got a 6.
fail	Her son failed to win the race, but he came second.
forget	I forgot to take the rubbish out last night.
hesitate	She wouldn't hesitate to help a friend in need.
hope	I hope to leave by 7pm.
intend	The government intends to hold an election in June.
learn	I've learnt to take each day as it comes.
manage	She managed to change her doctors appointment.
mean	Sorry, I didn't mean to arrive so late.
need	I need to get a band 7 to get into Australia.
offer	I offered to drive her to the airport.
plan	I plan to emigrate to the UK this year.
prepare	He's prepared to risk everything by investing in gold.
pretend	The boy pretended to fall over.
promise	The army general promised not to stage a coup.
refuse	He is refusing to take the medicine.
seem	She seemed to be ok yesterday, but now she is worse.
tend	I tend to find that warmer weather makes me feel better.
threaten	The country threatened to invade its neighbour.
wait	I can't wait to go on holiday.
want	The teacher wanted the students to pass.

The next tables show you some common ways that adjectives and nouns are used with the infinitive. 

Common adjectives preceded by it + be and followed by infinitive

ADJECTIVE	EXAMPLE SENTENCE
bad	It is bad to gossip about your friends.
dangerous	It is dangerous to drive too fast.
difficult	It was difficult to do well in the IELTS reading test.
easy	It is very easy to forget important grammar points in a test.
fun	It isn't always fun to learn English.
hard	It is always hard to remain focused on your goals in life.
important	It is important to believe in your abilities.
impossible	It will be impossible for the charity to help everyone.
interesting	It is interesting to find out about another country.
necessary	It is sometimes necessary to change your plans.
relaxing	It is relaxing to lie in the sun.

Common nouns preceded by it + be and followed by infinitive

NOUN	EXAMPLE SENTENCE
a good idea	It isn't a good idea to study late at night.
a bad idea	It is a bad idea to spend too long on IELTS Task 1.
a mistake	It is a mistake to say very little in the IELTS speaking test.
a pity	It was a pity to leave so early.
a shame	It was a shame to break up.
a waste	It will be a waste to throw the food away.

Common adjectives followed by infinitives

ADJECTIVE	EXAMPLE SENTENCE
ashamed	I'm ashamed to admit that I stole the bike.
bound	He is bound (certain) to arrive late - he always does.
careful	He was careful not to wake the baby.
excited	I'm excited to join the local football team.
glad	I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better.
happy	The developer was happy to reduce the price of the house.
lucky	I'm lucky to have so many friends.
pleased	The nurse was pleased to know he was well again.
proud	She was proud to be seen with her father.
relieved	The police were relieved to arrest the criminal at last.
reluctant	I'm reluctant to take the IELTS test again.
sad	He was sad to see his brother leave.
shocked	I was shocked to find out he had been fired.
sorry	We'll all be sorry to see you go.
surprised	They were surprised to hear he is 50 years old.
sure	He's sure to win first prize.
willing	I'm willing to bet you can get a high IELTS score.