GRAMMAR: Verb + gerund/infinitive

El infinitivo

Se utiliza:

1. Después de algunos verbos como: would like, agree, decide, choose, plan, refuse, hope, want, manage etc.
I want to become a teacher.

2. Después de adjetivos:
I’m happy to see you again.

3. Para expresar un objetivo o el porqué estamos haciendo una acción:
I’m here to study English. // I have come to help you.

NO es correcto decir *I’m here for to study English.

Importante:
La forma negativa del infinitivo es “not + infinitivo”: I’m happy not to see you again.

El gerundio

Se utiliza:

1. Después de algunos verbos: deny, avoid, can’t help, like, dislike, enjoy, mind, keep on, suggest, finish etc.
He finished doing his homework.

2. Después de un preposición (normalmente se trata de verbos o adjetivos con preposición obligatoria):
I’m interested in learning English. // I’m fond of playing tennis.

En esta categoría entra también la típica fórmula del final de un email o de una carta: I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon. En esta construcción, “to” es una preposición.

3. Cuando el verbo es el sujeto de la frase:
Smoking is dangerous for your health.
Importante:
La forma negativa del gerundio es “not+gerundio”: I enjoy not doing anything on holiday.

Verbos

A algunos verbos puede seguirles el gerundio o el infinitivo y es sólo una cuestión de estilo cómo y cuándo utilizarlos. Tres de estos verbos son continue (continuar), start (arrancar, comenzar) y begin (comenzar, iniciar).

The fans continued to shout / shouting at the referee.
Helen started to cough / coughing because of her bad cold.
It began to rain / raining.

Otros verbos pueden tomar el gerundio o el infinitivo en la mayoría de los tiempos, pero sólo se los usa con el infinitivo cuando se encuentran en condicional. Estos verbos son: hate (odiar, no gustar), love (amar), can't bear (no soportar), like (gustar), dislike (disgustar) y prefer (preferir).

I hate talking to her.
I like to get up early on Sunday mornings and go riding.

Gramática inglesa -ing vs infinitive - gerundio vs infinitivo

Hay varios tipos de verbos y cada uno tiene su diferencia a la hora de determinar si el verbo que le sigue es un gerundio (-ing), infinitivo con to o infinitivo sin to.
Aquí hay algunas reglas para determinar si debemos usar el gerundio, el infinitivo con to o el infinitivo sin to.

                                               Gerundio -ing

Regla 1 Después de una preposición.

      She complains about working in her new job. - Ella se queja de trabajar en su nuevo puesto de trabajo.

      They are afraid of losing the match. - Tienen miedo de perder el partido.

      We are looking forward to going to the countryside. - Estamos esperando el fin de semana para ir al campo.

      Anne dreams of living in a small town. - Ana sueña con vivir en un pequeño pueblo.

      Andrew apologized for arriving late. - Andrés se disculpó por llegar tarde.

      The children insisted on going out to play. - Los niños insistieron en salir a jugar.

Regla 2 Cuando el verbo es el sujeto. En español el verbo será en el infinitivo.

      Smoking is bad for the health. - Fumar es malo para la salud.

      Eating a balanced diet is important. - Comer una dieta equilibrada es importante.

Regla 3 Como complemento del verbo to be

      The best way to learn a language is speaking it. - La mejor forma de aprender un idioma es hablarlo.

Regla 4  Algunos verbos son siempre seguidos por un gerundio y nunca por un infinitivo. Entre este tipo de verbos se encuentran:
like - gustar

      I like getting up early in the morning. - Me gusta levantarme temprano en la mañana.

enjoy - disfrutar

      Mary enjoys living in Australia. - Mary disfruta de vivir en Australia.

mind - molestar, importar

      I don’t mind going shopping. - No me importa ir de compras.

Regla 5  Se usa el gerundio después de unas expresiones fijas, por ejemplo;
to look forward to, to be worth, feel like, etc.

      I’m looking forward to seeing you next week -.Tengo muchas ganas de verte la semana que viene.

      The book is not worth reading. - No vale la pena leer el libro.

      I don’t feel like going out tonight. - No me apetece salir esta noche.

                                           
                                            Infinitivo con to

Regla 6   Para expresar un propósito o la razón por la que alguien hace algo.

      She has gone out to buy bread. - Ha salido para comprar pan.

Regla 7  Puede ser sujeto o complemento.

      They want to pay. - Quieren pagar.

      I'm very pleased to meet you - Encantada de conocerte

Regla 8  verbo + (what / how / where / which) + to infinitivo.

       I don’t know what to say. - No sé que decir.

       Could you tell me how to get to the bus station? - ¿Podría decirme cómo llegar a la estación de autobuses?

       We can’t decide where to go for our holidays.  - No podemos decidir a dónde ir para las vacaciones.

       We have decided to visit Paris but we don’t know which hotel to stay in - Hemos decidido visitar Paris pero no sabemos dónde dormir,

Regla 9  verbo + objeto (nombre de la persona / me / him / her / us / them) + to infinitivo

       We have invited carmen to have dinner with us - Hemos invitado a carmen a cenar con nosotros

       They didn't allow us to drink alcohol at any time. - No nos permiten beber alcohol en cualquier momento.

