GERUND AND INFINITIVE

El gerundio y el infinitivo son formas de los verbos que actúan como nombres. El gerundio se forma con “-ing”
(walking, eating, etc, el infinitivo se forma con la preposición “to” (to walk, to eat, etc.).

¿PERO CUÁNDO SE USA?

Cuando un verbo sigue a otro verbo, siempre necesitamos usar el infinitivo o el gerundio. Normalmente
usamos el infinitivo después de algunos verbos y el gerundio después de otros. También hay verbos con los que
podemos usar el gerundio o el infinitivo.

Puede parecer complicado, pero aquí os dejo unos truquitos para que la lista se haga más cortita y esto sea coser y
cantar.

¿Cuándo usamos gerundio? ¿Cuándo usamos infinitivo?

Como sujeto de la oración (cuando el verbo
empieza la frase)
Ejemplo: Smoking is bad for you
Tras preposiciones
Ejemplo: I’ve been thinking about coming to
your house
Cuando el segundo verbo es el Complemento
Directo de una oración (se puede sustituir
por eso)
Ejemplo: My favourite hobby is collecting
stamps.
Con el verbo go cuando hablamos de
deportes o actividades.
Ejemplo: I want to go skating tonight.
Tras muchos adjetivos
Ejemplo: I’m delighted to meet you
Tras superlativos (the most, the biggest…) y
expresiones como the last, the first, the
second, the next…
Ejemplo:
Joey was the last one to leave the party.
Susie is the youngest person to win this
prize.
Cuando detrás del primer verbo tenemos un
Complemento Directo (una persona o un
pronombre)
Ejemplo:
I persuaded Anna to go to the park
I asked her to go with me
VERBOS MÁS COMUNES SEGUIGOS DE GERUNDIO

o enjoy: I enjoyed living in France.

o fancy: I fancy seeing a film tonight.
o discuss: We discussed going on holiday together.
o dislike: I dislike waiting for buses.
o finish: We've finished preparing for the meeting.
o mind: I don't mind coming early.
o suggest: He suggested staying at the Grand Hotel.
o recommend: They recommended meeting earlier.
o keep: He kept working, although he felt ill.
o avoid: She avoided talking to her boss.

o miss: She misses living near the beach.

o appreciate: I appreciated her helping me.
o delay: He delayed doing his taxes.
o postpone: He postponed returning to Paris
o practise: She practised singing the song.
o consider: She considered moving to New York.
o can't stand: He can't stand her smoking in the office.
o can't help: He can't help talking so loudly.
o risk: He risked being caught.
o admit: He admitted cheating on the test.
o Look forward to: I’m looking forward to meeting you

o deny: He denied committing the crime.

o mention: He mentioned going to that college.
o imagine: He imagines working there one day.
o tolerate: I tolerated her talking.
o understand: I understand his quitting.
o involve: The job involves travelling to Japan once a month.
o complete: He completed renovating the house.
o report: He reported her stealing the money.
o anticipate: I anticipated arriving late.
o recall: Tom recalled using his credit card at the store.
VERBOS SEGUIGOS DE INFINITIVO
o agree: She agreed to give a presentation at the meeting.
o ask: I asked to leave early / I asked him to leave early.
o decide: We decided to go out for dinner.
o help: He helped to clean the kitchen / he helped his flatmate to clean the kitchen.
o plan: She plans to buy a new flat next year.
o hope: I hope to pass the exam.
o learn: They are learning to sing.
o want: I want to come to the party / I want him to come to the party.
o would like: I would like to see her tonight / I would like you to see her tonight.
o promise: We promised not to be late.

o can afford: We can't afford to go on holiday.

o manage: He managed to open the door without the key.
o prepare*: They prepared to take the test /the teachers prepared the students to take the
test.
o demand: He demanded to speak to Mr. Harris.
o choose: I chose to help.
o offer: Frank offered to drive us to the supermarket.
o wait: She waited to buy a movie ticket.
o would hate*: I'd hate to be late / I'd hate you to be late.
o would love*: I'd love to come / I'd love him to come.

o seem: Nancy seemed to be disappointed.

o expect*: They expect to arrive early / they expect Julie to arrive early
o intend: We intend to visit you next spring.
o pretend: The child pretended to be a monster.
o refuse: The guard refused to let them enter the building.
o tend: He tends to be a little shy.
o would prefer*: I'd prefer to do it / I'd prefer him to do it.
o deserve: He deserves to go to jail.
o appear: His health appeared to be better.
o arrange: Naomi arranged to stay with her cousin in Miami.
o claim: She claimed to be a princess.

