Grammar Presentation

Gerunds and Infinitives

Gerunds
Eating fast food is convenient.
They recommend reducing fats in the food.
She started buying McBreakfast every day.
We're tired of reading calorie counts.
I didn't like his ordering fries.

Infinitives
It's convenient to eat fast foods.
They plan to reduce fats in the food.
She started to buy McBreakfast every day.
We were surprised to read the number of calories.
I urged him to order fries.
It's time to eat.

GRAMMAR NOTES

GRAMMAR NOTES EXAMPLES

1. The gerund is often used as the subject of a • Eating fast food can be fun.
sentence. • Not caring about calories is a mistake.
2. The gerund is often used after certain verbs as • I dislike eating fast food every day.
the object of the verb. • Julio considered not eating fast foods.

You can use a possessive (Anne's, the boy's, • I dislike Julio's eating fast foods.
your, his, her, its, our, their) before the gerund. • I dislike his eating fast foods.

USEAGE NOTE: In the informal spoken • I dislike him eating fast foods.
English, many people use object pronouns
instead of possessives before the gerund.
3. Some verbs can be followed by the infinitive.
These verbs fall into three groups:

a. verb + infinitive • They hope to open a new McDonald's.

b. verb + object + infinitive
c. verb + infinitive
or
verb + object + infinitive
USEAGE NOTE: In formal written English, it is
considered incorrect to “split” an infinitive by
placing a word between to and the base form of
the verb. However, many people do not follow
this rule.
4. Some verbs can be followed by either the
gerund or the infinitive. The meanings are the
• She choose not to give up meat.
• I urge you to try that new restaurant.
• She convinced him not to order fries.
• I want to try that new restaurant
• I want her to try it too.
• We wanted to order quickly.
NOT We wanted to quickly order.
• I started bringing my own lunch
or
same.
BE CAREFUL! A few verbs (for example,
stop, remember, and forget) can be followed by
either the gerund or the infinitive, but the
meanings are very different.
5. The gerund is the only verb form that can
follow a preposition.
There are many common verb + preposition and of food.
adjective + preposition combinations that must •
be followed by the gerund and not the infinitive. you.
BE CAREFUL! To can be part of the infinitive
or it can be a preposition. Use the gerund after
the preposition to.
6. The infinitive can often follow an adjective.
Many of these adjectives express feelings or
attitudes about the action in the infinitive.
7. The infinitive can also follow certain nouns.
8. Use the infinitive to explain the purpose of an •
action.
9. To make general statements you can use:
gerund as subject
or
it + infinitive
• I started to bring my own lunch
• She stopped eating pizza.
(She doesn't eat it anymore.)
• She stopped to eat pizza.
(She stopped another activity in order to eat
pizza.)
• He remembered meeting her there.
(First he met her. Then he remembered that he
did it.)
• He remembered to meet her there.
(First he remembered. Then he met her. He
didn't forget.)
• I never forgot eating lunch at
McDonald's.
(I ate lunch at McDonald's and I didn't forget the
experience.)
• I never forgot to eat lunch.
(I always ate lunch)
• I read an article about counting calories.
• I don't approve of eating fast food.
• We're interested in trying different types
We look forward to having dinner with
NOT we look forward to have dinner with you.
• They wear eager to try the new taco.
• She was glad to hear that it was low in
calories.
• We're ready to have something different.
• It's time to take a break.
• I have the right to eat what I want.
• They made a decision to lose weight.
• It's a high price to pay.
• He has permission to stay out late.
Doug eats fasts food to save time.
• Cooking is fun.
or
• It's fun to cook.