BOOK 3

REVIEW / GERUNDS & INFINITIVES

UNIT 35
Risk

GERUNDS
A gerund is the -ing form of a verb (swimming, walking, eating) used as a noun.
The following verbs, when followed by a second verb, require the gerund:

admit miss
advice postpone
anticipate practice
appreciate put off
avoid quit
can’t help recall
complete recollect
consider recommend
delay regret
deny remember
discuss resent
dislike resist
enjoy risk
finish stop (can also be
forget followed by an
give up infinitive)
keep suggest
keep on tolerate
mention understand
mind

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I appreciate your coming to see me.

I avoid eating red meat.
He considered getting a job for the summer.
I delayed making the decision.
We are discussing sending her to a better school.
She enjoys watching foreign movies.
They will finish eating in about half an hour.
Harold gave up smoking a month ago.
I keep forgetting to call Brenda.
I keep on bumping into him at the supermarket.
They mentioned going to a concert with her. She enjoys watching
Would you mind closing the window? foreign movies.
Harold postponed buying the new house.
I put off doing the project for a week.
Sarah quit smoking yesterday.
Why don’t you stop eating so much garbage?
I suggest marrying someone else.

In certain idiomatic expressions, the verb go is also followed by a gerund.

These expressions usually refer to recreational activities:

go camping
go horseback riding
go hiking
go hunting
go skiing
go window shopping
go swimming
go dancing
go fishing
go jogging
go mountain climbing
go sailing
go shopping
go sightseeing
They like to go camping

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* If the weather is good, we will go camping this weekend.
* They went horseback riding yesterday,
* I’d like to go hiking in the mountains tomorrow.
* They may go hunting in April.
* Many people go skiing in Aspen.
* The shops were closed, so they went window shopping.
* They had gone swimming by the time I got there.
* They had been dancing until late the previous evening.
*Would you like to go fishing with us tomorrow?
* She goes jogging every morning.
* After her husband disappeared while climbing Mount
Everest, she never went mountain climbing again.
* Many people prefer to go shopping rather than
sightseeing foreign trips.

Some further expressions that use the -ing form of a verb:

have fun
have a good time
have trouble
have difficulty
have a hard time
have a difficult time

* I had fun skiing the lake yesterday.

* You can have a good time vacationing in Spain.
* She had trouble finding shoes for her large feet.
* They had difficulty locating the address.
* Frances had a hard time forgiving Lyle.

Other idiomatic expressions that take the gerund:

spend time
spend money
waste time
waste money
* She spends all her time trying to look beautiful.
* They spent their money taking expensive trips.
* Don’t waste your time thinking about him.
* She wasted all her money chasing after her ex-husband.

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sit (somewhere)
stand (somewhere)
lie (somewhere)
find (someone)
catch (someone)

* She was sitting outside reading

a book when I arrived.
* Stop standing around doing nothing! Get to work!
* She was lying on the bed watching television.
* His parents found them making love in the car.
* They caught him stealing the diamond.

INFINITIVES
An infinitive is to + the simple form of a verb.

The following verbs, when followed by a second verb, require the infinitive:

afford mean
agree need
appear offer
arrange plan
ask prepare
beg pretend
care promise
claim refuse
consent regret
decide remember

* He agreed to take her to the hospital.

* They appeared to be happy with the result.
* He asked to go with them.
* We may decide to leave tomorrow.
* I expect to be promoted soon.
He´s decided to prepare
* She hopes to get married in June.
* I intend to buy a new car next month.
the soup

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Harold needs to speak to a psychiatrist.
Soraya offered to take me with her.
They planned to escape together.
Sheila pretends to know more than anybody else.
He promised to be faithful to his wife.
We refused to accept the broken watch.
She seemed to understand what we were saying.
Harry wanted to eat at a fancy restaurant.
Sheila would like to go to Japan next summer.

Some verbs that are followed by infinitives need to be used with nouns or pronouns:

verb + someone + infinitive

advise someone to
allow someone to
ask someone to
beg someone to
cause someone to
challenge someone to
convince someone to
dare someone to
encourage someone to
expect someone to
forbid someone to
force someone to
hire someone to
instruct someone to
He expects her to
invite someone to accept his proposal.
need someone to
order someone to
permit someone to
persuade someone to
remind someone to
require someone to
teach someone to
tell someone to
urge someone to

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want someone to
warn someone to
would like someone to

* His lawyer advised him to confess to the crime.

