Post by moon125 on Nov 4, 2024 0:01:36 GMT -5
When to use infinitive and gerund in English? Or: when to use to or ing in English?
There is a very common doubt about the use of the gerund or infinitive in certain verbs in English.
This happens because both gerund verbs and infinitive verbs in English ( ing and to ) have the ability to replace a noun in a sentence.
On the one hand, the gerund in English is shopify website design that verbal form represented by the ending -ing added to the end of the base verb, capable of placing it in the function of a noun in certain contexts.
And on the other hand, the infinitive in English is represented by the addition of the particle to before the base verb. This verbal form, in certain contexts, also places the verb in a noun position.
For example:
But, if both verb forms can fulfill the same role, how do you know when to use the gerund or infinitive in these contexts?
Check out everything about the use of to and ing below and find out which to use – infinitive or gerund – in all cases!
Use of the gerund in English: how to use ing ?
It is important to remember that the gerund we know in Portuguese (the one that characterizes an action in progress) is not the same as the gerund in English that we are dealing with in this post.
The characterization of an ongoing action in English also exists through the addition of -ing, as, for example, in “they are eating”.
However, the gerund we are talking about here is the verb form that turns a verb into a noun.
For example:
➔ I love music . (noun music -> object of the sentence)
The sentence above uses a noun ( music ) as the object.
However, if we want to use a verb as an object ( listen to music, for example), we can use the gerund to put it in the noun function.
➔ I love listening to music. (verb in the noun function -> object of the sentence). ️✔
➔ I love listening to music. (verb is not in the noun function -> grammatically incorrect sentence).
As seen above, then, we apply the gerund (or gerund) to verbs in English by adding the ending -ing.
For example:
Verb in English Gerund
Read Reading
Sleep Sleeping
Leave Leaving
Win Winn ing
In this way, we can use them in a sentence as a noun.
When the verb is in the noun position in a sentence, it can fulfill different roles: object (as seen in the example above), subject or complement .
Gerund in the object function – examples
“I hate cooking . ” -> object of the sentence
“ I enjoy painting .” -> object of the sentence
“My favorite thing to do is hiking .” -> object of the sentence
Gerund in the function of subject – examples
“ Driving is not very difficult .” -> subject of the sentence
“ Drinking water is crucial for your health.” - > subject of the sentence
“ Passing this test was the hardest thing I had to do this year.” -> subject of the sentence
Gerund in the complement function – examples
“She is good at observing people .” - > sentence completion
“They found the place by using a map.” -> sentence completion
“ He is afraid of missing the registration date.” - > sentence completion
As we will see below, the infinitive also has the same function of placing a verb in the position of a noun – complement, object or subject. In many cases, the choice between the infinitive and the gerund is simply a stylistic choice – the gerund sounds more natural in everyday speech.
Verbs that can only be followed by a gerund
There are, however, verbs that can only be followed by a “nominalized” verb from the gerund (and never by the infinitive).
See what some of these verbs are:
There is a very common doubt about the use of the gerund or infinitive in certain verbs in English.
This happens because both gerund verbs and infinitive verbs in English ( ing and to ) have the ability to replace a noun in a sentence.
On the one hand, the gerund in English is shopify website design that verbal form represented by the ending -ing added to the end of the base verb, capable of placing it in the function of a noun in certain contexts.
And on the other hand, the infinitive in English is represented by the addition of the particle to before the base verb. This verbal form, in certain contexts, also places the verb in a noun position.
For example:
But, if both verb forms can fulfill the same role, how do you know when to use the gerund or infinitive in these contexts?
Check out everything about the use of to and ing below and find out which to use – infinitive or gerund – in all cases!
Use of the gerund in English: how to use ing ?
It is important to remember that the gerund we know in Portuguese (the one that characterizes an action in progress) is not the same as the gerund in English that we are dealing with in this post.
The characterization of an ongoing action in English also exists through the addition of -ing, as, for example, in “they are eating”.
However, the gerund we are talking about here is the verb form that turns a verb into a noun.
For example:
➔ I love music . (noun music -> object of the sentence)
The sentence above uses a noun ( music ) as the object.
However, if we want to use a verb as an object ( listen to music, for example), we can use the gerund to put it in the noun function.
➔ I love listening to music. (verb in the noun function -> object of the sentence). ️✔
➔ I love listening to music. (verb is not in the noun function -> grammatically incorrect sentence).
As seen above, then, we apply the gerund (or gerund) to verbs in English by adding the ending -ing.
For example:
Verb in English Gerund
Read Reading
Sleep Sleeping
Leave Leaving
Win Winn ing
In this way, we can use them in a sentence as a noun.
When the verb is in the noun position in a sentence, it can fulfill different roles: object (as seen in the example above), subject or complement .
Gerund in the object function – examples
“I hate cooking . ” -> object of the sentence
“ I enjoy painting .” -> object of the sentence
“My favorite thing to do is hiking .” -> object of the sentence
Gerund in the function of subject – examples
“ Driving is not very difficult .” -> subject of the sentence
“ Drinking water is crucial for your health.” - > subject of the sentence
“ Passing this test was the hardest thing I had to do this year.” -> subject of the sentence
Gerund in the complement function – examples
“She is good at observing people .” - > sentence completion
“They found the place by using a map.” -> sentence completion
“ He is afraid of missing the registration date.” - > sentence completion
As we will see below, the infinitive also has the same function of placing a verb in the position of a noun – complement, object or subject. In many cases, the choice between the infinitive and the gerund is simply a stylistic choice – the gerund sounds more natural in everyday speech.
Verbs that can only be followed by a gerund
There are, however, verbs that can only be followed by a “nominalized” verb from the gerund (and never by the infinitive).
See what some of these verbs are: