INFINITIVE and GERUND

INFINITIVE

	Active	Passive
Present and Future Simple	to lose	to be lost
Present and Future Continuous	to be losing	-
Present and Past Perfect Past Simple	to have lost	to have been lost
Present and Past Perfect Continuous Past Continuous	to have been losing	-

THE INFINITIVE IS USED:

after verbs: advise, afford, agree, allow sb, appear, be allowed, compel, decide, encourage, expect, hope, intend, invite, manage, plan, pretend, proceed, promise, refuse, remind, seem, tell, tend	e.g. He advised me to take a rest.
after question words (who, where, what etc.) with the verbs and expressions such as ask, learn, find out, wonder, what to know, decide, explain “why” is followed by a subject + verb, no by an infinitive	e.g. I don't know what to do.
after adjectives describe feeling or emotions, e.g. amazed, angry, delighted, disgusted, glad, happy, sad, sorry, surprised	e.g. I was annoyed to hear that he had left.
express willingness or unwillingness, e.g., anxious, eager, reluctant, unable, unwilling, willing	e.g. He is reluctant to help.
refer to a person's character	e.g. You were clever not to believe them.
with lucky and fortunate
others: difficult, easy, first, last, likely, obliged, supposed
after nouns and pronouns e.g. something, somewhere, anyone, nothing usually to show that sth is necessary or possible	e.g. We've got a lot homework to do. Take something to drink on the bus.
with impersonal construction + adjective	e.g. It was nice of him to send you roses.
after too/ enough	e.g. She is too young to stay out so late.
to express purpose	e.g. Sam went to the bank to get some money.
after: be + the first/ second/ next/ last/ best etc.	e.g. He was the first to arrive.
at the beginning of a sentence in expressions such as: to tell you the truth, to cut a long story short, to be honest	e.g. To tell you the truth, I haven't seen him since Monday.
with only - to talk about an unexpected event which can be unpleasant	e.g. He phoned only to say that he wouldn't be coming.

BARE INFINITIVE

THE BARE INFINITIVE IS USED:

after modal verbs	e.g. He can go if he wants to.
with words such as: make, let, see, hear, smell, feel, watch, notice
in Active Voice	e.g. He let me watch TV.
in Passive Voice they are followed by full infinitive	e.g. The baby was made to eat all his soup.
with had better and would rather/ sooner	e.g. You'd better go to bed.
after why not	e.g. Why not meet again some day?
with need and dare (as auxiliary verbs):	e.g. You daren't talk to him.
if dare express courage or lack of courage, it can be followed by bare or full infinitive	e.g. I don't dare (to) tell the truth. He dared (to) attempt it again.
if dare express threats, warning or anger, it is followed by bare infinitive	e.g. Don't you dare lie to me again! How dare you speak to me like that!
if dare express challenge, it is followed by full infinitive	e.g. I dare you to climb up that tree.

GERUND

	Active	Passive
Simple Tenses	losing	being lost
Perfect Tenses	having lost	having been lost

THE GERUND IS USED:

as a noun	e.g. Cycling is a popular form of exercise.
after verbs admit, anticipate, appreciate, avoid, consider, continue, defer, delay, deny, discuss, endure, entail, enjoy, escape ,envisage, evade, excuse, fancy, finish, forgive, image, incur, involve, keep (= continue), look forward to, mention, mind, miss, pardon, postpone, practice, prevent, quit, recall, recollect, report, resent, resist, risk, save, stand, shirk, suggest, tolerate, understand	e.g. He avoided answering my question.
go - for activities	e.g. She go swimming every week.
to describe an incomplete action - hear, listen to, notice, see, watch, feel	e.g. I listened to James singing a song.
after prepositions	e.g. He was found guilty of lying in court.
after `to' with verbs and expressions such as: look forward to, be used to, get round to, object to, in addition to, prefer (doing sth to doing sth else)	e.g. She objects to working on Saturdays.
after expressions such as: be busy, it's not use, it's (no) good, it's (not) worth, what's the use of, can't help, there's no point (in), can't stand, have difficulty (in), have trouble, have a hard/ difficult time, feel like, be/ get used to, be accustomed to, in favour of	e.g. She is busy writing the wedding invitations.
to express general preference - after dislike, detest , enjoy, hate, loathe, love, prefer, resent	e.g. She likes painting.
after: spend, waste, lose (time, money)	e.g. We wasted a lot of time trying to find a parking space.

INFINITIVE and PRESENT PARTICIPLE

see hear listen watch	+ bare infinitive (complete action)	e.g. I saw her lock the car and put the key in her bag.
		+ present participle (incomplete action or action in progress)	e.g. I saw her walking down the street.
go and come (for physical activities)	+ present participle	e.g. He went skiing last winter.
spend or waste time			e.g. He spent an hour fixing the tap.
be busy			e.g. He was busy cleaning the car.

