USO DEL INFINITIVO Y DEL GERUNDIO EN INGLÉS.

VERBS FOLL
FOL L OWED BY AN INFINITIVE
INFINITIVE OR A GERUND
GERUND

1. Verbs followed by an infinitive with “to”.

Verb Examples
Afford I can’t afford to fail the exam.
Agree He agreed to help me.
Appear His health appeared to be better.
Arrange Naomi arranged to stay with her cousin in
Miami.
Ask She asked to leave.
Choose He chose to help his father.
Continue She continued to walk.
Decide Have they decided to move again?
Deserve He deserves to go to jail.
Expect They expect to arrive early.
Hope I hope to begin college this year.
Intend We intend to visit you next spring.
Learn I learnt to speak German when I was a
 boy.
Manage He managed to open the door without a
key.
Mean I didn’t mean to hurt you.
Offer Frank offered to drive us to the airport.
Plan We plan to go to the USA this summer.
Prefer He prefers to eat at 7pm
Prepare They prepared to take the test.
Promise She promised to stop smoking.
Refuse She refused to tell me.
Want I don’t want to go with you

2. Expressions or modals followed by an infinitive.

infinitive .

Expression Example
Used to I used to travel a lot when I was younger
Would like to I would like to introduce you to…
Ought to I ought to do more exercise
Be able to I was able to open the door
Have to I have to leave now.

3. Verbs followed by an object and an infinitive.

infinitive .

Verb Examples
Advise The teacher advised the students to study
harder.
Allow My father allowed me to stay out late.
Ask I must ask you to reconsider your
statement.
Beg They begged her to stay for another
month.
Encourage She encouraged him to keep trying.
Expect They didn’t expect us to win the prize.
Forbid The teacher forbade us to use translators.
Invite We invite you to attend the ceremony.
Order He ordered the group to leave the
 building.
Prepare He prepared his son to be a scientist.
Promise The student promised the teacher not to
cheat again.
Remind Please remind him to check the references.
Require They will require you to submit an outline.
Teach We should teach them to follow standard
 procedures.
Tell Did she tell you to make three copies?
Want I don’t want you to come.
Warn Why didn’t they warn me to turn down the
heating?

4. Verbs followed by a gerund.

gerund .

Verb Example
Admit He admitted cheating on the test.
Appreciate I appreciated her helping me.
Avoid I avoided talking to him.
Consider She considered moving to Paris
Deny He denied committing the crime.
Finish He finished doing his homework.
Keep Mary keeps talking about her problems.
Mention He mentioned going to that college.
Mind Do you mind waiting here?
Miss She misses living near the beach.
Practise She practised singing the song.
Quit (AE) She quit worrying about the problem.
Risk He risked being caught.
Suggest She suggested going to a film.

5. Expressions followed by a gerund.

gerund .

Expression Examples
Can’t stand I can’t stand being late for appointments.
Don’t mind I don’t mind getting up early.
Feel like I feel like having a shower.
It’s no use It’s no use trying another method.
Look forward to I’m looking forward to hearing about you.
Get used to She’s getting used to working long hours.
Be used to I’m used to reading in English.
Spend (time) doing He spent all day sending e-mails.
Waste (time )doing He wasted his life writing bad novels.

