Gerunds and Infinitives Complements in English

Gerunds and Infinitives Complements

Gerunds and infinitives are verb forms, but they are not used as the main verbs in sentences. Gerunds are formed by adding -ing to the base form of a verb: running, talking, doing. (The -ing form is often called the present participle.) Infinitives consist of two parts: the infinitive marker to and the base form of a verb: to run, to talk, to do. Gerunds and infinitives can follow main verbs.

For Example:

→ She enjoys playing the guitar.
→ He promised to sing for us.

Some verbs, such as enjoy, are followed by gerunds. Others, such as promise, are followed by infinitives. But some verbs can be followed by either gerunds or infinitives.

→ I like reading mysteries.
→ I like to read mysteries.

Generally, gerunds signal that an action has happened or is especially vivid. Infinitives indicate future or hypothetical events.

Gerunds

Gerunds have four forms:

→ SIMPLE: She avoids driving during rush hour.
→ PERFECT: He admits having taken the documents.
→ PASSIVE: They dislike always being put in the last row.
→ PASSIVE PERFECT: I appreciate having been given this opportunity.

The following verbs can be followed by gerunds but cannot be followed by infinitives:

• admit
• appreciate
• avoid
• consider
• delay
• deny
• dislike
• enjoy
• finish
• keep
• mind
• miss
• quit
• recommend
• risk
• suggest

Practice Exercise of Gerunds

Complete each sentence with the form of the gerund indicated in parentheses.

EXAMPLE: Albert considered living (live, simple) abroad for a year.

1. My brother and his wife delayed ———— (have, simple) children until they were settled.
2. I miss ———— (surprise, passive) on my birthday by my grandfather.
3. The politician denied ———— (mention, perfect) a possible tax increase
4. I keep ———— (try, simple) his number, but he doesn’t answer.
5. They didn’t mind ———— (invite, passive perfect) at the last minute.
6. The doctor recommended ———— (eat, simple) more fruits and vegetables.
7. I appreciate ———— (choose, passive perfect) as your representative.
8. The committee finished ———— (review, simple) the applications yesterday.
9. We admitted ———— (be, perfect) the source of the trouble.
10. He dislikes ———— (treat, passive) as a child.
11. The tour guide suggested ———— (stop, simple) for lunch at this restaurant.
12. Fortunately, we avoided ———— (give, passive) a ticket.
13. For some reason, she quit ———— (play, simple) the piano a year ago.
14. When he made the repair, he risked ———— (damage, simple) the whole system.
15. We enjoyed ———— (introduce, passive) to your family.

Use gerunds to answer the following questions:

EXAMPLE:

• What sport do you like playing?
  I like playing soccer.

1. What do you enjoying doing on holidays?
2. What have you avoided doing in the past year?
3. What do you dislike doing on the weekend?
4. What story did you like being told when you were a child?
5. Whom do you miss seeing whom you cannot see now?

Infinitives

Infinitives have a number of forms. These are the most common:

→ SIMPLE: Eva wants to become a lawyer.
→ PROGRESSIVE: They seem to be telling the truth.
→ PERFECT: He hopes to have finished his work by next Friday.
→ PASSIVE: Anna deserves to be promoted.
→ PASSIVE PERFECT: We pretended to have been surprised.

Practice Exercise of Infinitives

Complete each sentence with the form of the infinitive indicated in parentheses.

EXAMPLE: Janine managed to find (find, simple) an apartment on the first day of her search.

1. I plan ———— (work, progressive) full-time next year.
2. He agreed ———— (pay, simple) me for the photographs.
3. She hopes ———— (earn, perfect) a raise by the end of this year.
4. The child pretended ———— (faint, perfect)
5. Shoba deserves ———— (hire, passive) for the new position.
6. Everyone offered ———— (help, simple) us.
7. The announcement seems ———— (leak, passive perfect) to the press.
8. In order to get that job, he needs ———— (network, progressive).
9. The director expected ———— (receive, perfect) the report by now.
10. The reporter had wanted ———— (give, passive) a different assignment.
11. I promise ———— (meet, simple) you there at 5:00.
12. My parents decided ———— (stay, simple) an extra week.
13. He failed ———— (turn in, simple) the work on time.
14. Our neighbors intend ———— (move, simple) next year.
15. The company chose ———— (close, simple) one of the plants.

Use infinitives to answer the following questions:

EXAMPLE:

• What did you expect to learn in this book?
  I expected to learn about English verbs.

1. Where do you plan to go this weekend?
2. Where do you intend to be next year at this time?
3. What do you need to buy this week?
4. What do you want to have for dinner?
5. What do you expect to study next term?

Verbs Followed by a Noun Phrase and an Infinitive

Some verbs are followed by both a noun phrase (a pronoun or a noun and any of its modifiers) and an infinitive.

• advise
• allow
• cause
• encourage
• invite
• order
• permit
• persuade
• require
• teach
• tell
• urge

Complete each of the following sentences using the noun phrase provided and the simple form of the infinitive.

EXAMPLE:

• us, go
  The teacher encouraged us to go to the lecture.

1. him, exercise
Dr. Olson advised ———— more frequently.
2. us, attend
Carl invited ———— his piano recital.
3. my sister, ride
My brother taught ———— a bike.
4. me, turn
He told ———— left at the corner.
5. people, touch
The museum guide permitted ———— some of the exhibits.
6. Brent and me, be
The accident caused ———— more careful the next time.
7. local artists, hang
Laura Adams allowed ———— their paintings in her restaurant.
8. the protesters, leave
The police ordered ———— .
9. me, rethink
My parents persuaded ———— my plan.

Read more: Gerunds and Infinitives Grammar Rules

Gerunds or Infinitives

Some verbs can be followed by either gerunds or infinitives. Sometimes there is no significant difference in meaning between a sentence with a gerund and a sentence with an infinitive.

→ He began humming.
→ He began to hum.

The most common verbs falling into this category are the following three verbs dealing with time:

• begin
• continue
• start

The verb stop, however, is used to express two different meanings.

→ We stopped singing. [The singing has ended.] → We stopped to sing. [The singing has not started yet.]

After verbs dealing with emotion, the gerund is generally used to express the vividness of an action, an event, or a state or to indicate its actual occurrence. The infinitive usually indicates a future, potential, or hypothetical action, event, or state.

→ I usually prefer cooking my own food, but tonight I would prefer to go out.

The following verbs fall into this category:

• hate
• like
• love
• prefer

Some verbs dealing with memory signal different time sequences, depending on whether a gerund or an infinitive is used.

→ I remember locking the door. [The door was locked; then the action of locking was remembered.]

→ I remembered to lock the door. [The remembering of a responsibility took place before the action of locking was performed.]

The following verbs fall into this category:

• remember
• forget
• regret

Gerunds vs. Infinitives Chart

Get a free PDF book of the Gerunds and Infinitives charts after clicking on the below links:

Using Gerund and Infinitives in English PDF

Gerunds vs. Infinitives Poster PDF

Identifying Gerunds and Infinitives Words PDF

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