DAY -43

ESL for TECH Program - II

Gerunds & Infinitives (1)
Today’s Topics:

❑ Introduction: Gerunds and Infinitives.

❑ Gerunds
✓ As a subject
✓ As an object
✓ Gerund or present participle?
✓ After prepositions
✓ After possessive adjectives, possessive pronouns and nouns
✓ After idiomatic expressions
✓ After without – before – after
✓ After by

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Gerunds & Infinitives: What are they?
Learn+ing=Gerund

• English is fun. • I like English.

• Learning English is fun. • I like learning English.

• Learning is fun. • I like learning.

• To learn English is fun. • I like to learn English.

• To learn is fun. • I like to learn.

to+learn=infinitive
✓ Gerunds Infinitives function as
a noun.
✓ They can either stand alone, or
be used as a compound form.

To know the truth is,

Doing assignments on time is vital in learning English.
What I want to have. 3
Gerunds & Infinitives: What are they?
Since gerunds and infinitives are nouns, they can be either in the position of a subject or an object of a sentence.

• Texting is quite dangerous while you are driving a car.

• Coding, testing, questioning are John’s favourite pastime activities.
• Roger has not been happy with seeing a bug in his task.
• Jane wants to master English and IT.
• To choose a correct career path is essential in succes.

Both gerund and infinitive can function as a noun, and they can be sometimes used interchangeably.
• To choose / Choosing a correct career path is essential in succes.
• I like to learn/learning a new language.
!!! But NOT always!!!
• I want moving to another city. • In order to meet the requirements, you should read the SRS
• I want to move to another city. document.

• Have you finished writing? • In order to meeting the requirements, you should read the SRS
document.
• Have you finished to write? 4
Gerunds (Ving)

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Gerund
• The gerund is a form of the verb that functions as a noun.

• Gerunds function as nouns or noun phrase because they are often the subject of a verb, the object of a verb,
or the object of a preposition.
For example:

• Trespassing is forbidden.
Subj (noun)
• Cutting down on sugar is recommended.
Subj (noun phrase)
• I look forward to hearing from you.
Obj (of a prep.)
• I regret not doing this yesterday.
Obj

• Different from other nouns, the gerund can be made negative by adding before not.
The best thing for your health is not smoking.
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Gerund as a subject
• Just like a normal noun, a gerund or gerund phrase can be the subject of a sentence.
gerund – gerund phrase – gerund+adv. – gerund+prep.

Analyze how the gerunds are used in the following examples:

• Swimming is an excellent form of exercise! → gerund
• Smoking is not allowed here. → gerund
• Watching TV may prevent children from developing their thinking abilities. → gerund + obj (compound noun)
• Learning another language requires perseverance. → gerund + obj (compound noun)
• Living on your own must be difficult. → gerund + obj (compound noun)
• Eating vegetables gives you a lot of extra energy. → gerund + obj (compound noun)
• Studying too hastily will result in a poor grade. → gerund + adverb(s)
• Reading romantic literature proves to be an unpopular pastime among academics.” → gerund + adjective + noun
• Working from home allows me to spend more time with my family. →gerund + preposition

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Gerund as a subject
Use the following verbs as a subject (noun) in the following sentences

have speak not obey learn

analyze build distinguish

1. ____________ how IntelliJ works on your own is almost impossible.

2. ____________ sincere people from others is not a simple issue.

3. ____________ the rules has been intolerable in this country.

4. ____________ your framework in BDD is highly essential in this project.

5. ____________ a critical thinking in testing is a must.

6. ____________ SVO is highly critical to understand the whole context in English.

7. ____________ fast in English requires practice.

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Gerunds as compund nouns
• Gerunds can be paired with regular nouns to become compound nouns, and they may be called as gerund phrases.
• In the gerund phrases, (compund nouns) the noun functions as the object of the gerund

• Eating vegetables is good for your health.

• Doing tasks sometimes takes days.

• Watching TV may prevent children from developing their thinking abilities.

• Learning another language requires perseverance.

• Focusing on grammar definitely impedes improving your speaking skill.

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Gerund as a subject
Rewrite the sentences starting with a gerund. You can change some words.

• Life in a foreign country can be difficult.

Living in a foreign country can be difficult.
________________________________________________________.
• It takes a long time to learn a foreign language.
Learning a foreign language takes a long time.
________________________________________________________.
• Fix the bugs immediately; that will help you finish your project on time.
Fixing the bugs immediately will help you finish your project on time
________________________________________________________.
• Give up smoking. It’ll make you better.
Giving up smoking will make you better
________________________________________________________.
• You are not allowed to smoke here.
Smoking is not allowed here
________________________________________________________.
• It requires commitment and dedication to learn programming language.
Learning a programming language requires commitment and dedication
________________________________________________________.
• It’s not pleasant to be in a non-democratic country.
Being in a non-democratic country is not pleasant
________________________________________________________.
• One thing I can’t do is framework without a help.
Creating a framework without a help is difficult for me
________________________________________________________.
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Gerund as a subject complement
• Gerunds can act as subject complements after the linking verb be.
• In this case, the gerund acts as a kind of modifier that gives more information about the sentence’s subject
Linking verb be
examples:
Subj. Subj. complement
• My main responsibility here has been running the smoke test in the mornings.

