Infinitiv and gerund are sentence structures that in other languages are formed by sub-clauses. Often times it is very difficult to transfer them literally into another language.
gerund
certain verbs require to be followed by a gerund as an object.
| verbs of liking and not liking | verbs of beginning and stopping | other verbs |
|---|---|---|
| like doing | begin doing | avoid doing |
| love doing | start doing | imagine doing |
| prefer doing | carry on doing | practise doing |
| (not) mind doing | continue doing | risk doing |
| hate doing | give up doing | suggest doing |
➔ like, love hate, prefer use optinally gerund or der to- infinitive
➔ would like, love hate, prefer is to be followed by to-infinitive only.
I love drinking lemonade.
I would love to drink a lemonade.
➔ Verbs of beginning optinally use to-infintive as well as gerund.
However, to-infinitiv relates to a short one-off action, gerund to one of longer duration .
to infinitive
➔ the following verbs are used only followed by to-infinitve :
| afford | manage | refuse |
| decide | offer | seem |
| hope | plan | want |
| learn | promise |
He hoped to marry her.
She cannot afford to lose the customer.
We refuse to work on Sunday.
gerund after prepositions
➔ If a verb is used after an expression requiring a preposition, it needs to be as a gerund.
| apologize for doing something / | look forward to doing something / |
| be against doing something / | speak about doing something / |
| be used to doing something / / | thank somebody for doing something sich bei jemandem bedanken |
| dream of/about doing something / von etwas träumen | think of/about doing something / / |
| feel like doing something / | worry about doing something / |
gerund – to infinitive – shift in meaning
Some verbs change between gerund and to-infinitive and according to context also change their meaning. As a rule-of-thumb, to-infinitve relates to a one-time-action while gerund is used more in connection with a recurring action.
| to stop to smoke for a break | stop smoking quit smoking comletely |
| not to forget to do something as a reminder | I will never forget kissing my girlfriend for the first time. memory |
| He tried to phone you. one time | He tried giving up smoking. several attempts |
| I regret to inform you. to regret in context of a certain occasion | I regret not studying. regretting something generally |
| go on to read the text earlier you did something else | go on reading the text continue (you were just reading the text) |
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