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Advanced gerunds and infinitives

Different forms of gerunds and infinitives

  1. She hates being told she should do more exercise. I’m tired of being lied to. I want the truth. It’s not easy to be liked when you’re the boss. These pills need to be taken after meals.

We use a passive gerund (being done) or a passive infinitive (to be done) to describe actions which are done to the subject.

  1. He thanked them for having helped him. Having studied one language before makes it easier to learn another. How wonderful to have finished all our exams! By the time I’m 30, I hope to have started a family.

We use a perfect gerund (having done) or a perfect infinitive (to have done) if we want to emphasize that an action is completed or in the past. Often there is no difference between using a simple gerund or infinitive and a perfect gerund or infinitive, e.g. He denied stealing / having stolen the money. It was our fault. We were silly not to lock / not to have locked the car.

  1. I would like to have seen your face when they told you you’d won the competition! We would rather have stayed in a more central hotel, but they were all full.

We use the perfect infinitive after would like, would love, would hate, would prefer, and would rather to talk about an earlier action. Compare: I would like to see the Eiffel Tower. (= when I go to Paris in the future) I would like to have seen the Eiffel Tower. (= I was in Paris, but I didn’t see it)

  1. I’d like to be lying on the beach right now. She seems to be coughing a lot do you think she’s OK?

We use a continuous infinitive (to be + verb + -ing) to say that an action / event is in progress around the time we are talking about.

Other uses of gerunds and infinitives

1 It's no use worrying. There’s nothing you can do. Is there any point (in) asking Mark? He never has anything useful to say. It's no good talking to my sister, because she doesn’t listen to me.

We use the gerund after certain expressions with it or there, e.g. It’s no use, There’s no point, It’s no good, etc.

2 We had an agreement to share the costs.

We use the infinitive with to: after nouns formed from verbs which take the infinitive, e.g. agree, plan, hope, etc.

3 Our plan is to leave on Saturday. You can’t visit the Louvre in a day there’s too much to see. There wasn’t enough snow for us to ski.

after expressions with quantifiers, e.g. enough, too much, a lot, plenty of, etc. When we want to refer to the subject of the infinitive verb we use for + person or object pronoun before the infinitive. This can be used before any infinitive structure, e.g. after adjectives: It’s very difficult for me to decide.

4 Is there anything to eat? There’s nowhere to go at night.

after something, anywhere, etc.

5 I don’t know where to go or what to do.

after question words (except why).

6 He’s the youngest player ever to play for England.

after superlatives and first, second, last, etc., e.g. Who was the first person to walk on the moon?

And + verb

We often use and + verb instead of to + infinitive after try, wait, come, and go, e.g. Come and see me when you’re next in New York. I’m not sure what’s going to happen - we need to wait and see.

Most older adulst wouldrather staying in their homes, even if that involves living alone. Having lived on their own for a long time, many seniors will ve reluctant to give up their independence. Some others have nowhere to go. Elderly people may need to be reminded / reminded to take their medicine Making the decision to bring in homecare can be a difficut one. Homecare robots can help to provide / provide/ by providing both practical ans therapeutic assistance to seniors in their homes. Only 10% of japanese elder-care institution report having introduced care robots. Are 2 options happening at the same time -> in the past having lived

ing / to / infinitive (no se si va aquí)

After all the confusion, the students were made to retake the exam. the athlete was trilled to have broken the world record. she seems to have forgotten the appoinment that we made last week. It is no use totaking antibiotics if you have a virus. She regretted not having studied harder for the test. I expect to finish cooking before the guest arrive. have finished -> a past in the futurre He claims to have seen a UFO in the sky last night. Your remarks have offended me. I will not tolerate beeing treated like that In these cases, doctos often recommend to taking sleeping tablets After the years, i have finally got used to live in this city got used to living in?¿?¿ I would rather to have statyed at home.