Friday, January 22, 2016

Gerund - Infinitive

One of the difficulties of the English language is that  some verbs are followed by the gerund (ex : doing) and others are followed by the infinitive (ex : to do)

Below you will find some guidelines and examples to help you.
(example verb : doing / to do).


When do we use the GERUND? (ex: doing)
After verbs that express likes/dislikes :
like, love, enjoy, dislike, hate, don't mind, can't stand ...
Example : I like doing crossword puzzles.
+ doing
After certain other verbs such as :
admit, appreciate, avoid, consider, delay, deny, finish,
imagine, involve, keep (on), mention, miss, postpone, suggest ...
Example : Would you consider doing a few extra hours?
+ doing
After prepositions :
interested in ...
Example : Are you interested in working for us?
instead of ...
Ex: Would you like to walk instead of taking the bus?
look forward to ...
Ex:  Our parents are looking forward to seeing us soon.
good at ...
Ex:  Julie is good at making cakes.
before...
Ex: Before leaving the office, please turn off the lights.
after ...
Ex: After tidying the kitchen she went straight to bed.
+ doing
After certain expressions :
it's no use ...
Ex:  It's no use pleading - I won't change my mind.
it's no good ...
Ex: It's no good shouting at him - he's deaf!
there's no point in ...Ex: There's no point in cooking food - nobody's hungry!
+ doing

When do we use the INFINITIVE? (ex : to do)
After verbs that refer to a future event :
want, hope, intend, would like, promise ...
Ex : I want to do a course in medieval history.
+ to do
After certain verbs such as :
afford, agree, arrange, choose, need, fail, happen,
help, learn, manage, offer, refuse, seem ...
Ex : I agree to pay for the damage.
+ to do
After adjectives:
glad : (glad to know that ...)
pleased : (pleased to meet you...)
disappointed : (disappointed to hear that ..)
+ to do
After 'too' and 'enough'
it's too difficult...
Ex : It's too difficult to explain how it happened.
it's easy enough...
Ex : It's easy enough to install. You can do it yourself.
+ to do

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