The Infinitive

and the Gerund

The Infinitive
To sneeze, to smash, to cry, to shriek, to jump, to dunk, to read, to eat, to slurp — all
of these are infinitives. An infinitive will almost always begin with to followed by the
simple form of the verb, like this:
• I didn’t want to take the exam.
• He refused to pay the bill.

An infinitive will almost always begin with to. Exceptions do occur, however. An infini-
tive will lose its to when it follows certain verbs.
• The teacher made me stand in the corner.

Important Note: Because an infinitive is not a verb, you cannot add -s, -es, -ed, or -ing
to it. Ever!

The Gerund
Every gerund, without exception, ends in -ing. Gerunds are not, however, all that easy
to identify. The problem is that all present participles also end in -ing. What is the dif-
ference?

Gerunds function as nouns. Thus, gerunds will be subjects, subject complements, direct
objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions.

Present participles, on the other hand, complete progressive verbs or act as modifiers.

These ing words are examples of gerunds:

• Swimming has been Francisco’s passion, since he was five years old.
• Francisco’s first love is swimming.
• Francisco enjoys swimming more than spending time with his girlfriend Diana.
• Francisco gives swimming all of his energy and time.
• When Francisco wore dive fins to class, everyone knew that he was devoted to
swimming.

These ing words are examples of present participles:

• One day last summer, Francisco and his coach were swimming at Daytona Beach.
• A Great White shark ate Francisco’s swimming coach.
• Now Francisco practices his sport in safe swimming pools.

The to Infinitive is used:

1. to express purpose.
He went to university to become a lawyer. (in order to become)

2. after certain verbs such as afford, agree, appear, arrange, ask, attempt, beg,
choose, decide, encourage, expect, fail, happen, help, hope, manage, offer, plan,
prepare, pretend, promise, refuse, seem, tend, want, wish, etc.
He refused to pay the bill.

3. after certain adjectives which describe feelings/emotions (happy, glad, sorry, etc.).
She was happy to win the prize.

4. after would like / would love / would prefer, etc. to express a specific preference.
I would like to see the manager.

5. after certain nouns.

What a surprise to see him there!

6. after too / enough.

He’s too young to have his own car.
He’s clever enough to do the crossword.
He’s got enough money to live on.

7. with it + be + adjective (+ of + noun/pronoun).

It was generous of him to offer £1 ,000.

8. with so + adjective + as.

Would you be so kind as to help me move the sofa?

9. with only to express an unsatisfactory result.

She came in only to find Bob had left.
10. after be + the first/second/next/last/best, etc.
He was the last to come to work.

11. in the expression for + noun/pronoun + to infinitive.

For him to be so rude was unforgivable.

12. in the expressions to tell you the truth, to begin with, to be honest, etc.
To be honest, I don’t like him.

Note: If two infinitives are joined by and or or, the to of the second infinitive can be
omitted. I want to call Mr Jones and fax or post him a letter.

The Infinitive without to is used:

1. after most modal verbs (can, must, will, etc.).
You can leave now if you want.

2. after had better / would rather.

I’d rather not go out tonight.
I’d better stay at home.

3. after make / let / see / hear / feel + object.

They made him pay for the damage.

BUT in the passive be made / be heard / be seen + to infinitive.

He was made to pay for the damage.

4. know and help are followed by a to infinitive or an infinitive without to.

I’ve never known him (to) be so mean.
Could you help me (to) fix the car?

BUT in the passive be known, be helped + to infinitive.

She was known to have worked as a teacher.

The Gerund is used:

1. as a noun.
Walking is good exercise.

2. after certain verbs: admit, anticipate, appreciate, avoid, consider, continue, delay,
deny, discuss, enjoy, escape, excuse, face, fancy, feel like, finish, forgive, give up,
 go (for activities), imagine, involve, keep (on), mention, mind, miss, postpone, prac-
tise, prevent, put off, quit, recall, recollect, report, resent, resist, risk, save, stand,
suggest, tolerate, understand, etc.
They discussed selling the company.
“Let’s go jogging!” “No, I’d rather go sailing.”

3. after detest, dislike, enjoy, hate, like, love, prefer to express general preference.
She loves painting.

4. after I’m busy, it’s no 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), in addition to, as well as,
have trouble, have a hard/difficult time.
He can’t stand being treated like a slave.
He had difficulty (in) finding his way back.

5. after spend / waste (time, money, etc.).

He spends his free time digging in the garden.

6. after prepositions.
He left the shop without paying, so he was accused of stealing.

7. after look forward to, be/get used to, be/get accustomed to, object to, admit (to), etc.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Verbs taking the Infinitive or

the Gerund without a change in
meaning:
1. begin, continue, intend, start + to infinitive or gerund.
She began crying/to cry.

BUT we never have two -ing forms together.

The days are beginning to get shorter.

2. advise, allow, encourage, permit, recommend, take the to-infinitive when they are
followed by an object or when they are in the passive form. They take the gerund
when they are not followed by an object.
He advised us to leave early. (object)
We were advised to leave early. (passive)
We advise leaving early. (no object)
3. need, require, want are followed by the to-infinitive, the gerund or the passive
infinitive.
You need to polish your shoes.
Your shoes need polishing.
Your shoes need to be polished.

