MEETING 3: GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

A. INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS
This section will mainly discuss about gerunds and infinitives which have close
relations with gerunds and invititives. Students are hoped to have better understanding
about them especially how:
1.1 To identify gerunds and infinitives.
1.2 To differentiate which words must be followed by gerunds or infinitives.

B. MATERIAL DESCRIPTION
Gerunds Definition

A gerund is the “-ing” form of a verb when it functions grammatically as a noun

in a sentence. Gerunds are identical in appearance to present participles, but
they are not used to form tenses of the verb or provide adjectival information.
Gerunds can either stand alone, or they can take a noun (the object of the
gerund) and/or modifier(s) to form a gerund phrase.

Functions in a sentence

Because they act like nouns, gerunds can be used as the subject of a sentence,
the subject complement of the linking verb be, the object of a preposition, or the
object of a verb. They can also be used to form compound nouns.

As the subject
Just like a normal noun, a gerund or gerund phrase can be the subject of a
sentence. For example:
• “Swimming is an excellent form of exercise!” (gerund only)
• “Eating vegetables gives you a lot of extra energy.” (gerund + object)
• “Studying too hastily will result in a poor grade.” (gerund + adverb(s))
• “Reading romantic literature proves to be an unpopular pastime among
academics.” (gerund + adjective + noun)
• “Working from home allows me to spend more time with my family.” (gerund
+ prepositional phrase)
Adverbs modifying gerunds
Notice that in our third example, the gerund studying is being modified by an
adverb, hastily (itself modified by too). Likewise, working in the last example is
modified by the adverbial prepositional phrase from home.
This may seem contradictory, since gerunds act like nouns, and adverbs can’t
modify nouns. However, in this case, it is the gerund phrase that is functioning
as a noun, so the gerund itself can still be modified by an adverb in the same way
as a normal verb.

Present participial clauses

It’s often easy to confuse present participles for gerunds because they look
identical and operate in very similar ways. For instance, the present participles of
verbs can be used to create dependent clauses that modify the rest of the
sentence. For example:
• “Singing in the shower, I was oblivious to the doorbell ringing.” (I was
singing.)
• “Having seen the movie before, I wouldn’t want to see it again.”
Although they look quite similar, these clauses function like an adjective,
whereas the gerund phrases we looked at above act like nouns functioning as the
subjects of their sentences.

As a subject complement
Like predicative adjectives, gerunds can act as subject complements after the
linking verb be. In this case, the gerund acts as a kind of modifier that gives
more information about the sentence’s subject. For example:
• “My main responsibility here is operating the forklift.” (operating
complements the noun responsibility)
• “My favorite thing about being in Japan is eating sushi.” (eating complements
thing)
• “The best thing in life is spending time with loved ones.”
Again, we have to be careful that we don’t mistake a gerund for the present
participle of a verb. This can be easy to do, because the present participle is
paired with the verb be to form the present continuous tense and the past
continuous tense of verbs, as in:
• “I am running five miles tomorrow.” (present continuous tense)
• “I heard you are operating the forklift at work now.” (present continuous
tense)
• “I was singing in the shower when the doorbell rang.” (past continuous tense)
• “She was eating dinner when I called.” (past continuous tense)
Remember that a gerund or gerund phrase functions as a noun—if the sentence
still makes grammatical sense after the word or phrase is replaced by a normal
noun, then we are dealing with a gerund; if it does not make sense after being
replaced by a normal noun, then it is a present participle.

As objects
Of prepositions
Gerunds are used as the objects of prepositions to describe an action that
modifies another action, thus creating adverbial prepositional phrases. These
can occur at the beginning, middle, or end of the sentence. For example:
• “After sneezing, I always get the hiccups.”
• “I’m going to improve my health by running six miles every night.”
• “She started going crazy from so much waiting.”
• “He’s not against marrying me, he just isn’t ready.”

Of verbs
Gerunds can also act as the direct object of some verbs. Here a few examples:
• “Do you mind watching my seat for me while I go to the bathroom?”
• “I really love hiking in the mountains.”
• “I enjoy eating at restaurants, but Jenny prefers cooking at home.”
• “He remembered turning off the oven, but his husband thought he’d left it
on.”
• “They couldn’t help feeling sorry for Bob.”
(If you want to see more examples, go to the section Gerunds as Objects of
Verbs.)

Of phrasal verbs
Just like they do with normal verbs, gerunds can also function as the object of
phrasal verbs. For example:
• “I am counting on getting tickets to that new movie.”
• “They’re looking forward to meeting you later.”

Forming compound nouns

Gerunds can be paired with regular nouns to become compound nouns, as in:
• “His new running shoes were already covered in mud.”
• “I’m hoping she can give me a helping hand.”
• “The working conditions are very poor here.”
These are distinct from gerund phrases, where the noun is functioning as the
object of the gerund, as in our previous example of “Eating vegetables is good
for your health.”
They should also not be confused with present participles that are functioning as
adjectives. Though they look quite similar, adjectival present participles imply
action on the part of the noun being modified. For example:
• “She soothed the crying baby.” (The baby is crying).
• “The speeding car crashed into the tree.” (The car was speeding.)