* The authorities allowed us to have a
public gathering.
* Harold asked Heather to marry him.
* She encouraged her husband to take driving
lessons.
* She always expects someone else to take care They want us to buy a
of her child. house near theirs.
* Nobody forced her to sign the contract.
* He invited her to spend a weekend on his farm.
* I need someone to teach me how to swim.
* She ordered him to leave the room.
* Harold permitted them to search his house.
* She reminded me to bring my swimming suit.
* Some elegant restaurants require guests to wear ties.
* Sheila told her to wait.
* They want us to buy a house near theirs.
* He warned her to stop smoking.
* We would like Sally to invite them to the wedding.

Some verbs can be followed by either an infinitive or a gerund:

With the following verbs, there is little or no difference in meaning: She hates when
her computer crashes.
attempt encourage
begin forbid
bother hate
can’t bear intend
can’t stand like
continue love
dread

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 neglect
permit
prefer
prohibit
recommend
start

* Robert attempted opening the door.

* Robert attempted to open the door.
* He began scratching his nose.
He just started
* He began to scratch his nose.
* He doesn’t bother dressing up.
playing tennis.
* He doesn’t bother to dress up.
* Donald can’t bear smelling his wife’s new perfume.
* Donald can’t bear to smell his wife’s new perfume.
* She couldn’t stand hearing his name.
* She couldn’t stand to hear his name.
* She continued seeing her married lover.
* She continued to see her married lover.
* We hate watching bullfights.
* We hate to watch bullfights.
* I intend taking a holiday in March.
* I intend to take a holiday in March.
* Harold never liked listening to the radio.
* Harold never liked to listen to the radio.
* Patsy loves dancing.
* Patsy loves to dance.
* Heinrich prefers eating at home.
* Heinrich prefers to eat at home.
* Henriette starts working on Monday.
* Henriette starts to work on Monday.

Note: If the main verb is progressive, only infinitives can be used.

She was starting to cry when he saw her.

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With the following verbs, there is a difference in meaning:

forget
regret
remember
try

* She forgot to eat lunch.

(forget to perform an activity)
* She’ll never forget eating at that expensive restaurant.
(forget something that happened in the past)
* I regret to inform you that your husband has had
an accident.
(regret to say, tell someone bad news)
* She regretted having married him.
(regret something that happened in the past)
* She remembered to pay her bill.
(remember to perform an activity)
* She remembered paying that huge debt.
(remember something that happened in the past)
*He was trying to teach her how to cook.
(make an effort)
*She tried eating slower, but nothing seemed to reduce her appetite.
(experiment with something to see if it works)

ADJECTIVES AND INFINITIVES

Many adjectives describing feelings or attitudes can be followed by infinitives.

ready to
glad to prepared to
happy to anxious to
pleased to eager to
delighted to willing to
content to motivated to
relieved to determined to
lucky to careful to
fortunate to hesitant to
proud to reluctant to
ashamed to afraid to

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* He’ll be glad to return the favor.
* I‘II be happy to accompany you to the ball.
* I’m pleased to meet you.
* He was delighted to see her again.
* He was content to see how well she was.
* She was relieved to finish the interview.
* I was lucky to win the scholarship.
* You were fortunate to escape with
your life.
* We were proud to be a member
of the United Nations. I‘II be happy to
* He was ashamed to tell her what had happened. accompany you
* I was ready to leave when she arrived. to the ball.
* I was determined to win the race.
* They were prepared to sleep on the floor, if necessary.
* He was anxious to explain why he was late.
* She was eager to finish her work before 5:00 p.m.
* Are you willing to sleep on the floor?
* Now she is motivated to lose weight.
* He was careful not to step on the wet cement.
* They were hesitant to receive the convicted criminal.
* She was reluctant to accept the offer.
* I was afraid to tell my wife of the accident.

The following expressions are often used with verbs such as see, learn, discover, find out, hear:
sorry to
sad to
upset to
disappointed to
surprised to
amazed to
astonished to
shocked to
stunned to
I was sorry to hear about your brother‘s accident.
He was sad to discover that his aunt had died.

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She was upset to learn that she had lost her job.
We were disappointed to find out that they had moved.
They were surprised to hear about his arrest.
She was amazed to learn that she had won a car.
Heather was astonished to find out who her real mother was.
We were shocked to see how thin she had become.
He was stunned to learn that she already had six children.

She was upset

to learn that she had
lost her job.

She was amazed to

learn that she had
won a car.

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