• My favorite thing about being in Japan is eating sushi.

Subj. Subj. complement

• The best thing in life is spending time with loved ones.

• One of her duties was writing weekly reports.

• The hardest thing about learning Russian is memorizing the verbs of movement.

• His favourite pastime activity is playing computer games

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Gerund as a subject complement: speaking
Create sentences by combining ideas from Column A and Column B. Use gerund subjects or it + an infinitive.
Example: Riding a bicycle is easy / relaxing/fun/dangerous

Column A Column B
1. ride a bicycle A. against the law
2. read newspapers B. boring
3. study grammar C. dangerous
4. play tennis D. easy
5. steal cars E. educational
6. listen to a two-hour speech F. embarrassing
7. predict the exact time of an earthquake G. exciting
8. forget someone's name H. frightening
9. walk alone through a dark forest at night I. fun
10. go fishing with your friends J. hard
11. know the meaning of every word in a dictionary K. important
12. be honest with yourself at all times L. impossible
13. change a flat tire M. relaxing
14. visit museums N. a waste of time
15. log on to the Internet

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Gerund as an object
Gerunds can also act as the direct object of some verbs.

examples

• Do you like chatting?

• Do you mind watching my bag for me while I go to the bathroom?

• I really love practicing speaking activities on Discord.

• I enjoy eating at restaurants, but Jenny prefers cooking at home.

• I enjoy not getting up early.

• He couldn’t resist accepting the job offer.

• They’re looking forward to meeting you later.

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Gerund as an object
Complete each sentence with the gerund of a verb from the box:

attend – buy – look after – talk – study – ask – memorize – have – work – watch

studying
1. My sister is thinking about ____________computer engineering.

asking
2. Before the class, the students practiced ________________some questions each other.

memorizing
3. “You should avoid ____________whole sentences” the teacher said to the students.

working
4. Roger has finally given up _______________in the restaurant. He started taking ESL course.

attending the interview?

5. Did you enjoy _________
having
6. When you go away, I am going to miss __________________ long conversations with you.

looking after the children when I am out?

7. Would you mind _______________

talking
8. I avoid ___________ watching TV nowadays.
about politics and __________

buying
9. I didn't use to enjoy ___________things online in the past. 14
Gerund as an object: speaking
Complete the sentences in Column A by using a verb from Column B and your own words. Use the verbs in
Column B only once.
Example: I often postpone writing thank you notes in my emails.
Column A Column B
buy listen
1. I often postpone . . . .
close love
2. I enjoy. . . .
do make
3. I'm considering. . . .
eat open
4. Would you mind . . . .
write play
5. I finished. . . .
finish take
6. I'll never stop . . . .
give go
7. Do you ever think about . . . .
help learn
8. You should keep . . . .
leave teach
9. Sometimes I put off. . . .
try visit
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Gerund as an object: exercises
Complete the sentences in the dialogues. Use the expressions in the list or your own words. Be sure to use a gerund
in each sentence.
buy a new car rain do my homework help him try
read a good book do things repeat that tap your fingernails on the table
get a Toyota smoke go to the zoo

A: Would you like to go for a walk? A: I've been working on this math problem for the last
raining
B: Has it stopped____________? half hour, and I still don't understand it.
trying
B: Well, don't give up. Keep _____________________. If
A: Yes. B: Let's go.
at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

A: I've been having a lot of trouble with my old Volkswagen

the last couple of months. It's slowly falling apart. I'm
buying a new car
thinking about_________________________________ A: Good news! I feel great. I don't cough any
B: Do you think you'll get another Volkswagen? more, and I don't run out of breath when I walk
getting a Toyota
A: No. I'm considering _________________________ up a hill.
B: Oh?
smoking
A: I quit _____________________
A: What do you usually do in your free time in
B: That's wonderful!
the evening?
reading a good book
B: I enjoy _____________________
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Gerund as an object: exercises
buy a new car rain do my homework help him try
read a good book do things repeat that tap your fingernails on the table
get a Toyota smoke go to the zoo

A: Could you please stop doing that?

A: Are you a procrastinator? B: Doing what?
B: A what? tapping your fingernails on the table It's
A: Stop __________________________________.
A: A procrastinator. That's someone who always driving me crazy!
doing things
postpones _____________________.
doing my homework
B: Oh. Well, sometimes I put off ____________________.
A: Do you have any plans for this weekend?
going to the zoo
B: Henry and I talked about ___________________.
A: What are you doing?
B: I'm helping Teddy with his homework.
helping him
A: When you finish _____________________, could you A: I didn't understand what you said. Would you mind
repeating that
________________________________.?
help me in the kitchen?
B: Sure. B: Of course not. I said, "Three free trees."

