Grammar: Gerunds and infinitives

A gerund is the present participle (-ing) form of the verb. An infinitive is to + the base verb (the verb with no ending). Both gerunds and infinitives are action words (i.e., verbs) in meaning, but they act like nouns in the sentence. They always take a noun position: a subject or an object of the main verb.

GERUNDS:

A gerund is a verb in its -ing (present participle) from that functions as a noun that names an activity rather than a person or thing. Any action verb can be made into a gerund.

Spelling Tips:

1. - Adding -ing to most infinitives. Ex: Play-playing; do-doing.
2. - For verbs that end in -e remove the -e and add -ing. Ex: slide-sliding; ride-riding.
3. - For verbs that end in ie, change the ie to y and add ing. Ex: die -dying, tie -tying
4. - For a verb whose last syllable is written with a consonant-vowel-consonant and is stressed, double the last letter before adding ing. Ex: beg -begging, begin -beginning. However: enter -entering.

Different cases:

1. Gerunds can appear at the beginning of a sentence when used as a subject:
Jogging is a hobby of mine.
2. Gerunds can act as an object following the verb:
Daniel quit smoking a year ago.
3. Gerunds can serve as an object after a preposition:
I look forward to helping you paint the house. -Note: The same spelling rules that apply to the progressive tenses also apply to gerunds.
4. Some verbs and verb phrases are directly followed a gerund:
Paul avoids using chemicals on the vegetables he grows.
5. Some verbs can be followed by a gerund or an infinitive without causing a change in meaning:
Some people prefer getting up early in the morning.
Some people prefer to get up early in the morning.

6. Some verbs can be followed by a gerund or infinitive but with a change in meaning:
He remembered sending the fax. (He remembered the act of send the fax) He remembered to send the fax. (He remembered the fax and sent it.)

INFINITIVES:

An infinitive is a verb form that acts as other parts of speech in a sentence. It is formed with to + base form of the verb. Ex: to buy, to work.

Infinitives can be used as:

1. An object following the verb:
Jim always forgets to eat
2. A subject at the beginning of a sentence:
To travel around the world requires a lot of time and money.
3. An adverb modifying a verb:
You promised to buy me a diamond ring.
4. An adjective modifying a noun:
Tara has the ability to succeed.
5. Some verbs are directly followed by an infinitive:
Do you want to call your family now?
6. Some verbs are directly followed by a noun or pronoun and then by an infinitive:
I convinced Catherine to become vegetarian. He advised me to sell all my shares of stock.
7. Some verbs can be followed by an infinitive or a gerund without causing a change in meaning:
Will you continue working after you give birth? Will you continue to work after you give birth?
8. Some verbs can be followed by an infinitive or a gerund but with a change in meaning:
He stopped drinking coffee. (He never drank coffee again.) He stopped to drink coffee. (He stopped what he was doing and drank some coffee.)

Sources:

- English page

- Ginger software