Post on 21-Jan-2016
• How many forms does the English verb have?
Unit 8 – Presentation 1
3: the infinitive, the gerund & the participle
• What is their main use?
To shorten speech & link sentences (among others)
The base form of the verb without a personal pronoun-subject before it.
What is the ‘infinitive’?
And what is it divided into?
Full Infinitive (with ‘to’)
Bare Infinitive (without ‘to’)
a) After the Modal Verbs (except for ought)b) After: had better, would rather/ soonerc) After the verbs make, let IN THE ACTIVE VOICEd) After the verbs see, hear, feel, watch, notice,
observe, look at, listen to IN THE ACTIVE VOICE for an action that we perceived in its entirety
e) After ‘why’ (not)
Bare Infinitive Uses
f) After and that links 2 infinitives
g) After the auxiliary or main verbs do/ does/ did
h) After the verb have in the structure:
have sb do sth
i)After the verb help (to infinitive is also possible)
j) After but (meaning except), in negative statements.
Bare Infinitive Uses (cont’d)
a) After adjectives expressing emotion (in same person constructions)
b) After nouns c) To express Purpose d) In too & enough constructions e) After certain verbs, like:
Full Infinitive Uses
agree arrange care decide fail
want wish need urge beg
claim pretend seem appear attempt
tend seek cause dare hope
manage enable empower promise tell
encourage trust force compel expect
choose hesitate ask demand instruct
turn out oblige order prepare refuse
require either immediately or in the structure: sb + to-infinitive
Verbs followed by a ‘to-infinitive’
f) In impersonal constructions, starting with Itg) After the Indefinite Pronouns & adjectives
like: the first, the last, the only (one), in place of a relative clause
h) After Question Words (exc. why), in place of a subordinate clause
i) To show Negative Result (usu. after only)j) After be (omitting should).
Full Infinitive Uses (cont’d)
These are unchanged forms that show how the infinitive relates to the main verb time-wise.
They are:
Infinitive Time Forms
Infinitive Time Forms – Uses
• If the subject of the infinitive is the same as that of the main verb (same-person construction), it is not repeated. e.g. I want to go home.
• If it is different, then:a) it is markedly mentionedb) it comes before the infinitivec) it is in the accusative case
e.g. I want Jim to go home/ I want him to go home
Change of Person for the Infinitive
• If the subject of the infinitive (Jim/ him) is the object of the main verb (want), it is already in the accusative. When it is not, we turn it with the preposition for, using the rule:
accusative after a preposition, i.e. e.g. I held the door wide open for granny to come
in. • Here, the object of the main verb (held) is ‘the
door’ and therefore ‘granny’, which is the subject of the infinitive, has nothing to do with it, so we need for to make it into an accusative noun.
Change of Person – Infinitive (cont’d)
How is the ‘gerund’ formed?
And what is it grammatically?
A verb-noun
The Bare Infinitive
+ -ing
a) After prepositionsb) As (part of) a Subjectc) As (part of) an Object
i) after certain verbs:ii) after certain expressions:iii) after certain expressions with the preposition ‘to’:
Gerund Uses
admit avoid appreciate anticipate carry on
consider delay deny dislike despise
detest discuss enjoy entail escape
envisage excuse finish fancy foresee
forgive give up hate imagine involve
justify keep (on) love like loathe
lose miss mind mention necessitate
postpone put sth off quit risk recall
recollect report resent resist save
suggest set/ start sb
spend stop sb tolerate
understand waste
Verbs followed by a ‘gerund’ (i)
be busy can’t stand
can’t bear can’t help
it’s no use/ good how/ what about
it’s (not) worth what’s the use of
what’s the point of there’s no point in/ it’s pointless
feel like it’s a waste of
there is no have difficulty/ trouble/ a hard time
Expressions followed by ‘gerund’ (ii)
be used/ accustomed to get used/ become accustomed to
object to objection to
look forward to in addition to
prefer … to ...
Expressions with ‘to’ followed by ‘gerund’ (iii)
These are more or less the same as those of the infinitive, i.e. unchanged forms that show how the gerund relates to the main verb time-wise.
They are:
Gerund Time Forms
Gerund Time Forms – Uses
NB. The perfect forms are rarely used, if ever, because they are too formal & the order of actions is often obvious even with the simple forms.
• If the subject of the gerund is the same as that of the main verb (same-person construction), it is not repeated. e.g. I enjoy walking in the rain.
• If it is different, then:a) it is markedly mentionedb) it comes before the gerundc) it is in the possessive (Jim’s/ his) OR the accusative case (Jim/ him)
e.g. I object to Jim’s/ his – Jim/ him going home alone.
Change of Person for the Gerund
• The Possessive is not very common and can’t be used in all cases, except when the different-person gerund is the Subject of the sentence (or part of it).
e.g. I can’t envisage him living the good life. (the possessive here would be too awkward) BUT
His coming in late made it hard for us to go ahead as planned. (no accusative here!)
Change of Person – Gerund (cont’d)
There are 3 distinct cases with these verbs:
I) Without meaning changes
Start, begin, continue, intend, propose botherRESTRICTION: No –ing if start & begin are in Continuous forms themselves.
e.g. It started raining OR it started to rain BUT It was beginning to get dark
Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (I):
II) Without meaning changes but depending on structure
Allow/ permit, forbid, advise, recommend, encouragea) + -ing when the –ing word is their object
e.g. We don’t allow parking here.
b) + to inf. when there is a person-objecte.g. We don’t allow visitors to park here.
c) + to inf. in the Passive Voice e.g. Visitors are not allowed to park here.
Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (II):
III) With meaning changes (a)
Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):
remember/ forget/ regret/ be sorry
remember/ forget/ regret/ be sorry
-ing: the –ing action happened before
these verbs
-ing: the –ing action happened before
these verbs
to-inf.: the to-inf. action happens after
these verbs
to-inf.: the to-inf. action happens after
these verbs
III) With meaning changes (b)
Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):
stop/ go onstop/ go on
-ing: stop/ continue what I’ve been
doing so far
-ing: stop/ continue what I’ve been
doing so far
to-inf.: purposeto-inf.: purpose
III) With meaning changes (c)
Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):
be afraid/ dreadbe afraid/ dread
-ing: fear the possibility of sth
happening
-ing: fear the possibility of sth
happening
to-inf.: fear the prospect (& so don’t
do it)
to-inf.: fear the prospect (& so don’t
do it)
III) With meaning changes (d)
Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):
trytry
-ing: experiment with/ test sth
-ing: experiment with/ test sth
to-inf.: normal meaning: make an
effort
to-inf.: normal meaning: make an
effort
III) With meaning changes (e)
Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):
meanmean
-ing: normal meaning: entail
-ing: normal meaning: entail
to-inf.: intendto-inf.: intend
III) With meaning changes (f)
Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):
verbs of like/ dislikeverbs of like/ dislike
-ing: normal meaning: general
preference
-ing: normal meaning: general
preference
to-inf.: habit/ state & feelings about itto-inf.: habit/ state & feelings about it
to-inf.: ALWAYS when ‘would’
precedes these verbs
to-inf.: ALWAYS when ‘would’
precedes these verbs
III) With meaning changes (g)
Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):
teach/ learnteach/ learn
-ing: describes the process of teaching/
learning
-ing: describes the process of teaching/
learning
to-inf.: describes the completed
process
to-inf.: describes the completed
process
III) With meaning changes (h)
Some verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (III):
need/ want/ requireneed/ want/ require
-ing: passive meaning (same as
passive inf.)
-ing: passive meaning (same as
passive inf.)
to-inf.: normal structure & meaning
of these verbs
to-inf.: normal structure & meaning
of these verbs
• How many participle forms are there in English?
Mainly 2, but with Time forms.
• Which are they?
i) The Present Participle (same form as the Gerund)
Bare Infinitive
+ -ing &
ii) The Past Participle (same form as the Past Tense)
Bare Infinitive
+ -ed
We use the participles in 3 ways:
a) to form the verb tensesb) as adjectives (or parts of compound
adjectives)c) to shorten subordinate clauses
Participle Uses
a) take out the link/ linking phraseb) omit the subject (if same as that of the
main clause) & the auxiliary verb (if any) & c) turn the verb into a participle (an –ing one
if replacing an active tense OR an –ed one if replacing a passive tense).
How to shorten a subordinate clauseusing a participle:
These are also the same as those of the infinitive & the gerund, i.e. unchanged forms that show how the participle relates to the main verb time-wise.
They are:
Participle Time Forms
Participle Time Forms – Uses
• If the subject of the participle is the same as that of the main verb, it is not repeated.
e.g. Coming in, she said ‘hello’ to all of us.• If it is different, then:
a) it is markedly mentionedb) it comes before the participlec) it is in the nominative (Jim/ he) case
e.g. Jim being present, she couldn’t lie about it.
Change of Person for the Participle
Some verbs are followed by a present participle or an infinitive (full or bare) but with differences in meaning/ message (a):
see/ hear/ feel/ notice/ observe/ etc
see/ hear/ feel/ notice/ observe/ etc
-ing: part of an action was perceived
-ing: part of an action was perceived
to-inf.: in the Passive (instead of
the bare above)
to-inf.: in the Passive (instead of
the bare above)
bare inf.: action perceived in its
entirety
bare inf.: action perceived in its
entirety
Some verbs are followed by a present participle or an infinitive (full or bare) but with differences in meaning/ message (b):
motion verbs: come/ go – take sb/ send
sb
motion verbs: come/ go – take sb/ send
sb
-ing: activity-ing: activity
to-inf.: purpose/ intention
to-inf.: purpose/ intention
Some verbs are followed by a present participle or an infinitive (full or bare) but with differences in meaning/ message (c):
have/ gethave/ get bare inf. (for ‘have’): asking sb
to do sth for us
bare inf. (for ‘have’): asking sb
to do sth for us
to-inf. (for ‘get’): asking sb to do sth
for us
to-inf. (for ‘get’): asking sb to do sth
for us
-ing: seeing the completed result of
sth we caused
-ing: seeing the completed result of
sth we caused
Some verbs are followed by a present participle or an infinitive (full or bare) but with differences in meaning/ message (d):
find/ leavefind/ leave
-ing: when sb/ sth is caught in the middle
of sth
-ing: when sb/ sth is caught in the middle
of sth
to-inf.: (for ‘find’)= discover/ (for
‘leave’)= assign duty
to-inf.: (for ‘find’)= discover/ (for
‘leave’)= assign duty
Some verbs are followed by a present participle or an infinitive (full or bare) but with differences in meaning/ message (e):
bebe
-ing: Continuous forms
-ing: Continuous forms
to-inf.: arrangements
to-inf.: arrangements
• The negative form for the infinitive, gerund and participles alike is:
not + the full form• Infinitive cut short: when the same verb
is implied in a second sentence, we tend to use the infinitive particle ‘to’ alone, not the whole verb/ sentence:
e.g. I’d love to join you but I’m afraid I won’t be able to.
Notes on all the verb forms: