For this lesson, we will learn about infinitives and gerunds.
Infinitive:
Infinitives are the simple, basic version of a verb and it doesn’t have any extra words binding it to anything else. An infinitive is formed by this form: To + Verb , and it can be a subject or a direct object.
Examples:
-To play football is your hobby. (Here it’s a subject)
-You need to learn English! It’s an important language. (Here it’s an object)
-I want to swim today.
-To fix a table requires time and skills.
-I want to thank you for your help.
-To work hard is very important.
Gerund:
A gerund is a verb that is used the same way as a noun. Gerunds always end by -ing and it can be a subject, a (in)direct object etc.
Examples:
-Learning English is my hobby. (Here it’s a subject)
-I love learning English from this website. (Here it’s a direct object)
-Swimming has always been my passion.
-We should go dancing soon.
-Flying in an airplane for the first time was scary.
-I really enjoy playing basketball.
An important note here, however, is that gerunds can be the object of a preposition but infinitives cannot. For example: After walking , I was tired vs. After walk, I tired.
The question you would ask is whether we would use infinitive or gerund, the answer is in the next lesson. Find out when we use infinitive and when we use gerund: Gerund or Infinitive?
Let’s do some exercises with what we have learned already.
- Make 3 sentences using infinitives. Make sure to use the infinitive as both an object and a subject.
- Make 3 sentences using gerunds. Make sure to use the infinitive as both an object and a subject.