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Gerunds and Infinitives

Chapter 14
News Story:
Cat Tries to Pull a Fast One
on Firefighters
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Recently in Florida, a typical Cat Avoids Getting Rescued
story had an unexpected twist. Catching a scared cat is no
easy task as the firefighters from the South Florida city of
Weston were well aware, but extracting a kitty from under the
frame of a car in heavy rain is even harder. Firefighters tried
jacking up the car and taking off a wheel, but the feline was
scared of being hurt. She kept avoiding the men. At some
point, the cat escaped undetected. This caused the crew to
continue searching for another hour. They began by peering
into the bushes and scouring a nearby parking lot. The
firefighters were used to catching a kitty in a short amount of
time. This was taking much too long. Eventually, they gave up
trying to find the cat and headed back to the station.
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A gerund can be used as the subject of a
sentence or the object of a verb.

Catching a scared kitty is no easy task.
The firefighters tried jacking up the car.

subject
object of
the verb
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A gerund can be used as the object of a
preposition.

The kitty was scared of being hurt.
The firefighters were worried about hurting
the kitty.
object of
preposition
object of
preposition
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1. Firefighters are accustomed (catch) __________ cats quickly.
2. Firefighters usually succeed (rescue) ___________ lost cats.
3. They were tired (search) _____________ for the kitty.
4. They were worried (hurt) ______________ the scared cat.
5. After 4 hours, no one would blame the firefighters (end)
___________ the search for the kitty.
6. But the firefighters insisted (find) __________ the lost cat.

PRACTICE 1
Complete each sentence with a preposition and a
form of the verb in parentheses.

to catching
in rescuing
of searching
about hurting
for ending
on finding
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Five hours later, the elusive cat reappeared -- at the
station, in the fire truck's rear wheel well. The firefighters were
not having a good time searching for the cat. They had spent
a lot of time trying to catch the cat, but they decided to give it
one more try. This time, firefighters used food to try to lure
the cat out. It didnt work. The cat refused to budge, so the
crew resorted to a successful three-person attack: one poked
the feline gently in the backside with a stick, another used a
hose to push it into an open area, so the third could grab it
and pull it out. The cat was dirty but unharmed. The cats
owner thanked them over and over for bringing his cat to
safety.
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-ing form follows certain special expressions.
The firefighters were not having a good time
searching for the cat.
The firefighters were not having fun searching
for the cat.
have a good time
have fun
+ Verb -ing
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-ing form follows certain special expressions.
They had a hard time trying to catch the cat.
have trouble/difficulty
have a hard time
have a difficult time
+
-ing
They had trouble trying to catch the cat.
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Some verbs are immediately followed
by an infinitive.
The firefighters wanted to find the cat quickly.

The cat refused to budge.

want to refuse to intend to
hope to need to promise to
plan to offer to seem to
like to agree to pretend to
decide to appear to ask to
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PRACTICE 2
Gerund or Infinitive?
1. The firefighters had a difficult time (rescue)
_________ the cat.
2. The cat seemed (avoid) _________ the men
intentionally.
3. They were worried about (hurt) ________ the
kitty.
rescuing
to avoid
hurting
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PRACTICE 2
Gerund or Infinitive?
4. In the end, it required three people (catch)
_________ the cat.
5. The firefighters refused (stop) ________ the
search for the cat.
6. Finally, they found the cat (hide) ______ in
their own truck.
to catch
to stop
hiding
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Some verbs can be followed by either an
infinitive or a gerundwith no difference in
meaning.
The crew continued searching for the cat.
same meaning
The crew continued to search for the cat.
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Some verbs can be followed by either an
infinitive or a gerund, but the meaning is
different.
Firefighters tried jacking up the car and taking off
a wheel.
(They were able to jack up the car.)
Firefighters tried to jack up the car and take off
a wheel.
(They were NOT able to jack up the car.)
Remember Forget Regret Try
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Some verbs can be followed by either an
infinitive or a gerund, but the meaning is
different.
A firefighter said to the cats owner: I regret to
tell you that we couldnt catch your cat.
After they found the cat, the firefighter said, I
dont regret spending so much time on the
search for the cat.
(sorry to tell someone bad news right now)
(sorry or not about something that already
happened)
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PRACTICE 3
Check Your Knowledge
1. Who went (running, to run) after the cat?
2. The men spent too much time (catching, to catch)
the cat.
3. They remembered (searching, to search) for a lot of
other cats on other rainy days.
4. They caught the cat (hiding, to hide) in the fire
truck.
5. They tried (finding, to find) the cat for a long time.
6. It is dangerous for cats (hurting, to hide) under a
car.
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CREDITS
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