The Gerund and Infinitive

The Gerund

Recognize a gerund when you see one.

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 ining. What is the difference?

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 asmodifiers.

Read these examples of gerunds:

Since Francisco was five years old, swimming has been his passion.

Swimming = subject of the verb has been.

Francisco's first love is swimming.

Swimming = subject complement of the verb is.

Francisco enjoys swimming more than spending time with his girlfriend Diana.

Swimming = direct object of the verb enjoys.

Francisco gives swimming all of his energy and time.

Swimming = indirect object of the verb gives.

When Francisco wore dive fins to class, everyone knew that he was devoted to swimming.

Swimming = object of the preposition to.

These ing words are examples of present participles:

One day last summer, Francisco and his coach wereswimming at Daytona Beach.

Swimming = present participle completing the past progressive verb were swimming.

A Great White shark ate Francisco's swimming coach.

Swimming = present participle modifying coach.

Now Francisco practices his sport in safe swimmingpools.

Swimming = present participle modifying pools.

 The Infinitive

Recognize an infinitive when you see one.

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:

To + Verb = Infinitive

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

Infinitives can be used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Look at these examples:

To sleep is the only thing Eli wants after his double shift waiting tables at the neighborhood café.

To sleep functions as a noun because it is the subject of the sentence.

No matter how fascinating the biology dissection is, Emanuel turns his head and refuses to look.

To look functions as a noun because it is the direct object for the verb refuses.

Wherever Melissa goes, she always brings a book to read in case conversation lags or she has a long wait.

To read functions as an adjective because it modifies book.

Richard braved the icy rain to throw the smelly squid eyeball stew into the apartment dumpster.

To throw functions as an adverb because it explains why Richard braved the inclement weather.

Recognize an infinitive even when it is missing the to.

An infinitive will almost always begin with to. Exceptions do occur, however. An infinitive will lose its to when it follows certain verbs. These verbs arefeel, hear, help, let, make, see, and watch.

The pattern looks like this:

Special Verb + Direct Object + Infinitive - to

Here are some examples:

As soon as Theodore felt the rain splatter on his hot, dusty skin, he knew that he had a good excuse to return the lawn mower to the garage.

Felt = special verb; rain = direct object; splatter = infinitive minus the to.

When Danny heard the alarm clock buzz, he slapped the snooze button and burrowed under the covers for ten more minutes of sleep.

Heard = special verb; alarm clock = direct object; buzz = infinitive minus the to.

Although Dr. Ribley spent an extra class period helping us understand logarithms, we still bombed the test.

Helping = special verb; us = direct object; understand = infinitive minus the to.

Because Freddie had never touched a snake, I removed the cover of the cage and let him pet Squeeze, my seven-foot python.

Let = special verb; him = direct object; pet = infinitive minus theto.

Since Jose had destroyed Sylvia's spotless kitchen while baking chocolate-broccoli muffins, she made him take her out for an expensive dinner.

Made = special verb; him = direct object; take = infinitive minus the to.

I said a prayer when I saw my friends mount the Kumba, a frightening roller coaster that twists and rolls like a giant sea serpent.

Saw = special verb; my friends = direct object; mount = infinitive minus the to.

Hoping to lose her fear of flying, Rachel went to the airport to watch passenger planes take off and land, but even this exercise did not convince her that jets were safe.

Watch = special verb; passenger planes = direct object; take,land = infinitives minus the to.

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 move 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.

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

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.

EXERCISE

Fill in the gerund with the correct preposition.

 1. She is looking forward _________________ his aunt in Chicago. (visit)
 2. My wife is keen _________________ pop songs. (sing)
 3. His mother was excited _________________ to Africa. (go)
 4. The secretary carried _________________ the letter. (type)
 5. The construction workers worried _________________ their jobs. (lose)
 6. They tried to cope _________________ in bad weather. (work)
 7. The pupil is known _________________ problems. (cause)
 8. My wife apologized _________________ late. (be)
 9. The teacher always keeps _________________ his timetable. (complain)
10. I insisted _________________ the dog for a walk myself. (take)
11. The teenager is addicted _________________ TV. (watch)
12. The actor is famous _________________ crazy once in a while. (be)
13. The money will be devoted _________________ the environment. (protect)
14. The au-pair succeeds _________________ the children busy for some time. (keep)
15. He blamed me _________________ the CD player. (damage)


 Underline the infinitive phrase in each sentence below. 

