Infinitive and Gerund Construction
Infinitive and Gerund Construction
Infinitive and Gerund Construction
Sometimes one verb can be used after another verb. Often the second verb is in the infinitive
form; but sometimes the second verb must be in the gerund. This depends on the first verb.
When remember, forget, regret themselves express the earlier action they are followed
by an infinitive.
This is when you think of something that you need to do.(and usually, you then do
the thing)
I’ll remember to ring John (remember is the earlier action)
stop:
followed by the gerund is = cease, refers to the ending of an activity. When we stop
doing something it means the verb in the gerund is the thing that we stop
Stop talking
I can’t stop him talking to the press
followed by an infinitive of purpose: = halt, refers to an intention,). We stop something
else in order to do the verb in the infinitive
I stopped to ask the way ( I stopped in order to ask the way)
He stopped to buy the newspaper on the way back home
like:
followed by the gerund = enjoy ( usually used in the present or past tenses) prefer can be
used in the same way
He doesn’t like dancing
He prefers walking to cycling
try:
followed by gerund = experiment and see what happens. This is when you do something
as an experiment. The thing you do is not difficult, but you want to see if doing it will have the
result that you want.
Why don’t you try giving the staff greater autonomy?
I wanted to stop smoking, so I tried using nicotine patches
followed by infinitive =attempt, make an effort. This is when the thing you do itself is
difficult. In the present tense or future tense, this means you might not succeed in doing it. In
the past tense, it means that you made an effort to do the thing, but you did not succeed
He tried to learn car maintenance but gave up
I'll try to carry the suitcase, but it looks too heavy for me.
She tried to catch the bus, but she couldn't run fast enough