Gerunds and Infinitives

Let's talk about the rules between gerunds and infinitives.

Rules#

Rule Nº1: Gerunds can be used as a subject of a sentence.#

Take a look at some examples.

• Walking is good for your health.
• Making friends has become more difficult since I moved to a new city.
• Becoming a millionaire is a dream of many young people today.

Here, the gerunds (in bold) are part of the sentence subjects ("walking", "making friends", "becoming a millionaire"). All three sentences sound like normal, everyday English.

Now read these two sentences:

To be or not to be — tha is the question.

To mourn a mischief that is past and gone is the next way to draw new mischief on.

Shakespeare’s works.

They sound formal, don’t they? They are poetic, aren’t they? Shakespeare is one of the greatest authors of all time, but his English is famously difficult to understand. And that’s because it's literature. It's formal and it's art.

In those two quotes, the infinitives "to be" and "to mourn" are used as the sentence subjects.

So, it is possible to use both infinitives and gerunds as subjects, but gerunds are much more commonly used as subjects. Just pay attention to how the choice reflects on the tone and meaning of your sentences.

Rule Nº2: Both gerunds and infinitives can be used as objects (who receives the action) of a sentence.#

You may say:

You may also say:

Both sentences are correct, but one has an infinitive as the object and the other has a gerund as the object.

What's the difference?

It’s the verbs that precede (come before) the object. Some verbs require a gerund and some will require an infinitive. In the above examples, we can see that the formula is enjoy + [gerund] and decide + [infinitive].

With practice, you will be able to remember which one is which.

Here are a few examples of verbs that need to be followed by an infinitive:

• Agree: I agreed to go to a party with my friend.
• Be sure: Be sure to ask new acquaintances questions about themselves.
• Choose: I choose to learn English this year instead of French.
• Decide: The president decided not to participate in the discussions.
• Deserve: Everyone deserves to be respected.
• Expect: I expect to know my exam grade by tomorrow.
• Hope: We were hoping to avoid traffic by leaving early.
• Learn: He learned not to trust anyone.
• Need: She needs to learn how to cook.
• Offer: I offered to help my brother with homework.
• Plan: We are planning to watch a movie tonight.
• Promise: My friend promised to find the time to help me move.
• Seem: We seem to be lost.
• Wait: I cannot wait to see my family.
• Want: I don’t want to go to bed yet.
• Wish: I wish to meet with my friends this weekend.
• Would like: I would like to go to the cinema on Monday.

There are lots of verbs that require an infinitive after. You will learn them naturally, as you progress in your English studies. Don't get frustrated!

Here are a few examples of verbs that need to be followed by a gerund:

• Admit: They admitted changing the schedule.
• Advise: I advise proceeding (moving forward) with caution.
• Avoid: She avoided looking me in the eye.
• Consider (think about): I considered staying silent, but I had to tell her.
• Deny: I denied knowing about his secret.
• Discuss: We discussed working at the company.
• Dislike: I dislike waking up at the mornings.
• Don't mind: I don't mind telling people the truth.
• Feel like: I feel like eating sushi.
• Involve: The course involved writing three tests.
• Mention (say something): She mentioned seeing my brother at a baseball game.
• Recommend: I recommend practicing gerunds and infinitives.
• Risk: Don’t risk losing your job!
• Practice: I practice programming daily.
• Suggest: I suggest reading more English short stories.

And here are some examples that can be followed by a gerund or an infinitive:

• Begin: I began learning English this week.
• Can't stand: I can't stand eating meals.
• Continue: I continue studying in the University.
• Hate: I hate drinking alcohol.
• Like: I like to eat vegan food.
• Love: I love to sing in the shower.
• Prefer: I prefer going to cinema than a restaurant.
• Start: I start driving my new car.

Rule Nº3: Infinitives should be used after many adjectives.#

Here are three sample sentences that will help to illustrate this rule:

• It is not easy to graduate from university.
• It is necessary to speak English to work in a hotel.
• It is wonderful to have close friends.

When you describe something with an adjective (underlined in the examples above), an infinitive should follow (in bold). Using gerunds here would be incorrect.

But remember! If you want to make that object into a subject (see Rule Nº1), a gerund should be used:

Graduating from university is not easy. Speaking English is necessary to work in a hotel. Having close friends is wonderful.

How else do you know if an adjective should be followed by an infinitive? The construct too + [adjective] is another way to tell.

For example:

• This dress is too big to wear.
• This car is too expensive to buy.

And the same is true about [adjective] + enough:

• My child is not tall enough to ride this rollercoaster.
• The course was detailed enough to widen his knowledge base.
• This rule is useful enough to understand the usage of infinitives!

Rule Nº4: Only infinitives are used after certain verbs followed by nouns or pronouns referring to a person.#

In this sentence, We is the subject, asked is the verb and her is the objective form of the pronoun she. You must use an infinitive (to go), never a gerund, after certain verbs followed by nouns or pronouns referring to people.

Start with these examples. The objects (nouns and pronouns) are underlined. Notice how the underlined objects are all followed by infinitives.

• Ask: Can I ask you to help me with something?
• Expect: I never expected him to become famous.
• Hire (give a job to someone): Did the company hire you just to sit in your office?
• Invite: I invited a friend to attend the ceremony.
• Order: She ordered the child to stay at home.
• Remind: Please remind me to wash the dishes.
• Require: The test required him to concentrate fully.
• Teach: That will teach you to follow the rules!
• Tell: Who told you to come here?
• Urge: They urged me to continue my research.
• Warn: I am warning you not to do this!

Rule Nº5: Only gerunds are used after prepositions (with one exception).#

Consider this sentence:

I talked him out of taking that job.

Here, the gerund taking follows the preposition of.

Prepositions can follow any word, be it a noun, a pronoun, a verb or an adjective. In the examples below, the prepositions are underlined, followed by the gerunds in bold.

A preposition that follows a noun:

• Novels about growing up are popular among teenagers.
• I have an interest in becoming a painter.

A preposition that follows a pronoun:

I forgive you for not telling the truth.

A preposition that follows a verb:

• She is thinking about trying martial arts.
• He looks forward to meeting his cousins.

A preposition that follows an adjective:

• I am wary of going alone.
• My mom is scared of flying.

There is one exception. Thankfully, it should be easy to remember!

The exception

But is a short word that connects two clauses of a sentence together. It is called a conjunction. Sometimes but can also play a role of a preposition. When but is used as a preposition, it is the same in meaning as except.

If but or except are used like this, they need to be followed by an infinitive:

• I had no choice but to follow her. (I had to follow her.)

• Mary made no stops on the way except to get gas. (Mary only stopped to get gas.)

• There is nothing left for me to do but to collect my money and go. (I only have to collect my money and go.)

You may not see but and except used this way often. Just follow the rule of gerunds after prepositions, and you will get it right most of the time!

Sometimes you will be unsure if you need to use an infinitive or a gerund in a sentence. In this situation, try changing the sentence and saying what you want to say in a different way.