July, Wednesday 29, 2015

                 Gerunds and Infinitives

Gerunds and infinitives are verb forms that can take the place of a noun in a sentence. 

What are Gerunds?

A gerund is a verb in its ing (present participle) form that functions as a noun that names an activity rather than a person or thing. Any action verb can be made into a gerund.

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• Gerunds can appear at the beginning of a sentence when used as a subject:  

Jogging is a hobby of mine

• Gerunds can act as an object following the verb:

Daniel quit smoking a year ago.

• Gerunds can serve as an object after a preposition:

I look forward to helping you paint the house.

Note: The same spelling rules that apply to the progressive tenses also apply to gerunds.

What are Infinitives?

An infinitive is a verb form that acts as other parts of speech in a sentence. It is formed with to + base form of the verb. Ex: to buy, to work.

Infinitives can be used as:

• an object following the verb:

Jim always forgets to eat

• a subject at the beginning of a sentence:

To travel around the world requires a lot of time and money.

• an adverb modifying a verb:

You promised to buy me a diamond ring.

• an adjective modifying a noun:

Tara has the ability to succeed.