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What a quandary! Shall I use the infinitive ‘to say’ or the gerund ‘saying’? I asked my
teacher about it but all that she said was:
"It depends ...!"
But it depends on what? I figured out that she wanted me to work out my brains to see to what
extent I could solve this enigma. Well!
1. Leila stopped to say hello to her friends.
2. Leila stopped saying hello to her friends.
I bet they are both correct, but they bear each a completely different meaning. I got it now; the
teacher meant that it all depends on what I wanted to say!
Grammatically speaking, example “1” respects the rule which says that in a successive
verb situation the second should be in the infinitive. That's why I used the infinitive with its
particle ‘to’. As for example “2”, the verb "stop" is followed by the gerund just like other
verbs such as, remember, forget, regret etc.
Meaning will probably make things clearer:
1. Leila was walking around or riding a bike when she saw her friends and stopped to
greet them.
2. Leila used to say "Hello!" to her friends, but now she stopped doing that. She no
longer greets them because of something. It could be a quarrel or whatever. That's
none our business.
Now let me tell you something! To get rid of such dilemma, one has to read a lot and from
time to time to check for rules, they really help. The verbs that are followed by both the
gerund and infinitive are to my mind tricky and fiddly. Look at this one:
1. He remembered telling her the news.
2. He remembered to tell her the news.
1. I tried to tell her the news, but she refused to listen.
2. I tried telling her but in vain.
In the first example the telling has taken place before thinking about it, in the second,
however, the speaker thought about telling her then he did it. Many other verbs give the same
headache: start, begin, continue, love, hate, like, neglect and others. Is it clear? If not allow
me some time to give you more situations where the gerund and the infinitive are the main
actors.
1
GERUND:
Bear in mind that:
Only the gerund is used after these expressions:
And after some "phrasal verbs" and after verbs + prepositions like:
Carry on | She didn't even look at me. She just carried on typing the letter.
2
Go on | They went on playing tennis despite the rain.
Give up | She wanted him to give up nagging at her.
Cope with | They tried to cope with working in cold weather.
Apologize for | She apologizes for making noise.
Complain about | She continues to complain about keeping the door wide open.
Keep on | She kept on complaining...
Put off | She puts off meeting us until next week.
Insist on | She insisted on doing the task herself.
Blame for | She blames me for damaging her CD player.
Succeed in | She succeeds in keeping the children busy for a longer time.
Think of | We are thinking of moving to a bigger city.
Worry about | They worry about losing their jobs.
etc
Infinitive:
The infinitive is known in terms of "to + verb" and this is the base verb. Yet the verb
without its particle (to) is also a verb but it is bare. This information, I guess, is not witty at all
because the verb without "to" is also imposing in some circumstances. Language is sometimes
too much demanding, isn't it?
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Whole Infinitive {to + verb}
This is compulsory after conjugated verbs
I wanted to buy that car but unfortunately it was very expensive for me.
She advises me to see a doctor as soon as possible.
They'd prefer to take a taxi.
I’d like to stay at home this afternoon.
At last, they decided to rent the apartment.
They agreed to pay the bills cash.
etc
As you notice, when two verbs are successive the second is forced into the infinitive with "to"
of course.
Apart from the cases in which both gerund and infinitive are usable, there are cases in which
only the use of the whole infinitive (to + verb) is accurate such as the case above.
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She could do all the work alone.
You must respect the elderly.
It may rain this evening.
She might arrive at any time.
People should take care of the environment.
You ought to be punctual.
They will build a new hospital in town.
He would come if you invited him.
But be careful, it is not always like this. Sometimes they have different meanings. Once again,
“It all depends...” So let me show you an amazing little thing about the use of infinitive and
gerund after some verbs:
Now see if you can decipher the meaning from these two statements:
I guess you’ll surely do it if you read this paper from the beginning.
Well, these two sentences don’t say the same thing.
- The first one says that the man quitted or gave up smoking. He used to smoke, but now he
no longer does.
- The second sentence however says the ma was walking when he stopped to light a cigarette.
Now if you did it right, try to explain these two other sentences:
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1. I forgot to send them a letter of invitation.
2. I forgot sending them a letter of invitation.
Now can you tell me which of the two sentences below is correct?
1. It stopped to rain.
2. It stopped raining.
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Key:
1. The following questions are easy to answer.
2. Just avoid making unintentional mistakes.
3. He asks the children to stop playing football in the lane.
4. He promised to help me chop up the wood.
5. Unlike Gene Kelly, I hate singing in the rain.
6. We are used to getting up early in the morning.
7. I can't stand waiting while she is at the hairdresser’s.
8. Can you manage to finish repairing my car before noon?
9. I don’t feel like going jogging today.
10. She failed many times but she kept trying until she made it.