Notes: Gerunds and Infinitives

GERUNDS______

______

The base form of a verb + ______

When a noun looks like a verb with -ing, it is called a gerund.

  • Can be the ______of a sentence: Jogging is good exercise. To jog is good exercise.
  • Can be the ______: I like reading books. I like to read books.
  • Can be the ______, for example: We are talking about swimming in English class. We discussed quitting smoking for good.

If you want to use an action word in a place that requires a noun, you can usually use a verb with an -ing ending.

For example:Fishing is fun.

______is difficult.

That is ballet ______.

In these sentences, fishing, hiking, and dancing look like verbs, but they are not verbs. They are nouns. When a noun looks like a verb with -ing, it is called a gerund.

INFINITIVES______

______

The base form of a verb + ______

For example: To sleep

To wash

To love

Infinitives and infinitive phrases can be both subjects and objects in sentences.

______To study hard will increase your chances of getting into college.

______: Kathy wants to study with her friends.

Gerunds and infinitives can use the same verb. However, the way the verb is used in each part of speech can change the meaning of the sentence.

Example / Meaning
Gerund / Louise stopped drinking soda.
Infinitive / Louise stopped to drink soda.

Though there are always exceptions to the following, here are two suggestions that will help you distinguish the difference between infinitives and gerunds:

Suggestion #1

Infinitives are more often used to answer WHY-questions. Look at the following conversation:

Louise: I stopped.

Harry: Why?

Louise: I stopped to drink water.

Gerunds are usually not used to answer why-questions. Gerunds are nouns. Gerunds directly receive actions (when in the object position) just like other nouns.

I stopped the car. (object-noun)

I stopped the thief. (object-noun)

I stopped arguing. (object-gerund=noun)

Suggestion #2

Infinitives in the subject position are often used for general or habitual actions. Here are some examples:

To live a happy life is everyone’s deepest desire.

To err is human, to forgive, divine. (Shakespeare)

To fix a car requires a lot more than a screwdriver.

NOTE: All of these sentences can use gerunds (living a happy life is everyone’s deepest desire).

When the action happened in the past, a gerund is usually used.

Past Action / Monika has studied German.
Gerund / Studying German was easy for her.

This action happened in the past. Therefore, use a gerund. Using an infinitive to refer to a past action is not as common and natural as using a gerund.

Practice: Identify each of the following as a gerund or infinitive.

  • I forget locking the door.
  • I forgot to lock the door.
  • I stopped drinking soda.
  • I stopped to drink soda.

A PARTICIPLE is a word formed as a verb that can be used as an adjective.

There are two main types of participles:

  1. Present Participle-ends in –ing
  1. Past Participle-ends in –ed, -en

Verb / Past Participle / Present Participle
rise / the risen sun / the rising sun
boil / the boiled water / the boiling water
break / the broken news / the breaking news
cook / the cooked ham / the cooking ham

**Note: Each of these are used to describe (adjective) not as an action (verb).

Participle / Gerund / Infinitive
End in: -ed, -en, -ing / Ends in: -ing / To + a verb
Acts like: adjective / Acts like: noun / Acts like: noun, adjective, adverb

Step 1: ______(Who/what is the sentence is about?).

Step 2:______(What did the subject do?).

Step 3: Are there any other words in thesentences that have verb endings (-ed, -en, -ing).