Verbs Followed by Gerunds and Infinitives, Study notes of English

Download Verbs Followed by Gerunds and Infinitives and more Study notes English in PDF only on Docsity! Inglés IV (B-2008) Prof. Argenis A. Zapata 1 Universidad de Los Andes Facultad de Humanidades y Educación Escuela de Idiomas Modernos Verbs Followed by Gerunds and Infinitives Infinitives and gerunds1 often occur after verbs: the infinitive as a direct object, as an infinitive of pur- pose or as an adverbial modifier; and the gerund as a direct object. Following are some lists of the most common combinations. I) VERBS FREQUENTLY FOLLOWED BY INFINITIVES (WITH “TO”): AFFORD: My parents were poor; therefore, they could not afford to send me to college. AGREE: We cannot agree to do that; that’s against the law. AIM: The Government’s measures aimed to reduce2 inflation to 2%. APPEAR: Mary appears to be tired; she must have worked a lot today. ARRANGE: The committee has arranged to meet once a week. ASK: John asked to attend the meeting. ATTEMPT: In 1992, military officers attempted to overthrow the President. BEG: They begged to go with us to the circus. BOTHER: Don’t bother to call me; I won’t answer the telephone. CARE: Would you care to join our Conversation Club? CEASE: He ceased to bother me after I gave him a black eye. CHOOSE: We chose to come back because of the heavy rain. CLAIM: Some French scientists claim to have found a cure for AIDS. CONSENT: Mr. Taylor consented to give the inaugural speech at the art exhibit. DARE: When we saw him raging, we didn’t dare to open our mouths. DECIDE: Have you decided to answer the letter yet? DESERVE: Jane does not deserve to pass the course; she seldom comes to class. DETERMINE: The students have determined to have the picnic on Saturday. ENDEAVOR: We have endeavored to do our best at the competition. EXPECT: I expect to see you at the party. Don’t miss it, please! FAIL: Do not fail to visit the art museum this summer; it has beautiful paintings! HAVE: I have to go to school at eight; I have an exam. HESITATE: Do not hesitate to call on me for help; I’ll come right away. HOPE: I hope to hear from you soon; so don’t forget to call me. INTEND: We intend to go to New York next summer; we have been told it is beautiful! LEARN: My wife has learned to control her temper; now she’s an easy-going woman. LONG: When I’m lonely, I long to see my family. MANAGE: During the recession years, we managed to save as much as we could. MEAN: Sheila meant to give me the book, but she forgot. NEED: My students need to study harder if they want to pass this course. NEGLECT: Some fathers neglect to maintain their children. That’s a sin! 1Infinitives, gerunds and participles are often referred to as verbals. 2Aim + infinitive is more common in AmE and it is considered to be informal. In formal use, and especially in BrE, aim at + gerund is more common. E.g., The Government’s measures aimed at reducing inflation to 2%. Inglés IV (B-2008) Prof. Argenis A. Zapata 2 PLAN:3 We plan to go to the beach this Sunday. PREFER: I prefer to stay at home tonight than to go to the party. PRETEND: As Matthew was accompanied by Mary, he pretended to be her boyfriend. PROMISE: My father promised to come early tonight, but he hasn’t come yet. PROPOSE: John proposed4 to start the project tomorrow. PROVE: After the investigations, John’s hunches proved to be correct. REFUSE: I called several times, but Mary refused to answer the telephone. REGRET: I regret to say5 that our plans have failed. REMEMBER: Please remember to buy6 bread on your way back home. SEEK: By crying, children seek to draw their parents’ attention. SEEM: After my explanations, the class seemed to understand everything I said. STRUGGLE: My family struggled to survive during the recession years; they had very little to eat. SWEAR: On the day my wife and I got married, I swore to be a good husband. THREATEN: The terrorists threatened to blow the building if their demands were not met. TRY: I’ve tried7 to contact you many times, but I’ve been unlucky. UNDERTAKE: Since an urgent decision needed to be made, the committee undertook to contact all the members right away. VENTURE: No one ventured to go out during the curfew; they could be arrested. VOLUNTEER: Very few students volunteer to read aloud in class. WAIT: I couldn’t wait to see my son when he was born. WANT: I want to go to the party with you. Please take me. WILL: Despite our warnings, Michael willed to make that dangerous trip. WISH: Many refugees wish to live better in the USA WOULD LIKE: I would like to have some orange juice. Could you make some for me? II) VERBS FREQUENTLY FOLLOWED BY INFINITIVES OF PURPOSE8 EAT: Some people eat (in order) to live; others live to eat. GO: The Martínezes went to London to learn English. LIVE: Some people live to eat; others eat to live. WORK: John works (in order) to maintain himself while studying at the university. III) VERBS OF THINKING + OBJ. PRONOUN/NOUN + TO BE BELIEVE: Paul may be crazy, but I believe him to be an honest person. CONSIDER: John may have many defects, but I consider him to be the best candidate. FEEL: As I saw the accident, I felt9 it to be my duty to call the police. 3 Plan + inf. means to make a plan to do something; to intend to do something. 4Propose + inf. means to intend. 5In this case, the action of regretting occurs first; the action of saying occurs afterwards. 6In this case, the action of remembering occurs first; the action of buying occurs afterwards 7Generally, try + inf. means ‘attempt, to make an effort to do something’. Informally, in this sense, try + and + simple form of the verb can be used (esp. in the imperative). E.g., Try and call me up tonight. 8Infinitives of purpose express the intention of the speaker; they are usually a short form for in order to. 9Feel in this case means consider, believe. Inglés IV (B-2008) Prof. Argenis A. Zapata 5 The teacher does not allow us to smoke in class. ATTEMPT: Jane attempted cheating during the exam. Jane attempted to cheat during the exam. BEGIN: We began studying at 8 last night. We began to study at 8 last night. CONTINUE: John continued being lazy despite my advice. John continued to be lazy despite my advice. DISLIKE: Mary dislikes dancing in the streets; it’s dangerous. Mary dislikes to dance in the streets; it’s dangerous. DREAD: Almost everybody dreads going to the dentist. Almost everybody dreads to go to the dentist. FORGET: I forgot putting gas in the car this morning. (I put gas in the car this morning, then I forgot that I had done it.) I forgot to put gas in the car this morning; now the tank is empty. (I forgot that the car needed gas.) HATE: I hate getting up early on Sundays. I hate to get up early on Sundays. INTEND: My parents intend leaving this afternoon. My parents intend to leave afternoon. LOVE: Some children love being naughty. Some children love to be naughty. LIKE: My wife likes going to the movies. My wife likes to go to the movies. NEGLECT: My uncle went bankrupt because he neglected looking after his business. My uncle went bankrupt because he neglected to look after his business. PLAN: My mother plans (on) having surgery in December. My mother plans to have surgery in December. PERMIT: Our teacher does not permit smoking in class. Our teacher does not permit anyone to smoke in class. PREFER: Sheila prefers dancing to drinking. Sheila prefers to dance than to drink. PROPOSE: Michael proposed14 starting at twelve so that we could finish earlier. Michael proposed to start at twelve so that he could finish earlier. START: The police started searching for the criminal. The police started to search for the criminal. REGRET: Many people regret not having studied when they were young. Many people regret not to have studied when they were young. REMEMBER: I can’t remember putting gas this morning. (I cannot recall the act of putting gas this morning.) Did you remember to pick up the clothes from the cleaner’s? (Did you remember to do the act of picking up the clothes?) STOP: George stopped drinking two years ago. (George no longer drinks.) George stopped to drink some coffee. (George stopped what he was doing in order to drink some coffee.) TRY: Some students tried cheating, but it did not work. 14Propose + gerund means ‘suggest’. Inglés IV (B-2008) Prof. Argenis A. Zapata 6 Please try solving the problem by yourself. (= experiment) Some students tried to cheat, but it did not work. VII) VERBS FOLLOWED BY A NOUN, A NOUN PHRASE OR AN OBJECT PRONOUN PLUS AN INFINITIVE (WITH “TO”): ADVISE: The teacher advised us to review for the examination. ALLOW: The teacher doesn’t allow us to smoke in the classroom. ASK: The teacher asked us to write a report on AIDS. BEG: I begged John to take me the movies, but he refused. CAUSE: Flowers cause some people to sneeze. CHALLENGE: Sean challenged David to cross the river in five minutes. COMPEL: I cannot compel you to study; you are already adults and know what you do. COMMAND: The colonel commanded the soldiers to stand at attention. ENABLE: His support enabled us to complete our project. ENCOURAGE: Our teacher usually encourages us to study every day. EXPECT:15 I expect all of you to pass this course with high grades. FORBID: My mother forbade me to go out at night; she says it’s dangerous. FORCE: The thieves forced her to hand in all her belongings. GET: The manager got John to resign; now he is unemployed. HATE: I’d hate my wife to know about my previous love affairs.16 HELP: Stephen helped me to solve the math problems. HIRE: I hired ten men to build my house quickly. INSTRUCT: The secretary instructed me to complete the form before I left. INTEND: My wife intends me to become a doctor. INVITE: The committee invited all the members to participate in the discussions. LIKE: I would like you to come for dinner tomorrow. LOVE: I’d love you to go17 with to the dance tonight. MEAN: I didn’t mean you to think you’re wrong. ORDER: Because the player didn’t respect the umpire, the umpire ordered the player to leave the game. PERMIT: I cannot permit you to do that to your children. PERSUADE: Gladys finally persuaded her boyfriend to go to the dance with her. PREFER: Mary prefers you to dance with her. REMIND: Please remind me to pay the electricity bill before October 12. REQUEST: His friends requested him to join their club. REQUIRE: The test required us to know all about reported speech. TEACH: My mother taught me (how) to dance pasodobles. TELL: The teacher told us to come at seven tomorrow. TEMPT: The offer of a good job tempted him to leave school. URGE: The doctor urged my father to rest for a while. WANT: I want you to go to town with me, nobody else. 15Expect + personal object pronoun + inf. may, on the one hand, express a thought about the future, but it can also mean ‘I think it is your/his/her, etc. duty to do something’ or ‘I’ll be annoyed if you don’t do something’. 