As an object complement
For certain factitive verbs, gerunds can also act as object complements. Object
complements function by renaming or reclassifying a direct object, or by stating
what the direct object has become or is doing. Gerunds can only function as
object complements that state what the direct object is or was doing.
In the following examples, the verb or phrasal verb is italicized, the direct object
is underlined, and the gerund or gerund phrase (as object complement) is in
bold:
• “We came across him lying in the yard.”
• “My mother noticed the baby walking by himself.”
• “I can’t believe the bosses caught you napping.”

Gerunds as Objects of Verbs

Definition
Gerunds very frequently function as the direct objects of “true” verbs. However,
there are some verbs that are more likely to take gerunds as objects than others.
 In this section, we’ll look at some common verbs that take gerunds as their direct
object to get a sense of how they’re used.

Stative vs. Action Verbs

Stative verbs that take gerunds
Stative verbs, also known as verbs of feeling, are very likely to take gerunds as
their objects. Here are some examples of common stative verbs that take gerunds (keep in
mind that this is not an exhaustive list):

Stative
Example with a gerund as an object
verb

Love “I love going to the movies.”

Like “I like living by the ocean.”

Enjoy “Do you enjoy working in retail?”

“Would you mind watching my seat for me while I go to thebathroom?”

Mind

feel like “I feel like staying home tonight.”

Stand “She can’t stand being around him.”

imagine “Imagine winning the lottery. It would be great!”

Action verbs that take gerunds

Certain action verbs (also called dynamic verbs) can also take a gerund as theirobject if
describing a secondary action. For instance:

Action verb Example with a gerund as an object

admit (to) “He admitted (to) cheating on the exam.”

Avoid “He always tries to avoid doing his homework.”

consider “He is considering moving to London.”

 Delay “He delayed paying his phone bill.”

Deny “He denied stealing the money.”

insist on “He insisted on giving me a ride to the train station.”

keep/continue “Please, keep/continue telling me your story.”

mention “She mentioned meeting him for a coffee earlier.”

“She practices speaking English whenever she gets thechance.”

practice

recommend “I recommend going to the mountains in the summer.”

Resist “She resisted sneaking out to the party down the road.”

Suggest “They suggested staying at a five-star hotel.”

Gerunds vs. Infinitives

Gerunds and infinitives are both verb forms that can function as nouns, and, as such, they
are both often used as the objects of “main” verbs. In many cases, we can use either the
infinitive or the gerund in addition to “standard” nouns.

Some verbs, however, can only be followed by infinitives and not gerunds. In each
example below, we can see how a gerund does not fit with the main verb:

✔ Infinitive (Correct) ✖ Gerund (Incorrect)

“They promised to be quiet in thecar.” “They promised being quiet in thecar.”

“I agreed to leave him alone.” “I agreed leaving him alone.”

“She asked to see the landlord aboutthe “She asked seeing the landlord aboutthe
faulty stove.” faulty stove.”
Likewise, some verbs are followed only by gerunds and not infinitives. In mostcases,
these are action verbs. For example:

✔ Gerund (Correct) ✖ Infinitive (Incorrect)

 “I recall seeing an advertisement forthat “I recall to see an advertisement forthat
somewhere.” somewhere.”

“I recommend reading Moby Dick atsome “I recommend to read Moby Dick atsome
point in your life.” point in your life.”

“He’ll consider hearing your side ofthe story “He’ll consider to hear your side ofthe
later, if he has time.” story later, if he has time.”

Unfortunately, there is not a set of rules to determine which verbs can take whichforms as
their objects.

Verbs followed by both gerunds and infinitives

For other verbs, we can use either the infinitive or the gerund.

Most of the time, there is no difference in meaning when we substitute the infinitive for
the gerund. This is especially true for stative verbs. For example,each of the following
pairs mean the same thing:

Gerund Infinitive

“I like hiking.” “I like to hike.”

“I love swimming.” “I love to swim.”

“I prefer going out on the weekend.” “I prefer to go out on the weekend.”

With some verbs, we can use both the infinitive and the gerund, but the meaningof the
sentence changes subtly as a result. In this case, we have to use context to understand the
meaning completely. For example:

Infinitive Gerund

“No, I didn’t leave the window open. I

“I remembered to close the window.”(I
remember closing it.” (I recall doing
didn’t forget to do this)
this)
“I forgot to read this book for school.”(I
“I forget reading this book for
didn’t remember to do this, so it didn’t
school.” (I don’t recall this fact)
happen)

“I’ve been trying to call you all day, but the “Try calling my cell phone next time.”
line has been busy.” (Attempt todo (This is a possible solution tothe problem)
something)

“I stopped drinking sugary drinks “I stopped to drink at the well.” (I

because of my health.” (I don’t drink interrupted what I was doing to

sugary drinks anymore) drink from the well)