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Now we will revise gerunds and infinitives... |
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COMPLEX GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES |
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We use a passive gerund (being done) or a passive infinitive (to be done)
to describe actions which are done to the subject. |
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1. |
She loves
being told how pretty she is. |
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2. |
I'm tired of
being lied to. I want the truth. |
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3. |
It's very difficult
to get promoted in this company. |
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4. |
My car needs
to be serviced. |
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We use a perfect gerund (having done) or a perfect infinitive (to have done)
if we want to emphasize that an action is completed or in the past.
Often there is no difference between using a simple gerund or
infinitive and a perfect gerund or infinitive, e.g. He denied stealing / having stolen the money.
It was our fault. We were silly not to lock / not to have locked the car. |
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1. |
He thanked them for
having helped him. |
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2. |
Having studied
English before makes it easier to learn this course. |
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3. |
How wonderful
to have finished all our exams!
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4. |
By the time I'm 30, I hope
to have started a family. |
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We
use the perfect infinitive after would like, would love, would hate,
would
prefer, and would rather to talk about an earlier action. Compare:
I would like to see the Eiffel Tower. = when I go to Paris in the future.
I would like to have seen the Eiffel Tower. = I was in Paris, but I didn't see
it. |
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1. |
I would like
to have seen your face when they told you you'd won
the competition! |
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2. |
We would rather
have stayed in a more central hotel, but they were all full. |
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We use a continuous infinitive (to be + verb +
-ing) to say that an
action / event is in progress around the time we are talking about. |
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1. |
I'd like
to be lying on the beach right now. |
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2. |
She seems
to be coughing a lot
– do you think she's OK? |
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OTHER USES OF GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES |
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We use the gerund after certain expressions with it or there, e.g.
It's no
use, There's no point, It's not worth, etc. |
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1. |
It's no use worrying. There's nothing you can do. |
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2. |
Is there any point (in) asking him? He never
says anything useful. |
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3. |
It's no good talking to my dad because he doesn't listen to me. |
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We use the infinitive with to after nouns formed from verbs which take the infinitive, e.g.
agree, plan, hope, etc. |
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1. |
We had
an agreement to share the costs. |
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2. |
Our
plan is
to leave on Saturday. |
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We use the infinitive with to after expressions with quantifiers, e.g.
enough, too much, a lot, plenty
of, etc. When we want to refer to the subject of the infinitive verb we
use for +
person or object pronoun before the infinitive. This can be used before any
infinitive structure, e.g. after adjectives: It's very difficult for me to
decide. |
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1. |
You can't visit the Louvre in a day
– there's too much to see. |
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2. |
There
wasn't enough snow for us
to ski. |
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We use the infinitive with to after something,
anywhere, etc. |
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1. |
Is there
anything to eat? |
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2. |
There's
nowhere to go at night. |
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We use the infinitive with to after question words (except
why). |
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1. |
I don't know
where to go or
what to do. |
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We use the infinitive with to after superlatives and
first, second, last, etc, e.g. Who was the first
person to walk on the moon? |
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1. |
He's the
youngest player ever
to play for England. |
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On the next page you will be able to practise
this grammar. |
