GERUNDS VS INFINITIVES

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: more of our discussion of gerunds and infinitives with English teacher Lida Baker.

RS: A gerund, remember, is a verb ending in -ing but used as a noun. An infinitive is a verb with the preposition "to" as in to go, to swim, to walk.

AA: Huy Doan in Vietnam asks about the verb "regret." He wants to know if the verb that follows it should be a gerund or an infinitive, and what's the difference? We asked Lida.

LIDA BAKER: "If we have a sentence like 'I regret to inform you that you have not been accepted to the university of your choice,' that's a correct sentence. In contrast to that, if we say something like 'I regret buying that car,' that's also a correct sentence. So what's the difference? OK, with this verb, and with a few other verbs, the choice of infinitive or gerund has to do with which event happened first. If I say 'I regret buying that car,' what happened first?"

AA: "You bought the car."

LIDA BAKER: "I bought the car. And later I regretted it. Now let me give you a clearer example of that: 'I stopped smoking' versus 'I stopped to smoke.'"

RS: "Alright ... "

AA: "Ohhh."

RS: "Right, 'I stopped smoking' means 'I don't smoke anymore' and 'I stopped to smoke' means I stopped ... "

AA: "To go smoke a cigarette out on the street."

RS: "It's very tricky."

LIDA BAKER: "That's very tricky and very, very -- a pitfall for students. Let's see if we can form some kind of a generalization from this, OK? Basically some verbs must have a gerund after them. Some verbs must have an infinitive after them. And some verbs can have both.

"Of the verbs that can have both a gerund and an infinitive after them, sometimes there is no difference in meaning. But sometimes there is a big difference in meaning, as we just saw in the example of 'I stopped smoking/I stopped to smoke.' So those are the four classes of uses of infinitives and gerunds in object position, alright?"

AA: "How do you learn them?"

LIDA BAKER: "The learner first of all has to know that there is such a thing as a gerund, there is such a thing as an infinitive, that they can occur in subject position, that they can occur following the verb in a variety of positions. So the learner first of all needs consciousness-raising. You know, what are the options?"

RS: "So should a student, once he has that overview, get out a list of words and start memorizing?"

LIDA BAKER: "No, that is not the best way to learn infinitives and gerunds -- although, interestingly, when I started teaching many, many, many years ago, typically what textbooks would have would be a list of verbs in alphabetical order. You know, you'd have a list of verbs that are followed by gerunds and a list of verbs that are followed by infinitives. The student would have no choice but just to memorize them.

"Since then, what linguists have learned, or have figured out, is that infinitives and gerunds very often fall into meaning categories. For example, there are a whole bunch of verbs that are generally used with the meaning of communicating something that are all followed by gerunds. I'll give you a couple of examples. To recommend: 'My best friend recommended seeing a doctor.' Or the verb suggest: 'He suggested leaving early in order to avoid the traffic.'

"So, many textbooks nowadays present the verbs which are followed by gerunds versus the verbs that are followed by infinitives in terms of meaning categories, OK? Then there is a category of verbs of choice or intention, that have that meaning, so verbs like choose or decide or refuse. They're followed directly by the infinitive. So: 'He decided to go,' 'He expected to receive a letter from his mother.' The point is that infinitives and gerunds can be learned alphabetically, like you mentioned, but they can also be learned in categories."

AA: Lida Baker writes textbooks for English learners and teaches at the American Language Center at the University of California, Los Angeles. We have the first part of this topic, and all of her previous segments, on our Web site, voanews.com/wordmaster.

RS: And our e-mail address is word@voanews.com. With Avi Arditti, I'm Rosanne Skirble.

To listen to this interview click HERE

Verbs followed by V+ing form / Verbs followed by infinitive

Verb combination (Infinitive vs -ing form)

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A. -ing and infinitive (1): verb + -ing form or infinitive

1. Verbs followed by -ing form

avoid	consider	delay	deny
dislike	enjoy	finish	can’t help
involve	justify	like (=enjoy)	look forward to
mind	miss	postpone	practice
risk	suggest	can’t stand	carry on
put off

We delayed launching the product because of technical problems.

I look forward to meeting you next week.
I don’t mind staying late.
I really enjoy travelling abroad

Note. In the expression look forward to, the word to is a preposition. Prepositions (e.g., in, on, at, with, from, etc.) are always followed by the -ing form rather than infinitive.

2. Expressions below are followed by the -ing form

It’s a waste of time/money ...
There’s no point (in) ...
It’s no use ...
It’s (not) worth ...

It's not worth repairing the camera. It would be cheaper to buy a new one.

3. Verb followed by to + infinitive

afford	agree	arrange	attempt	claim
decide	demand	deserve	expect	fail
guarantee	hesitate	hope	learn	manage
neglect	offer	plan	prepare	pretend
promise	refuse	seem	tend	threaten
train	want	would like

He has arranged to meet the visitors at the factory

We were very unhappy with service they had provided. We refused to pay them.
The company is taking on a lot of new staff. They plan to extend their researches in a new area.
He was angry about the way company had treated him. They threatened to stop his project.

4. Passive forms

There are passive forms of the -ing form and the infinitive. The passive form of the -ing form is made with being + past participle (e.g., being done):

Everyone likes being congratulated when they have worked hard.

The passive infinitive is formed by to be + past participle (e.g., to be done):

She expects to be promoted soon.

B. -ing and infinitive (2): verbs and objects

5. Verb + object + infinitive

There are a number of verbs that can take a direct object and to + infinitive.
common examples are:

advise	allow	ask	enable	encourage	force
invite	order	persuade	remind	tell	warn

The lawer advised me to read the contract carefully.
The negotiators persuaded the union to accept the pay deal.

The court ordered the company to pay compensation.
The fall in demand forced us to cut production
They invited me to speak at the conference.

6. Reporting what people say

Many of the words listed above can be used to report what people say

"Could you come back later?" he asked me.
He asked me to come back later.

The verb warn is usually used with not to do:

He said, "Don't put all your money in one company"
He warned me not to put all my money in one company.

7. Make and let

The verbs make and let are followed by an object and the bare infinitive (e.g., go, work,see)

• We use make to talk about something we have to do (but don’t want to do)

She wanted to go home, but her boss made her stay until the work was finished.
• We use let when we talk about being given permission for something.

My boss let me have the afternoon off to go to my sister’s wedding.
• The verb help can be followed by an infinitive with or without to

Could you help me (to) put these boxes in the van.

7. Verbs of perception

The verb of perception (see, watch, notice, hear, listen, feel) are followed by bare infinitive or by -ing form (present participle).

• If we want to say that we heard or saw the whole action from beginning to end, we usually use bare infinitive

I saw him sign the cheque.
• If we want to say that only saw or heard part of the action, we use -ing form

I saw the consultant waiting in reception.
(I saw consultant. He was waiting in reception.)

C. -ing and infinitive (3): changes in meaning

8. Verb + -ing or infinitive?

Some verbs can be followed by either -ing form or the infinitive and the meaning of the verb changes. Here are some common examples:

I remember sending them the cheque.	I sent and I can remember now that did it.
I remembered to send them the cheque.	I remembered, and then I sent it.
I will never forget meeting the President.	I met him, and he impressed me.
I won’t forget to give her your message.	I have made a note of it, and I will give it to her when I see her.
We have stopped dealing with that firm.	We used to deal with them, but we don't deal with them any more.
At 12.00 we stopped to have a break	We stopped for a break.
I regret saying that I was not interested in the work.	I said I was not interested in the work, and I now think that was a bad mistake.
I regret to say that we will not be able to give you a contract.	I am sorry that I have to say this.
If the printer doesn’t work, try turning everything off and then starting again.	Do this and see what happens.
I will try to negotiate a better deal.	I will make an effort to do this.
This advertisement needs redesigning.	This advertisement needs to be redesigned.
We need to increase productivity	It’s necessary to increase productivity.

9. Like and would like

When the verb like means enjoy, it’s followed by the -ing form. However, the expression would like (want to) is followed by the infinitive.

I like going abroad on marketing trips. (I enjoy this.)
I would like to go more often.(I want to go more often.)

We can also use prefer and would prefer in the same way.

I prefer working at home to working at the office. (I enjoy this more.)

10. to + -ing or infinitive?

The word to can be part of infinitive (I want to see you). However, in the following examples, to is a preposition, so it is followed by the -ing form:

look forward to	object to, an objection to	be used to, get used to
react to, a reaction to	in addition to	respond to, a respond to

Mixed examples

There is nothing wrong with the photocopier. It just needs servicing.
We need to look at this proposal very carefully before we make a decision.
I’ll make a note in my diary so that I will remember to send you information you need.
I am not sure if I have met Mr. Martino, but I remember hearing his name.

LEARN MORE ABOUT GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES HERE

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