Gerunds & Infinitives

Gerunds & Infinitives

by Shan Shan

​Fixed Expressions with Gerunds

​Gerunds are used with may fixed expressions:

• ​it's no use ...

• ​have difficulty ...

• ​a waste of money/time ...

• ​not worth ...

• ​fancy ...

• ​suggest ...

• ​imagine ...

• ​mention ...

• ​look forward to

​Infinitives & Gerunds can be Interchangeable

​We can often use the infinitive interchangeably with the gerund.

​✔ The boys spent an afternoon to clean their own rooms.

​✔ The boys spent an afternoon cleaning their own rooms.

​

​Sometimes, only one form is grammatical.

​✘ Do you fancy to go for a walk in the park after dinner?

​✔ Do you fancy going for a walk in the park after dinner?

​✘ Can you imagine me to sing a song in front of everybody?

​✔ Can you imagine me singing a song in front of everybody?

​The Verb-Noun-Verb Structure

​Some Verb-Noun-Verb structures require either the bare infinitive or the gerund after the noun.

​✘ The boy saw the dog attacked the robber.

​

​For the Verb-Noun-Verb structure, we use the past tense once in Verb 1. It is wrong to use the past tense again in Verb 2. Use the base form attack or the -ing form attacking for Verb 2. Never use the -ed/en form.

​✔ The boy saw the dog attack the robber.

​​✔ The boy saw the dog attacking the robber.