-
The department head proposed organising a meeting for all
staff members.
-
This job involves analysing our sales figures since
year 2000.
The gerund can be the subject of a sentence:
-
In the US, getting into commercials is often a sign a career is
on the way down.
- Developing new products will be our main objective next year.
The gerund must be used immediately after prepositions:
after,
before,
by,
when,
while,
without
-
They launched the product without doing the
necessary research.
The gerund must
also
be used
after verbs and expressions followed by prepositions:
to be interested in,
to be good at,
to be fond of,
to be for/against,
to be used to,
instead of,
to feel like,
to think of/about,
to look forward to,
to succeed in,
to approve of,
to insist on,
to object to.
- Mr. Rosen is used to travelling abroad. - We're looking
forward to meeting the new sales manager.
- He feels like selling his old company.
Note that we also use the
gerund
after the
following
expressions:
it's
no use,
it's no good,it's not worth,to have difficulty.
-
It's no use trying to phone him. He's on holiday.
INFINITIVE
In English, several verbs are followed by the infinitive. Some of these verbs
are given in the following list:
- Our directorhates to be mentioned. - Sandrahates
working long hours.
Some of these verbs have different
meanings depending on whether they are used with the gerund or the infinitive:
to remember + gerund = to remember something done inthe past. to remember + infinitive = not to forget to do
something. - I remember seeing that advertisement in
the newspaper lastweek. - I must remember to cancel the order
before one o'clock.
to try + gerund = to do something as an
experiment (to
see if it is successful). to try + infinitive = to make an attempt to do
something. Try asking Sally. She may be able to
help you.
I tried to finish the report but I couldn't.
STEP 5
Grammar: Activity
with Answer
Complete the following passage choosing the best alternative
(gerund or infinitive) from the menus below.
ANSWERS
A POPULAR DRINK WORLDWIDE
Coca-Cola's advertising has always attempted
changing contemporary lifestyles.
an international
campaign requires the talents of professionals in
many areas and
extensive testing is always done before
which
advertisements will finally be used.
Ray Charles and Whitney Houston are just two of the
big name stars who agreed
in Coca-Cola commercials.
After
Diet Coke in 1982, the company saw its sales grow
quickly
and the drink is the third most popular in the world. In 1985, the
company tried
the secret formula, but
realised Americans were very attached to
the original recipe.
Today, people in more than 160 countries around the globe
enjoy
Coca-Cola.
John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in 1886 and a
long time has gone by since
Robert Woodruff, president of the company in 1923,
promised
Coca-Cola to every soldier in every part of the
world during World War II.