Verbs taking the Infinitive or

the Gerund with a change in
meaning:
1. forget + to infinitive (= forget to do sth)
I’m sorry, I forgot to lock the car.

forget + gerund (= forget a past event)

We’ll never forget visiting Paris.

2. remember + to infinitive (= remember to do sth)

Remember to read the instructions.

remember + gerund (= recall a past event)

I don’t remember meeting AI before.

3. mean + to infinitive (= intend to)

He means to move to Newcastle.

mean + gerund (= involve)

Working harder means getting more money.

4. go on + to infinitive (= finish doing sth and start doing sth else)

After finishing her BA, she went on to get a master’s degree.

go on + gerund (= continue)
She went on watching TV.

5. regret + to infinitive (= be sorry to do sth)

I regret to tell you that you have failed.

regret + gerund (= have second thoughts about sth already done)

He regrets telling lies when he was young.
6. would prefer + to infinitive (specific preference)
I’d prefer to have an early night tonight.

prefer + gerund (in general)

I prefer reading a book to watching TV.

prefer + to infinitive + (rather) than + infinitive without to (in general)

I prefer to read a book (rather) than watch TV.

7. try + to infinitive (= do one’s best; attempt)

She tried hard to cope with her new job.

try + gerund (= do sth as an experiment)

Try adding some more sauce to your pasta.

8. want + to infinitive (= wish)

I want to find a better job.

want + gerund (= sth needs to be done)

Your dress wants cleaning.

9. stop + to infinitive (= pause temporarily)

He stopped to buy some milk on his way home.

stop + gerund (= fin ish)

Stop talking to each other, please!

10. be sorry + to infinitive (= regret)

I’m sorry to hear he has been injured.

be sorry for + gerund (= apologise for an earl ier action)

I’m sorry for misunderstanding what you said.

11. hate + to infinitive (= feel sorry that you have to ask, interrupt, etc.)
I hate to interrupt, but I must talk to you.

hate + gerund (= feel sorry for what one is doing)

I hate making you feel uncomfortable.

12. be afraid + to infinitive (= the subject feels anxious about doing sth)
I’m afraid to drive over the old bridge.

be afraid of + gerund (= the subject is afraid that what is described by the -ing
form may happen)
She is afraid of breaking her leg if she jumps over the wall.
13. like + to infinitive (= habitual preference)
I like to be punctual.

like + gerund (= enjoy)

I like getting up early in summer.

14. after hear, listen, notice, see, watch we use the gerund to express an incomplete
action, i.e. somebody saw or heard only a part of the action.
I saw Tim doing his homework. (I saw part of the action in progress. I didn’t wait
until he had finished .)

BUT hear, listen, see, watch + infinitive without to to express a complete action, i.e.
something that somebody saw or heard from beginning to end.
I saw Tim do his homework. It took him an hour. (I saw the whole action from be-
ginning to end.)

Forms of Infinitive
The Continuous, the Perfect and the Perfect Continuous Infinitives are used with the
verbs: appear, believe, claim, happen, pretend, seem, etc. and with modal verbs.

The Simple Infinitive refers to the present or future:

• I hope to meet her tonight.
• I could meet her tonight.

The Continuous Infinitive expresses an action happening now:

• He appears to be sleeping now.
• He must be sleeping now.

The Perfect Infinitive is used to show that the action of the infinitive happened before
the action of the verb.
• He claims to have worked here before. (First he worked here, then he claimed he
had worked here.)
• He can’t have worked here before.

The Perfect Continuous Infinitive is used to emphasise the duration of the action of the
infinitive, which happened before the action of the main verb.
• He looks tired. He seems to have been studying for the test all night.
• He looks tired. He must have been studying.
Forms of Gerund
The Simple Gerund refers to the present or future.
• Ann enjoys walking in the woods.

The Perfect Gerund shows that the action of the -ing form has happened before the
action of the main verb. We can use the Present Gerund instead of the Perfect Gerund
without a difference in meaning.
• He denied having killed James. OR He denied killing James.

To split or not to split?

The general rule is that no word should separate the to of an infinitive from the simple
form of the verb that follows. If a word does come between these two components, a
split infinitive results. Look at the example that follows:

Wrong: Sara hopes to quickly finish her chemistry homework so that she can
return to the more interesting Stephen King novel she had to abandon.

Right: Sara hopes to finish her chemistry homework quickly so that she can return
to the more interesting Stephen King novel she had to abandon.

Some English teachers believe that ‘thou shall not split infinitives’ was written on the
stone tablets that Moses carried down from the mountain. Breaking the rule, in their
eyes, is equivalent to killing, stealing, coveting another man’s wife, or dishonoring
one’s parents. If you have this type of English teacher, then don’t split infinitives!

Other folks, however, consider the split infinitive a construction, not an error. They be-
lieve that split infinitives are perfectly appropriate, especially in informal writing.

In fact, an infinitive will occasionally require splitting, sometimes for meaning and
sometimes for sentence cadence. One of the most celebrated split infinitives begins
every episode of Star Trek: “To boldly go where no one has gone before ....” Boldly to
go? To go boldly? Neither option is as effective as the original!

When you are making the decision to split or not to split, consider your audience. If
the piece of writing is very formal and you can maneuver the words to avoid splitting
the infinitive, then do so. If you like the infinitive split and know that its presence will
not hurt the effectiveness of your writing, leave it alone.