1.  Andrew knows that to drive up a hill of butter is impossible.
2.  Sam told J.J. that he'd like to travel to Timbuktu.
3.  Courtney told Dylan to kick the football at Henry.
4.  Liam built a storm cellar in which to shelter during tornadoes.
5.  Mitchell's dream, to fly an M‐16, was finally coming true!
6.  Ben and Zach tried to follow orders, but they failed.
7.  Karin and Franny's decision, to stop and get a cup of coffee, made them late for English class.
8.  Erica was about to jump into the tub of Jello when her mother got home.
9.  After he hit the squirrel, Bruce had no choice except to drive on.
10.  Sean's suggestion, to listen carefully, was appreciated.
11.  Tyler and Jonathan wanted to listen carefully to Ms. Mathews.

ACTIVITY

Infinitives and Gerunds Personal Interests Activity type: Bingo

Level: High-Beginning / LowIntermediate 

Purpose: Students listen to sentences that require verb + infinitive and verb + gerund combinations. Students practice transforming base forms into the correct infinitive and gerund forms and then identify them on a game board. Set-up: Individually or pairs

Time: 5 minutes to prepare / 15 minutes to do the activity 

Materials Preparation: 

1. Make one copy of the Student’s Page for each student or pair of students. 

2. Be sure each student (or pair) has a pen or pencil. 

Procedure 

1. As a warm-up, ask students what they enjoy / like / love doing when they have free time. Correct any errors in their use of gerunds and infinitives. 

2. Pass out the Student’s Page and ask each student (or pair) to choose either Board A or Board B. Tell them to fold their paper in half so they are only looking at the board they chose. 

3. Tell students you are going to read some sentences aloud. Each sentence has a verb followed by a second verb. Do not say the second verb. Students should look at their board and find the correct gerund or infinitive form of the verb you do not say. (Note: the correct form is on Board A or Board B, but not necessarily on both.) 

4. If they find a correct form, tell students to write an “X” over it. When they have four “X”s in a row  – left to right, top to bottom, or diagonally – students should say “Bingo!” 

5. The winner is the first student to say “Bingo!” and have the correct infinitive or gerund forms marked. 

6. You can model the activity by reading the first sentence aloud and prompting students to provide going as the form of go that must follow enjoy. Make sure students mark an “X” over going. 

7. Read the sentences, pausing for the verb that you do not say, and pausing about five seconds between sentences. 

Sentences (answers in parentheses): 

1. Sara enjoys ____________ to the beach in the summer. (going) 

2. Tim prefers _____________ inside when it’s hot. (to be) 

3. Some people like __________ movies at a theater. (to see OR seeing) 

4. Lee enjoys ______________ movies on his computer. (watching) 

5. Carla loves _____________ computer games in the evening. (to play OR playing) 

6. Tim likes ________________ new card games. (to learn OR learning) 

7. Ana enjoys _______________ time with friends on weekends. (spending) 

8. Binh prefers _____________ books on weekends. (to read OR reading) 

9. Claudia likes _____________ in the park. (to run OR running) 

10. Sam loves ______________ blog posts in the evenings. (to write OR writing) 

11. Lara and Bill like ____________ to live music in the park in the summer. (to listen OR listening) 

Follow-up Ask the winning student to read aloud the four gerund or infinitive forms with “X”s.

Bingo Board A
to run	going	creating	to be
helping	to learn	to spend	seeing
needing	watching	to do	to write
to play	to listen	reading	to dance

Bingo Board B
to watch	doing	to take	to read
learning	to help	writing	to create
to see	listening	going	spending
running	dancing	to need	playing