16This use of hate + obj. pron/noun + inf. is used mainly in colloquial English. 17Love + obj. pron./noun + inf. is used mainly in colloquial English. Inglés IV (B-2008) Prof. Argenis A. Zapata 7 WARN: The teacher warned the students not to cheat during the exam. WISH: I wish Martha to meet my parents when she visits my hometown. WILL: The crowd was cheering her, willing18 her to win. VIII) VERBS FOLLOWED BY A NOUN, A NOUN PHRASE OR AN OBJECT PRONOUN PLUS AN INFINITIVE (WITHOUT “TO”)19 (Verbs of causing) BID: The doctor bade (= commanded) me hold out my tongue. HAVE: I had (= caused) the barber cut my hair. HELP: My mother helped me write the project. LET: Please let (= permit) me go with you. MAKE: The teacher made (= forced; caused) us do20 the exercise twice. IX) VERBS FOLLOWED BY A NOUN, A NOUN PHRASE OR AN OBJECT PRONOUN PLUS A PRESENT PARTICIPLE21 OR AN INFINITIVE (WITHOUT “TO”) (Verbs of sense or percep- tion)22 HEAR: We heard John sing at the concert. We heard John singing at the concert. FEEL: Everyone felt the weather become warm. Everyone felt the weather becoming warm. OBSERVE: The medical students observed the surgeon perform the operation. The medical students observed the surgeon performing the operation. SEE: Mary saw me break the furniture. Mary saw me breaking the furniture. SMELL: We smelled the fish fry. We smelled the fish frying. WATCH: I watched the bird make its nest. I heard the bird making its nest. Note: The following verbs are usually followed by present participles. CATCH: I caught my students cheating during the exam. FIND: My father found Paul and me shoveling the snow. X) EXPRESSIONS FOLLOWED BY INFINITIVES:23 18Will here means ‘to try to make something happen or to make somebody or oneself do something by using one’s mental powers.’ 19 The infinitive without “to” is also called the bare infinitive or the simple form of the verb. 20In the passive, however, the infinitive is used after make “We were made to do the exercise twice.” 21In some books you will find that the present participle is incorrectly referred to as the gerund. 22The construction with the gerund indicates that we perceived only part of the action in progress; we did not perceive either its beginning or its end. The construction with the infinitive denotes that you perceived all the action, from beginning to end. 23Some of these expressions must have the impersonal pronoun it as their subject; some require a personal pronoun (i.e., I, you, he, she, we, they) as their subject. Inglés IV (B-2008) Prof. Argenis A. Zapata 10 HAD BETTER, WOULD RATHER: I’d better hurry, or I’ll miss the train. I’d rather not go out at night; I’ll wait till tomorrow. LET: Let me help you; you mustn’t push the car alone. NEED:27 You needn’t wake up early on Sunday; we’ve already done all the work. DARE: I dare not wake John up now; he’ll get furious. NOTES: 1. Notice that the sentences that contain verbs followed by infinitives can be negated in two different ways. For example, the negative forms of I want you to go are: a) I do not want you to go. (Here ‘not’ negates the entire predicate.) b) I want you not to go. (Here ‘not’ negates only ‘to go’.) 2. Short answers to questions that contain verbs followed by infinitives can be made in two different ways, as indicated below. Q: Do you want to go to work here? A: Yes, I do. or Yes, I want to. Notice that the second form ends in to and it is an elliptical form for ‘Yes, I want to work here.’ An- other example of an ellipsis is: John doesn’t study medicine, but he wants to. 3. In general, after prepositions we use the gerund: PREP. + GERUND E.g., I am tired of working at night. John is thinking of building a house next year. 4. After the verbs COME and GO we often use AND + SIMPLE FORM of the verb, in the imperative. E.g., Go and help John. Come and help me carry this desk. But if come and go are followed by the verb see, the infinitive is usually used. E.g., Come to see me on Tuesday. Go to see the doctor; you have a terrible cough. 5. BE + INFINITIVE is used to: a) Convey impersonal orders or instructions (usually in the third person), as in: No one is to leave this building without permission of the police. (= No one must leave.) b) Convey a plan, as in: Mary is to be married next moth. c) To express remote future, usually a future-in-the-past. In this case be + inf. means something like ‘to be destined to’. E.g., He received a blow on the head. It didn’t worry him at the time, but it was to be very troublesome later. (= it turned out to be or it proved to be troublesome.) REFERENCES: Allen, W. S. (1974). Living English structure (5th ed.). London: Longman. 27If dare and need are preceded by the auxiliaries do/will/would, they’re followed by the infinitive with ‘to’. Inglés IV (B-2008) Prof. Argenis A. Zapata 11 Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J. (1985). A comprehensive grammar of the English language. London: Longman. Raimes, A. 1990. How English works. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Azar, B. S. (2000). Understanding and using English grammar (3rd ed.). White Plains, NY: Long- man. Thomson, A. J. & Martinet, A. V. (1969). A practical English grammar (2nd ed.). Oxford: Ox- ford University Press. Wishon, G. E., & Burks, J. M. (l968). Let’s write English (2nd ed.). Complete Book. New York: American Book Company.