VERBS TAKING INFINITIVE or GERUND:

WITHOUT A CHANGE IN MEANING

attempt, being, continue, cease, commence, intend, imagine (sb), plan, propose, require (sb to), start, omit	e.g. He continued to listen/ listening to the radio.
advise, allow, permit, recommend, intend followed by an object take full infinitive without object take a gerund	e.g. He allowed us to eat in the classroom. He allowed eating in the classroom.
it needs/ require/ wants - can be followed by: a gerund a passive infinitive	e.g. The car needs servicing. The car needs to be serviced.
can't/ couldn't bear gerund - general infinitive - specific	e.g. I can't bear telling people bad news. I can't bear to tell him the bad news.

WITH A CHANGE IN MEANING

FORGET + to-infinitive - not remember (future action) + gerund - not to recall (past action)	e.g. Don't forget to visit the museum. e.g. I'll never forget visiting that museum.
GO ON + to-infinitive - stop one action and start another or continuation of a speech + gerund - continue	e.g. They first discussed the items on the agenda and went on to discuss the budget. The Prime Minister went on to praise the Chancellor. e.g. He went on playing the piano in spite of the neighbours' complains.
LIKE + to-infinitive - find sth good to do + gerund - enjoy WOULD LIKE TO + infinitive - want to	e.g. I like to go to the market very early in the morning. e.g. I like swimming; it's my favourite pastime. e.g. I would like to meet your friend; he sounds interesting.
MEAN + to-infinitive - intend to + gerund - involve	e.g. She means to discuss the matter with the headmaster. e.g. It means changing the original plans.
PROPOSE + to-infinitive - intend + gerund - suggest	e.g. I propose to complain about his behaviour. e.g. I propose trying that new Chinese restaurant.
REGRET + to-infinitive - be sorry to + gerund - feel sorry about (past action)	e.g. I regret to inform you that your application has been rejected. e.g. I regret buying this car because it is always breaking down.
REMEMBER + to-infinitive - not forget (future action) + gerund - recall (past action)	e.g. Remember to lock the door before you leave the house. e.g. She remembers locking the door before leaving the house.
TRY + to-infinitive - attempt + gerund - do as an experiment	e.g. We tried to persuade him not to go, but he wouldn't listen. e.g. They tried advertising their business in the local newspaper.
STOP + to-infinitive - stop temporarily, pause + gerund - finish, stop permanently	e.g. They stopped to admire the views as they drove along the mountain road. e.g. They stopped talking when the teacher came into the class.
(BE) UNDERSTOOD + to-infinitive - give the impression + gerund - to understand sb else's feelings or actions	e.g. He is understood to agree that negotiations are necessary. e.g. I can understand his feeling angry about their decision.
WANT + to-infinitive - wish + gerund - to need sth done	e.g. I want to extend my visa. e.g. The battery's flat; it wants recharging.
DREAD + to-infinitive - be afraid (specific) + gerund - to fear greatly (general)	e.g. I dread to think how much he may suffer. e.g. I dread going to the doctor.
HATE + to-infinitive - hate what one is about to do + gerund - to feel sorry for what one is doing	e.g. I hate to interrupt you but I need some help. e.g. I hate causing you inconvenience.
BE SORRY + to-infinitive - regret + gerund - apologise	e.g. I am sorry to hear of his illness. e.g. I am sorry for shouting at you.
CONSIDER + to-infinitive - refer to an opinion + gerund - means `think about'	e.g. She is considered to be the finest pianist of her generation. e.g. At one point I considered emigrating to Canada.

BE AFRAID to + infinitive (the subject is too frightened to do) of + gerund (the subject fears that the action express by the gerund may happen)	e.g. She was afraid to drive the car. e.g. She didn't want to drive the car; she was afraid of causing an accident.
BE ASHAMED to + infinitive (the inf. refers to a subsequent action) of + gerund (the gerund refers to a present or previous action)	e.g. She was ashamed to admit that she had lied. e.g. She's ashamed of lying, and swears she'll never do it again.
WOULD PREFER TO + infinitive (specific action) PREFER + gerund (in general)	e.g. I would prefer to be left alone just now. e.g. I prefer swimming to running.

VERBS FOLLOWED ALSO BY `THAT-CLAUSE'

Verbs normally followed by infinitive with `to':

Verbs normally followed by `-ing':

agree, appear, arrange, attempt, ask, choose, dare, decide, demand, deserve, expect, fail, grow, hasten, happen, hope, hurry, learn, long, manage, neglect, offer, pay, plan, pledge, pretend, promise, refuse, resolve, seek, seem, struggle, swear, threaten, vow, want, wish appear, (so) happen and seem are only used impersonally with that+clause e.g. It appear that I've made a mistake. It so happens that he is my brother. It seems that Mary is going to win.

appreciate, avoid, contemplate, delay, deny, detest, dislike, endure, enjoy, escape, excuse, face, fancy, finish, involve, mention, mind, miss, postpone, practise, resent, risk, suggest, burst out, it's no good/ use, feel like, give up, keep on, leave off, put off, can't stand, spend/ waste time

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