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Gerund as an object
• If gerund (noun) is in object position, this means that the preceding verb is transitive.
• We have some specific transitive verbs which are followed by gerund.
Common transitive verbs which take gerunds as objects
acknowledge delay excuse keep postpone report understand
admit deny finish mention practise resist allow
advocate discuss foresee mind prohibit risk advise
anticipate dislike imagine miss quit resume recommend
avoid entail include necessitate recall suggest permit
complete enjoy involve pardon recollect tolerate forbid

• If these verbs followed by an object pronoun (indirect object), then infinitve should be used: if not, use gerund.
Example: He allowed smoking. He allowed him to smoke. He allowed John to smoke.

Examples:
• He acknowledged making a mistake.
• Tom admitted making a mistake.
• PO advocated increasing the team’s office hours. 18
Gerund as an object
• I anticipate hearing good news from my job interview.
• He avoided answering my questions.
• We finally completed building our framework.
• I think we should delay deciding about this until next year.
• She denied breaking the rule.
• They discussed opening a new division in Europe.
• I dislike driving long distance.
• The job of an SDET entails testing and assuring the quality of a software.
• Please excuse my being late for the meeting.
• We finished implementing our codes at about 1 am.
• Do you foresee encountering any challenges in the near future?
• I imagine finding a job soon.
• As an SDET, my job description includes running the tests.
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Gerund as an object
• She mentioned moving to another country.
• would you mind helping me with my task?
• I miss being in Istanbul and seeing the Bosporus.
• This job necessitates working hard.
• Pardon me interrupting but there is a client who would like to see you.
• Let’s postpone launching and delivering the product for some time.
• We practiced speaking.
• The boss prohibited smoking in the office.
• I am going to quit smoking.
• I can’t recall meeting him before.
• The team has reported identifying three bugs so far.
• He cannot resist accepting the money.

• My job doesn’t involve travelling and relocation. 20

Gerund as an object

• He risked losing his life.

• He stopped to sip a glass of water, and then resumed speaking.
• She suggested finding another job.
• People mustn’t tolerate cheating and stealing money.
• Enjoy watching the film.

• The ESL instructor highly recommended doing practice more often.

• Our instructor advised doing our tasks regularly.
• The system allows customizing different modes.
• The chief executive office permitted smoking in our office.
• The attendant forbade parking in this area.

• Please keep looking for what you have lost.

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Gerund as an object: Gerund or Infinitive?
• If the following verbs followed by an object pronoun (indirect object), then infinitve should be used: if not, we
use gerund.
recommend – advise – allow – permit – forbid

• The ESL instructor highly recommended doing speaking practice more often.
• The ESL instructor highly recommended us to do speaking practice more often.

• doing
Our instructor advised __________(do) our tasks regularly.
• to do
Our instructor advised me _____________our tasks regularly.
•
• customizing
The system allows ______________different modes.
• The system allows users ____________different
to customize modes.

• The CEO didn’t permitted _______________in

smoking the office.
• The CEO didn’t permit John __________________in
to smoke the office.

• The attendant forbade _______________in

parking this area.
to park
• The attendant forbade drivers ______________in this area.
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Listening
Listen to the conversations. Complete the sentence summaries with appropriate verbs.

Tapescript 8

watching
1. The speakers enjoy __________movies on weekends.
hiking
2. The speakers have given up ________ for better weather.
working
3. The speakers are going to keep on ________
going
4. The speakers are discussing ________ to a concert in the city.
doing
5. The speakers have put off ________ their homework.
leaving the office.
6. The speakers are going to delay ________

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Gerund (Ving) or present participle (Ving)?
There are five forms of verbs you can see in English:

Base form (bare inf.) Full infinitive Present participle Past Past Participle
walk to walk walking walked walked
tell to tell telling told told
fly to fly flying flew flown
bring to bring bringing brought brought

• Gerunds look identical to present participles in that they have the ending -ing on the bare form of the verb
• However, gerunds and present participles are not the same grammatically!

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Gerund (Ving) or present participle (Ving)?
• Present participial clauses It’s often easy to confuse present participles for gerunds because they look identical.
• Analyze the differences between the present participle and the gerund:

Present participials (Ving) Gerund (Ving)

• Gerunds function only as nouns.
• In all of the continous tenses after the be.
- I have been living in the UK for over 1o years. - Living in the UK was what I dreamed.
- Roger was taking a course. - I love learning gerunds.
- We are learning gerunds now. - Flying makes me sick.
- He will be flying to the US at this time tomorrow.

• As an adjective:
- I’ve never seen such a challenging task before. !! Clue about how to understand gerund:
- The film was thrilling. ➢ In the object position: it should be followed by a verb.
- The question was a bit confusing. Example: Roger loves speaking a lot. .

• As a reduction form for some dependent clauses ➢ In the subject position, it must be the doer of the
- After leaving the office, they went to the nightclub. verb.
- Feeling symphaty for John, Jane offered to help with his task. Example: Telling lies has made him a hero.
- The man wearing a black suit asked me that question.
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What we have learned today?

❑ Introduction: Gerunds and Infinitives.

❑ Gerunds
✓ As a subject
✓ As an object
✓ Gerund or present participle?

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