EXCEPCIONES

Hay una serie de verbos que pueden ir tanto con gerundio como infinitivo, pero cambia su
significado según el que uses. Veámoslos:

Remember + gerundio

Se usa cuando nos acordamos de que algo pasó en el pasado. Tienes un recuerdo de ese momento.

o I remember going to the beach when I was a child. (= Tengo el recuerdo de ir a la playa).
o He remembers closing the door. (= Tiene el recuerdo de cerrar la puerta).

Remember + to + infinitivo

Se usa cuando nos acordamos de tener que hacer algo.

o I remembered to buy milk. (= Me acordé de que tenía que comprar leche).

o She remembered to send a card to her grandmother. (Se acordó de que tenía que enviarle
una postal a su abuela.
Forget + gerund

Significa justo lo contrario a remember + gerundio. Se usa cuando hablamos de que hemos
olvidado que algo sucedió en el pasado.

o Have we really studied this topic before? I forget reading about it. (Se me ha olvidado
estudiarlo)
o I told my brother that we'd spent Christmas at Granny's house in 1985, but he'd forgotten
going there. (Se olvidó de que habían ido allí, de que ese momento ocurrió)

Forget + to + infinitive

Significa justo lo contrario a remember + to + infinitivo. Se usa cuando te olvidas de que tienes que
hacer algo.

o I forgot to call my mother. (Me olvidé de llamar a mi madre, quería hacerlo, pero se me
olvidó).
o She keeps forgetting to bring his book back. (Se olvida siempre de devolverle su libro.)

Try + gerundio

Lo usamos cuando nos referimos a un experimento, a probar algo nuevo y fácil de hacer para ver si
haciéndolo tiene el resultado que esperamos.

o I wanted to stop smoking, so I tried using nicotine patches. (Probó con los parches de
nicotina como experimento para ver si le ayudaba a dejar de fumar)
o She tried giving up chocolate, but it didn't help her lose weight. (probó a dejar el chocolate
como experimento para adelgazar, pero no funcionó).

Try + to + infinitive

En este caso se usa cuando porbamos a hacer algo que requiere un esfuerzo muy grande (muchas
veces físico).

o I'll try to carry the suitcase, but it looks too heavy for me. (Intentaré cargar la maleta, pero
es demasiado pesada)
o She tried to catch the bus, but she couldn't run fast enough. (Coger el autobús implicaba un
esfuerzo tan grande que no pudo)

Veamos las diferencias:

o I tried giving up chocolate but it didn't make me feel more healthy. (dejar de comer
chocolate me fue fácil, pero no dio el resultado que esperaba)
o I tried to give up chocolate, but it was too hard. I always ate some when my friends offered it
to me. (intenté dejar de comer chocolate, pero me fue imposible, era un esfuerzo demasiado
grande)
o It was too hot in the room. I tried opening the window. It didn't help though, because it was
very hot outside too. (abrir la Ventana es un esfuerzo mínimo).
o I tried to open the window, but I couldn't because it was stuck. (en este caso el esfuerzo de
abrir la Ventana fue extenuante porque estaba atascada)
Stop + gerundio

Cuando lo usamos con gerundio significa que lo que paramos es la acción del verbo con -ing. Se
suele parar en ese momento o parar para siempre.

o I stopped working when I was expecting a baby. (Paré de trabajar completamente).

o My grandmother stopped driving when she was 85. (Dejó de conducer totalemente).
o My boss came into the room, so I stopped browsing the internet.
o There was a fire alarm, so I stopped eating and went outside.

Stop + to + infinitivo

En este caso paramos de hacer algo para hacer la acción del verbo en infinitivo (to+ verb)

o I stopped to eat lunch. (Paré para comer)

o She was shopping and she stopped to get a cup of coffee. (Paré completamente de comprar y
luego pare para tomarme una taza de café).

Comparémoslos

o I stopped smoking. (He dejado de fumar para siempre o en ese momento, pero
completamente)
o I stopped to smoke. (Paré de hacer algo para fumar).

Regret + gerundio

Con gerundio significa arrepetirse de hacer algo

o I regret going to bed so late. I'm really tired today. (Me arrepiento de haberlo hecho)
o She regrets leaving school when she was sixteen. She wishes that she had studied more and
then gone to university.

Regret + to + infinitivo

Con infinitivo se usa para comunicar malas noticias. Lamento informarle, lamento decirle…

o I regret to tell you that the train has been delayed. (Lamento informarle de que el tren ha
sido retrasado)
o The company regrets to inform employees that the London office will close next year.

¡ CUIDADO !

Be used to y get used to llevan ing detrás : I got used to eating vegetables

I’m used to wearing short pants

Sin embargo, used to a secas NO lleva -ing: I used to play football when I was a child