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Contrasting Gerunds and Infinitives. When I stopped eating ice cream every day, I lost five pounds. When I stopped to eat ice cream every day, I gained five pounds. It started raining a few minutes ago. Take an umbrella. It started to rain a few minutes ago. Take an umbrella.
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Contrasting Gerunds and Infinitives • When I stopped eating ice cream every day, I lost five pounds. • When I stopped to eat ice cream every day, I gained five pounds. • It started raining a few minutes ago. Take an umbrella. • It started to rain a few minutes ago. Take an umbrella.
Verbs taking only gerunds • Some verbs take only gerunds. These verbs include avoid, dislike, enjoy, finish, miss, prohibit, resist. • Paul enjoys swimming. • I finished reading the book.
Verbs taking only infinitives • Some verbs take only infinitives. These include agree, expect, need, offer, plan, promise, want. • Luke wants to leave. • I expect to receive a letter today.
Verbs taking both G and I with no difference in meaning • Some verbs can take both gerunds and infinitives with no change in meaning. • These include begin, continue, hate, love, like, prefer, start • I began feeling sick after I ate Luke’s food. • I began to feel sick after I ate Luke’s food. • It starts snowing in November. • It starts to snow in November.
Begin and Start • After continuous forms of begin and start, use an infinitive, NOT a gerund. • I was beginning to feel sick. • *I was beginning feeling sick. • He was starting to get better. • *He was starting feeling better.
Verbs that take Both G and I and there IS a difference in meaning • Some verbs can take both gerunds and infinitives, but they have a difference in meaning. • After stop, forget, remember, the gerund refers to something that happened BEFORE the action of the main verb. • The infinitive refers to something that happened AFTER the action of the main verb.
Something happened beforeaction of main verb = GERUND • I stopped smoking. • (I was a smoker. Then I stopped.) • He remembered mailing the letter. • (He mailed the letter. Then he remembered doing it.) • Something happened after action of main verb = INFINITIVE • I stopped to smoke. • (I stopped what I was doing. Then I smoked.) • He remembered to mail the letter. • (He remembered the letter. Then he mailed it.)
FORGET • The verb forget is usually used with an infinitive. With a gerund, forget is most common in sentences with will never. • I forgot to go to her party. She was mad at me. • First = I forgot Second = I didn’t go. • I’ll never forget going to her party. It was so much fun. • First = I went to the party. Second = I won’t forget it.