                                           
                                               Infinitivo sin to

   Regla 10  Sé usa el infinitivo sin to con los modal verbs. Los modal verbs son:

·         Can - poder

·         Will - es un futuro.  I will go. - Iré. Will a menudo corresponde a la terminación -ré.

·         Would - condicional. I would do it. - Yo lo haría. Would a menudo corresponde a la terminación -ría.

·         Should - debería, deberías …

·         Shall - Para más informaccón sobre shall pincha aqí > Shall

·         Must - Expresa una obligación.

Gerund Examples

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

1.    Jogging is a hobby of mine.

Gerunds can act as an object following the verb:

1.    Daniel quit smoking a year ago.

Gerunds can serve as an object after a preposition:

1.    I look forward to helping you paint the house.

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

       Some verbs and verb phrases are directly followed a gerund:

1.    Paul avoids using chemicals on the vegetables he grows.

       Some verbs can be followed by a gerund or an infinitive without causing a change in meaning:

1.    Some people prefer getting up early in the morning.

2.    Some people prefer to get up early in the morning

• Some verbs can be followed by a gerund or infinitive but with a change in meaning:

1.    He remembered sending the fax. (He remembered the act of send the fax)

2.    He remembered to send the fax. (He remembered the fax and sent it.)

Infinitive Examples

Infinitives can be used as:

       an object following the verb:

1.    Jim always forgets to eat

       a subject at the beginning of a sentence:

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

       an adverb modifying a verb:

1.    You promised to buy me a diamond ring.

       an adjective modifying a noun:

1.    Tara has the ability to succeed.

       Some verbs are directly followed by an infinitive:

1.    Do you want to call your family now?

       Some verbs are directly followed by a noun or pronoun and then by an infinitive:

1.    I convinced Catherine to become vegetarian.

2.    He advised me to sell all my shares of stock.

       Some verbs can be followed by an infinitive or a gerund without causing a change in meaning:

1.    Will you continue working after you give birth?

2.    Will you continue to work after you give birth?

       Some verbs can be followed by an infinitive or a gerund but with a change in meaning:

1.    He stopped drinking coffee. (He never drank coffee again.)

2.    He stopped to drink coffee. (He stopped what he was doing and drank some coffee.)

Verb Lists: Infinitives and Gerunds

Verbs Followed by an Infinitive She agreed to speak before the game.
agree aim appear arrange ask attempt be able beg begin care choose condescend	consent continue dare decide deserve detest dislike expect fail forget get happen	have hesitate hope hurry intend leap leave like long love mean neglect	offer ought plan prefer prepare proceed promise propose refuse remember say	shoot start stop strive swear threaten try use wait want wish

Verbs Followed by an Object and an Infinitive Everyone expected her to win.
advise allow ask beg bring build buy challenge	choose command dare direct encourage expect forbid force	have hire instruct invite lead leave let like	love motivate order pay permit persuade prepare promise	remind require send teach tell urge want warn
Note: Some of these verbs are included in the list above and may be used without an object.

Verbs Followed by a Gerund They enjoyed working on the boat.
admit advise appreciate avoid can't help complete consider	delay deny detest dislike enjoy escape excuse	finish forbid get through have imagine mind miss	permit postpone practice quit recall report resent	resist resume risk spend (time) suggest tolerate waste (time)

Verbs Followed by a Preposition and a Gerund We concentrated on doing well.
admit to approve of argue about believe in care about complain about concentrate on confess to	depend on disapprove of discourage from dream about feel like forget about insist on object to	plan on prevent (someone) from refrain from succeed in talk about think about worry about

Exercises – Gerunds and Infinitives

Choose the correct gerund or infinitive from the parenthesis at the end of the sentence.

1.    She likes to get up early in the morning. (likes / dislikes)

1.    1. Alan can’t stand _________ on trains. (riding/ to ride)

2.    Mr. Harris enjoys _________ people out to dinner. (inviting / to invite)

3.    In the old days, gentlemen challenged their rivals _______. (fighting / to fight)

4.    As the famous saying goes, there’s no use ______ over spilt milk. (crying / to cry)

5.    Jim stopped _________ his shoelace. Wait for him. (tying / to tie)

6.    My wife always volunteers ___________ cakes PTA meetings. (baking / to bake)

7.    Don’t waste my time ___________ about your salary. (complaining/ to complain)

8.    Eva is having trouble _________ on the exam. (concentrating / to concentrate)

9.    Please allow me ____________ your Facebook page. (joining / to join)

10. You won’t forget _________milk on your way home, will you? (picking up /to pick up)

NOTA: Para entender bien el tema consulta los siguientes links.

http://www.fct.educafer.es/asignaturas/c1/paginas/recursos/pdfs/d_10025.pdf

https://www.engvid.com/english-resource/verbs-followed-by-gerunds-and-infinitives/

https://www.thoughtco.com/list-of-verbs-followed-by-gerund-or-infinitives-1211246