6. Verbs followed by an infinitive without “to”.

 Verbs
Let
Make
VERBS FOLL
FOL L OWED BY GERUNDS OR INFINITIVES
INFINITIVES
(DIFFERENT MEANING)
begin She began singing.
She began to sing.
CUANDO "BEGIN" SE USA EN TIEMPOS
NO CONTINUOS , SE PUEDEN USAR EL
GERUNDIO O EL INFINITIVO
INDISTINTAMENTE .
start Marge started talking really
fast.
Marge started to talk really
fast.
CUANDO "START" SE USA EN TIEMPOS
NO CONTINUOS , SE PUEDEN USAR EL
GERUNDIO O EL INFINITIVO
INDISTINTAMENTE .
dread She dreaded taking the test.
NORMALMENTE VA SEGUIDO DE
GERUNDIO.
forget She forgot reading the book
when she was a kid.
CUANDO "FORGET" SE USA CON
GERUNDIO, SIGNIFICA "OLVIDAR
HABER HECHO ALGO (CON
 ANTERIORIDAD)." L A ORACIÓN
 ANTERIOR SIGNIFICA QUE ELLA LEYÓ
EL LIBRO SIENDO NIÑA , PERO LO HABÍA
OLVIDADO.”
HACER ALGO Y LUEGO OLVIDARSE DE
HABERLO HECHO.
remember I remember mentioning the
meeting yesterday.
Examples
He let me use the dictionary.
You have made the baby cry.
She is beginning to sing.
PERO SI LO USAMOS EN TIEMPOS
CONTINUOS, VA SEGUIDO DE INFINITIVO
(PARA ASÍ EVITAR DOS VERBOS EN -ING
SEGUIDOS).
Marge is starting to talk really fast.
PERO SI LO USAMOS EN TIEMPOS
CONTINUOS, VA SEGUIDO DE INFINITIVO
(PARA ASÍ EVITAR DOS VERBOS EN -ING
SEGUIDOS).
He dreaded to think of the
consequences of his actions.
"DREAD" A VECES VA SEGUIDO DE LOS
VERBOS "THINK" O "CONSIDER." EN
INFINITIVO. "DREADED TO THINK" SIGNIFICA
"DID NOT WANT TO THINK ." EN LA ORACIÓN
DE ANTERIOR.
She forgot to pay the rent this
month.
CUANDO SE USA CON INFINITIVO , SIGNIFICA
"OLVIDARSE DE HACER ALGO." LA ORACIÓN
 ANTERIOR SIGNIFICA QUE ELLA SE HA
OLVIDADO DE PAGAR LA RENTA ESTE MES .
OLVIDARSE DE LUEGO HACER ALGO
He remembered to turn off the
lights before he left.
 CUANDO "REMEMBER" SE USA CON
GERUNDIO, SIGNIFICA "RECORDAR
HABER HECHO ALGO ." LA ORACIÓN
 ANTERIOR SIGNIFICA QUE AYER
MENCIONÉ LA CONFERENCIA Y AHORA
RECUERDO HABERLO HECHO .
“RECORDAR BHABER HECHO ALGO,”
keep She kept talking.
"KEEP" VA SEGUIDO NORMALMENTE
DE GERUNDIO PARA DECIR QUE
SIGUES HACIENDO UNA ACCIÓN .
need The house needs cleaning.
CUANDO "NEED" SE USA CON
GERUNDIO, TIENE SIGNIFICADO
PASIVO. LA CASA NECESITA SER
LIMPIADA / SE NECESITA LIMPIAR LA
CASA
regret I regretted being late to the
interview.
"REGRET" SE USA NORMALMENTE
CON GERUNDIO .
“L AMENTO HABER HECHO ALGO
( ANTERIORMENTE).” IMPLICA
 ARREPENTIMIENTO .
stop He stopped smoking for
health reasons.
"STOP" SE USA NORMALMENTE CON
GERUNDIO.
“DEJAR DE...”
CUANDO SE USA CON INFINITIVO , SIGNIFICA
" ACORDARSE DE HACER ALGO (DESPUÉS).”
LA ORACIÓN ANTERIOR SIGNIFICA QUE ME
 ACORDÉ DE APAGAR LAS LUCES ANTES DE
SALIR.
“RECORDAR HACER ALGO”
The attackers kept hostages to
prevent the police from entering.
"KEEP" TAMBIÉN PUEDE USARSE SEGUIDO
DE OBJETO E INFINITIVO, PERO ENTONCES
HAY QUE INTERPRETAR EL INFINITIVO COMO
UNA ORACIÓN FINAL (“PARA” +
INFINITIVO).EN LA ORACIÓN ANTERIOR , LOS
 ASALTANTES COGIERON REHENES PARA
EVITAR QUE LA POLICÍA ENTRARA.
a) He needs to call his boss.
b) He needs him to call his boss.
"NEED" NORMALMENTE SE USA CON
INFINITIVO ( A) O CON OBJETO + INFINITIVO
(B).
We regret to inform you that your
position at the company is being
eliminated.
 A VECES SE USA SEGUIDO DE INFINITIVO
CON VERBOS COMO "TO INFORM " O “TO
SAY.” LA ORACIÓN DE ARRIBA SIGNIFICA
"LAMENTAMOS TENER QUE INFORMARLE DE
QUE..." (OJALÁ NO TUVIÉRAMOS QUE
HACERLO). IMPLICA MALAS NOTICIAS.
“L AMENTO TENER QUE...”
He stopped to rest for a few
minutes.
CUANDO SE USA CON INFINITIVO , ÉSTE SE
INTERPRETA COMO UNA ORACIÓN FINAL
(“PARA” + INFINITIVO). EN LA ORACIÓN
 ANTERIOR “ÉL PARÓ PARA DESCANSAR UNOS
MINUTOS.”
“P ARAR PARA...”
try She can't find a job. She tried
looking in the paper, but
there was nothing. She tried
asking friends and family, but
nobody knew of anything.
She also tried going shop to
shop, but nobody was hiring.
She tried to climb the tree, but she
couldn't even get off the ground.
CUANDO VA SEGUIDO DE INFINITIVO ,
SIGNIFICA “INTENTAR HACER ALGO (PORQUE
QUIERES HACERLO). EN LA ORACIÓN
 ANTERIOR “ELLA INTENTÓ SUBIR AL ÁRBOL ”,
PERO NO LO CONSIGUIÓ .

"TRY + GERUND" SIGNIFICA PROBAR

POR DISTINTOS MEDIOS PARA VER SI
“INTENTAR HACER ALGO.”
 ALGO FUNCIONA 8SUELE IMPLICAR UN
PROBLEMA QUE SURGE Y AL QUE HAY
QUE BUSCAR SOLUCIÓN).
Try not to wake the
t he baby when
you get up tomorrow at 5 AM.
“PROBAR HACIENDO ALGO.”

 AN INFINITIVE IS ALSO USED IF YOU ARE

She tried eating the snake  ASKING SOMEONE TO TRY SOMETHING THEY
MAY OR MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH .
soup, but she didn't like it.

"TRY + GERUND" IS OFTEN USED

WHEN YOU EXPERIMENT WITH
SOMETHING, BUT YOU DO NOT REALLY
LIKE IT OR WANT TO DO IT AGAIN .