Gerund Vs. Infinitive

 

 

لتحميل لائحة الأفعال الشائعة + التمرين انقر هنا

For the best understanding of this lesson, we can divide it into 3 parts :
 

• 1st Part:

          -What is a Gerund and What is an Infinitive ?

• 2nd Part:

           - What are the cases in which we can use the Gerund and the Infinitive ?

• 3rd Part:

           - If we used either the Gerund or the Infinitive in one sentence is the meaning going to change ?

 

  * What is a Gerund and What is an Infinitive ?

 

A Gerund is simply a noun , its rule is : "The base form of the verb + ing".

 

e.g: "to play " the base form of this verb is "play", so by adding the 'ing' the Gerund will be "playing ".

 When we mention the word Infinitive we refer to two types of verbs :

• 'to' Infinitive ( infinitive with 'to' )

e.g: to play

•  Zero Infinitive ( infinitive without 'to' )

e.g:  play

* What are the cases in which we can use the Gerund and the Infinitive ?

 - Prepositions such as "after, before, on, in .... etc", can be followed by a Gerund.

e.g: I will hangout with my friend after doing my homework.

• Note: 'to' can also be a preposition like "look forward to" and "be used to"

so it should be followed by a gerund.



-  Modals such as "can, could; would ... etc", can be followed by a Zero Infinitive (infinitive without 'to')

e.g: You can't come with us.

• Note: some modals have "to" as a part of them, for example '' be used to - have to''

- There are a couple of some common verbs  which define which one we will use( Gerund or Infinitive).

e.g.s: - She managed to get the best mark.
            - You should avoid eating fast food.

 click here to download the verbs

* If we used either the Gerund or the Infinitive in one sentence is the meaning going to change ?

- Verbs such as" love - like - prefer - start - continue " can be followed either by a gerund or an infinitive and the meaning will not change.

e.g: - I prefer listening to Pop music.
        - I prefer to listen to Pop music.

- Verbs such as "stop - remember" , we have to put carefully the  gerund or the infintive cause these verbs will cause a change in the meaning.

e.g: -I remember playing Football with my old friends.( The meaning came  as a memory of my past )
        - Remember to play Football with your friends.( The meaning came as a reminder, the person is reminding me to do something)

To download the summary for the whole lesson + Exercise with correction CLICK HERE