Gerunds and Infinitives

Infinitives

An infinitive is a verb used as a noun. They can be used as a subject or an object of a sentence. It is made by adding "–to" to the beginning of a verb.

After certain verbs:	I want to find a job.
After an object:	I want you to help me.
After certain adjectives:	I'm happy to help you.
After certain expressions with 'it':	It's important to practice English.
To show purpose:	I went to the mall to buy some shoes.

Verbs followed by infinitives (to)

Agree	Forget	Prefer
Appear	Hope	Promise
Ask	Learn	Refuse
Beg	Like	Remember
Continue	Love	Seem
Decide	Need	Start
Expect	Plan	Try

Note:

Use the objective case for pronouns that are subjects or objects of infinitives.

We wanted him to go with us.(him is the subject of the infinitive to go)
We wanted Jenna to beat him.(him is the object of the infinitive to beat)

Be Careful!

When the infinitive or the infinitive phrase is used as a noun after verbs like hear, let, help, make, see and watch, the to is not used. For example:

Correct	Incorrect
He made her correct the paper.	He made her to correct the paper.
We all heard her tell the story.	We all heard her to tell the story.
She let me try on her shoes.	She let me to try on her shoes.

Adjectives followed by infinitives

Afraid	Lucky	Ready
Glad	Prepared	Sad
Happy	Proud

'It' expressions + adjectives followed by infinitives

Dangerous	Good	Necessary
Difficult	Great	Possible
Easy	Hard	Sad
Expensive	Important	Wrong
Fun	Impossible

Gerunds

Verbs followed by a gerund (ing)

Admit	Enjoy	Practice
Appreciate	Finish	Put off
Avoid	Keep	Quit
Can't help	Mind	Recommend
Consider	Miss	Risk
Discuss	Permit	Suggest
Dislike	Postpone

Go + gerund expressions

Go boating	Go hiking	Go sightseeing
Go bowling	Go hunting	Go skating
Go camping	Go jogging	Go skiing
Go dancing	Go sailing	Go swimming
Go fishing	Go shopping

Verb + preposition + gerund

Care about	Think about	Look forward to
Complain about	Worry about	Object to
Dream about	Believe in	Depend on/upon
Forget about	Succeed in	Insist on/upon
Talk about	Adjust to	Plan on

Adjective + preposition + gerund

Afraid of	Excited about	Responsible for
Fond of	Upset about	Famous for
Proud of	Worried about	Good at
Tired of	Sad about	Interested in/upon
Concerned about	Accustomed to	Successful in