Week 9. Gerunds and Infinitives

What are Gerunds and Infinitives?


Both gerunds and infinitives can transform verbs to make them function as nouns. This means they can do whatever a noun can do. You remember what nouns are, right? Some examples: Mexico, sushi, pizza, Maria, sun, table, love, dog, etc.

This means that a verb like "study" can be transformed into a noun with either the gerund "studying" or the infinitive "to study." Let's look at the example:

Soccer is fun                   Soccer is a traditional noun, just like Mexico, table, Mike, pizza, etc
Studying is fun               Here we substitute a traditional noun with a gerund, which is also a noun
To study is fun                Or an infinitive, which is also a noun

Gerunds and Infinitives as Subjects
The subject of a sentence is the noun that is making an action or the noun that one is talking about. In the previous example (Studying is fun/To study is fun) we used both the infinitive and the gerund as subjects. Here's another example:

Books make you smart                                                   Fishing is relaxing
Reading makes you smart                                              Playing tennis is Bill's favorite activity
To Read makes you smart                                              To play tennis is Bill's favorite activity

Note: It's more common to use the gerund as the subject of a sentence, but either one is correct.

Gerunds and Infinitives as Subject Complements
A subject complement is a noun or an adjective that follows the verbs be, become and seem. It's function is to rename,describe, or complement the subject of the sentence. Examples:

My favorite activity is tennis                                       Her hobby is writing poems
My favorite activity is cooking                                    Her hobby is to write poems
My favorite activity is to cook

Gerunds and Infinitives as Objects
The object of the sentence is the noun, or noun clause (a group of words that act as a noun) that receives the action of a verb. Examples:

Mike likes dogs                      What does Mike like? Dogs is the object of the sentence

Mike speaks English              What does Mike speak? English is the object of the sentence
Mike likes swimming             Here the gerund "swimming" is the object of the sentence

Mike likes to swim                 And here the infinitive "to swim" is the object

-Some verbs can be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (love, hate, like, prefer, start, continue, begin)
I hate waking up early                                 She loves dancing
I hate to wake up early                                She loves to dance

-But some verbs can only be followed by a gerund (enjoy, don't mind, dislike, quit, suggest, avoid, can't stand, discuss, feel like). Examples:
My father dislikes going to El Paso  ("My father dislikes to go to El Paso" is incorrect)
Your girlfriend enjoys watching movies

-And some verbs can only be followed by an infinitive (agree, be sure, choose, decide, want, hope, need, learn, plan, wish, would like). Examples:
My mother needs to save money    ("My mother needs saving money" is incorrect)
I want to go to Oaxaca

-Note: Use the base form of the verb after auxiliary verbs (will, can, should, etc.) and after the verbs "make" and "let"
I can't drive                                                                 She always makes me cry
We must hurry                                                            My parent's didn't let me go

-Note: Form the negative of a gerund or an infinitive with "not"
I hope not to be late
She likes not working on weekends

Gerunds and Infinitives after Prepositions and Adjectives:
Use a gerund after a preposition. Examples:
I'm afraid of flying                                               She's interested in learning French
He's bored with watching the TV                       I'm thinking about taking a vacation

Use an infinitive after an adjective:
It's is important to fight corruption                   She thinks it's easy to learn Portuguese
It's impossible to survive without water           Bill says it's fun to cook pizza

Infinitive of Purpose
You can use the infinitive to express the reason of an action. Look at the following examples:
 1. I'm saving money because I want to buy a house
2. I'm saving money to buy a house
Why are you saving money? Both sentences are correct. But the 2nd sentence is shorter and more practical.

Other examples:
I want to learn English to find a better job
My mom will make a cake to celebrate my birthday
I went to Chihuahua to visit my parents
I'm waking up early to do exercise

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Test yourself on Quiz 10!