GRAMMAR AND MECHANICS

Using Gerunds and Infinitives

A gerund is a verb form that ends in “-ing” and is used as a noun (walking, traveling, voting); an
infinitive is the base form of a verb preceded by “to” (to walk, to travel, to vote). Gerunds and
infinitives can function as the subject of a sentence or the object of a verb. Words derived from
verbs are known as verbals and may take modifiers, objects, and complements to form verbal
phrases A gerund phrase uses the “-ing” form of the verb to function as a noun; an infinitive
phrase is formed using the infinitive and can function as a noun, adverb, or adjective.

USING VERB FORMS AS SUBJECTS

When functioning as the subject of a sentence, gerunds and infinitives always use a singular verb
form, for example: “Walking is good exercise.” In this sentence, the “-ing” verb form
(“Walking”) is the simple subject and the verb “is” links the subject to the subject complement
“good exercise,” which refers to and describes the subject. When a gerund phrase functions as a
subject, the “-ing” verb form is expanded as a word group, for example: “Traveling with a friend
made the trip to New York more enjoyable.” In this sentence, the gerund phrase (“Traveling with
a friend”) is the subject, “made” is the verb, “the trip” is the direct object, “to New York” is the
indirect object, and “more enjoyable” is the object complement..

Similar to a gerund, the infinitive form of a verb can also function as the subject of a sentence,
for example: “To vote is a legal obligation.” In this sentence, the subject (“To vote”) is linked to
the direct object (“a legal obligation”) by the verb “is.” Likewise, an infinitive phrase can
function as a subject: “To vote in the upcoming election will be an important personal
statement.” In this sentence, the infinitive phrase (“To vote in the upcoming election”) is linked
to the direct object of the sentence (“an important personal statement”) by the verb “will be.”

USING VERB FORMS AS OBJECTS

In idiomatic English, certain verbs are followed only by a gerund, certain verbs by an infinitive,
and certain verbs by either a gerund or an infinitive.

Common Verbs Followed Only by a Gerund

admitir admit He admitted stealing the money.

aconsejar advise She advises waiting until tomorrow.
anticipar anticipate I anticipate having a good time on vacation.
apreciar appreciate I appreciate hearing from you.

Dr. Murray and Anna C. Rockowitz Writing Center, Hunter College, City University of New York
 evitar avoid He avoided answering my questions.
completar complete She finally completed writing her term paper.
considerar consider I will consider going with you.
demorar delay He delayed leaving for school.
denegar deny She denied knowing anything about it.
conversar discuss They discussed opening a new business.
disfrutar enjoy We enjoyed visiting them.
escapar escape The team escaped losing the final game.
terminar finish She finished studying at about ten.
imaginar imagine We imagined returning the next summer.
mantener keep I keep hoping she will come.
mencionar mention She mentioned going to a movie.
importar mind Would you mind helping me?
extrañar miss I miss being with my family.
posponer postpone Let's postpone leaving until tomorrow.
practicar practice The athlete practiced throwing the ball.
dejar/ abandonar quit He quit trying to solve the problem.
recordar recall I don't recall meeting him before.
recomendar recommend She recommended seeing that play.
arrepentirse regret I regret telling him my secret.
resistir resist I could not resist eating dessert.
arriesgar risk She risked losing everything.
parar stop She stopped going to classes.
sugerir suggest She suggested going to a movie.
tolerar tolerate He won't tolerate cheating during an examination.

Common Verbs Followed Only by an Infinitive

permitir afford I can't afford to buy it.

acordar agree They agreed to help us.
aparecer appear She appears to be tired.
arreglar arrange We arranged to meet at ten.
preguntar ask He asked to come with us.
mendigar beg He begged to come.
cuidar
care I don't care to see that show.

Dr. Murray and Anna C. Rockowitz Writing Center, Hunter College, City University of New York
 afirmar claim She claims to be a descendent of Karl Marx.
consentir consent She finally consented to marry him.
decidir
decide I have decided to leave on Monday.
demandar demand I demand to know who is responsible.
merecer deserve She deserves to win the prize.
esperar expect I expect to enter graduate school in the fall.
fallar fail She failed to return the book to the library.
olvidar forget I forgot to mail the letter.
ayudar help He wanted to help with the clean-up.
dudar hesitate Don't hesitate to ask for my help.
esperar hope Jack hopes to arrive next week.
aprender learn He learned to play the piano.
administrar manage She managed to finish her work early.
querer / pretender mean I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.
necesitar need I need to have your opinion.
ofrecer offer They offered to help us.
planear plan I am planning to have a party.
preparar prepare We prepared to welcome them.
pretender pretend He pretends not to understand.
prometer promise I promise not to be late.
rechazar refuse I refuse to believe his story.
arrepentirse regret I regret to tell you that you failed.
parecer seem That cat seems to be friendly.
luchar struggle I struggled to stay awake.
jurar swear She swore to tell the truth.
amenazar threaten She threatened to tell my parents.
voluntario volunteer He volunteered to help us.
esperar wait I will wait to hear from you.
desear want I want to tell you something.
desear wish She wishes to come with us.

Common Verbs Followed by a Gerund or an Infinitive: Either with Little or

No Difference in Meaning or with a Significant Change in Meaning (see
“forget,” “remember,” and “stop”)

Dr. Murray and Anna C. Rockowitz Writing Center, Hunter College, City University of New York
 empezar begin He begins working at ten a.m.
He begins to work as soon as he arrives.

continuar continue He continues studying.

He continues to study.

olvidar forget She forgot calling her friend.

She forgot to call her friend.

odiar hate I hate arguing about politics.

I hate to argue with you.

gustar like They like skiing.

They like to ski.

amar love Children love playing with their friends.

Children love to play.

descuidar neglect She neglected telling her about the fire.

She neglected to tell her the whole story.

preferir prefer She prefers eating a light dinner.

She prefers to eat a light dinner.

recordar remember I remember locking the door.

I remembered to lock the door.

empezar / iniciar start He started running.

He started to run.

Dr. Murray and Anna C. Rockowitz Writing Center, Hunter College, City University of New York
 parar stop They stopped buying groceries at the market.
They stopped to buy groceries at the market.

intentar try The instructor tried rereading the papers.

The instructor tried to reread the papers.

Dr. Murray and Anna C. Rockowitz Writing Center, Hunter College, City University of New York