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How do you know when to use a gerund or infinitive?
Gerund = the present participle (-ing) form of the verb, e.g., singing, dancing, running. Infinitive = to + the base form of the verb, e.g., to sing, to dance, to run. Whether you use a gerund or an infinitive depends on the main verb in the sentence.
Can a gerund be used as a complement?
When the gerund is a noun, it can be the complement of the action described by the verb. It has this structure: Subject + Verb + Complement [Gerund = base form of the verb + ing] + … It is used as a complement when the verb comes after a preposition.
How is a gerund used as a subject complement?
Gerund phrase as a subject: Being rude to customers won’t earn you many tips. Gerund as a subject complement: His favorite activity is reading. Gerund phrase as a subject complement: The thing she hated most about school was getting up early.
Can an infinitive be a complement?
An infinitive is the ‘to’ form of the verb. The infinitive form of ‘learn’ is ‘to learn’. The infinitive can be used as the subject, the complement, or the object of a sentence.
Can a gerund be used as an adjective?
A gerund is a verb with ‘-ing’ added and used as a noun, e.g. “I like reading.” A gerund cannot be used as an adjective. A present participle is formed the same way a gerund is, by adding ‘-ing’ to a verb, and it can be used as an adjective, e.g. “She patted the sleeping cat.”
What is infinitive subject?
The infinitive of the verb is the unconjugated verb form whose English meaning expresses “to” — to sing, to dance, to laugh, and so on. Although the infinitive is a verb form, it may be used as a subject, as a command, and as part of interrogative and exclamatory phrases.
How do you identify infinitives?
An infinitive is formed from a verb but doesn’t act as a verb. It acts as a noun, adjective, or adverb, and it is actually made up of two words: to + verb. These two words act together as a noun, adjective, or adverb. Words that are formed from verbs but don’t act as verbs are called verbals.
What is an infinitive complement?
A “complementary infinitive” is an infinitive used with a verb whose meaning is not felt to be complete: “you ought” or “they dare” by themselves are not specific about either your duty or their daring.
How do you identify an infinitive?
Make sure you are looking at an infinitive and not a prepositional phrase by viewing the word or words that appear after the word “to” in the sentence. If the word “to” in the sentence is followed by a root-form verb, it is always an infinitive.
When do you use an infinitive and a gerund?
You must use an infinitive (“to go”), never a gerund, after certain verbs followed by nouns or pronouns referring to people. To remember this rule, you will have to study verbs that take an object and an infinitive in this context. Start with these examples. The objects (nouns and pronouns) are underlined.
What is a gerund in English grammar?
(Object of sentence) The word “gerund” actually comes from the Latin word gerere, which means “do”. You could say this actually makes sense: the gerund describes an action, something you do. To + 1st form of the verb is called infinitive or an infinitive is the basic form of the verb + “to”.
Can a gerund be the subject of a preposition?
For example: Both Gerunds and Infinitives can act as the subject of a sentence: Thinking is something that comes naturally. To think is something that comes naturally. You can use a gerund or an infinitive as the object of a verb: I like fishing. I like to fish. Only a gerund can be the object of a preposition.
Can an infinitive be the subject of a sentence?
Like a noun, an infinitive, which is the basic form of a verb (e.g., to dance, to read), can function as the subject or the object in a sentence. So can a gerund, which is a verb form ending in -ing (dancing, reading).