Unsupported Browser

Ellii may not function properly in Internet Explorer. We recommend using Google Chrome or Firefox instead.

Unsupported Browser

Ellii may not function properly in older browsers. We recommend updating yours to the latest version for the best experience.

Gerunds & Infinitives: Helpful Teaching Tips

February 21, 2013

I like teaching and I like to teach…

Gerunds (the ‑ing form of a verb) and infinitives (to + the base form of a verb) are strange little creatures. They combine the action meaning of the verb with the grammatical function of a noun. They are useful because they allow us to use verbs as subjects and objects. But in the object position, the choice of gerund or infinitive can seem quite arbitrary. Also, because they have so many positions in a sentence, they can be confusing for students to learn. Fear not! There are some sentence patterns that ensure the correct choice of a gerund or an infinitive.

Gerunds

1. as the subject of a sentence

S = Ger

This position commonly calls for a gerund. While an infinitive is also possible, it is very formal and not common.

  • Shopping is my favourite hobby.
  • Working out has really improved my health.

2. following a preposition

Prep + Ger

Here is another common gerund position. This rule applies to all prepositions, including ones that are part of phrasal verbs.

  • She thought about calling him, but decided she wouldn’t.
  • They are planning on going to the party tonight.

3. as the object of a verb

V + Ger

This is the one position where both gerunds and infinitives are commonly used. The choice of which to use all depends on the verb. Some common ones are: advise, avoid, enjoy, finish, practise, quit, and suggest.

  • He enjoyed learning about gerunds.
  • My teacher suggested studying for the upcoming quiz.
Note

Don’t forget that some verbs take either a gerund or an infinitive with no change in meaning. While students don’t have to worry about these verbs, they should still be pointed out. Some common verbs are: like, love, and hate.

  • I love eating pasta.
  • I love to eat pasta.

Infinitives

1. following an adjective

Adj + Inf

Though it is possible in some cases to use a gerund after an adjective, it is more common to use an infinitive, making it the better choice for students.

  • It is nice to meet you.
  • She mentioned that it was dangerous to stand near that machine.

2. following a noun or pronoun

N + Inf

If the verb has an object that is a noun or a pronoun, it is almost always followed by an infinitive. This makes it easy for students to choose the correct form.

  • You asked me to call you.
  • The doctor advised Mark to eat more vegetables. (Note that the verb “advise” normally takes a gerund, as in “The doctor advised eating more vegetables.” But because there is a noun object in this sentence, we must use the infinitive. The noun rule supersedes the verb rule, which is great news for students.)

3. as the object of a verb

V + Inf

This is the one position where both gerunds and infinitives are commonly used. It all depends on the verb. Some common ones are: ask, choose, decide, get, need, plan, promise, and want.

  • They want to get their tests back as soon as possible.
  • The students are planning to have a party this Friday.
Note

ESL Library’s new and improved gerund and infinitive lessons are coming soon. In those lessons, we put verbs into categories to help students figure out whether to use a gerund or an infinitive. Also, googling “gerunds and infinitives verb list” brings up several lists that students can use for reference.

One final teaching point

Because both gerunds and infinitives retain their verb meanings (even though they function as nouns), they too can have objects. That means it’s not uncommon to see a sentence with two or more objects when gerunds or infinitives are in play. For example:

  • I enjoy studying English. (“studying” is the direct object of “enjoy,” and “English” is the direct object of “studying”)
  • My boss asked me to help her. (“me” is the indirect object of “asked,” “to help” is the direct object of “asked,” and “her” is the direct object of “to help”)

I hope you liked learning/to learn about this grammar point!

Tanya

Not an Ellii member?

Get unlimited access to 1,000+ lessons and 3,000+ flashcards.

Sign Up

Comments (68)

Dana P.(Teacher)

Thank you for this post it was very helpful!

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

I'm happy to hear it!

wawan (Guest)

thanks tanya, may I ask u something? if you teach them Gerund & Infinitive, what will you do as a lead-in?

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Hi Wawan,

That's a good question. I often keep it simple, and start out by asking students about their likes and dislikes. I make sure to use both gerunds and infinitives so that students naturally respond using both.

For example, I'll ask student A, 'What kind of movies do you like to watch?', and student A will probably respond using an infinitive: 'I like to watch romantic comedies.' Then I'll ask student B, 'What about you? Do you like watching romantic comedies, too?', and student B will probably respond using a gerund: 'No, I like watching action movies.' After talking to several students, I'll point out the grammar they were using and start the gerunds & infinitives lesson. Make sure you ask Wh-questions and not Yes/No questions so that students have to use the grammar naturally in their responses.

Another activity I've often done as a warm-up is to cut up a bunch of paper slips and write verbs that take either a gerund or an infinitive on them. Students can get into groups, and take turns picking up a verb and saying whether they think it should be followed by a gerund or an infinitive. You can make it into a game (whoever has the most slips of paper in the end, wins). Be aware that you'll need to monitor the groups to make sure they're giving the correct answers (or else you can write the answers on the back of the slips of paper). If this is your students' very first introduction to gerunds & infinitives, this activity is better as a review.

Hope this helps!
Tanya :)

Chaya (Guest)

How about including a quiz at the end of these teaching worksheets?

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Another good idea! Thanks, Chaya. I know it takes a lot of time for teachers to make their own quizzes. I hope there are quizzes for every section one day. In the meantime, since there are many exercises in the Grammar Practice Worksheet lessons, you could always keep one page/exercise back from the students and give it to them the next day as a quiz.

Tara Benwell(Author)

Great explanation, Tanya! I really liked Wawan's question and think we should explore this more for future grammar-based ESL-library materials and teaching guides.

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Good idea! Maybe we could have a section called 'Grammar Warm-Ups.'

Anna (Guest)

Tanya,
Great stuff, by the way. You've got some wonderful knowledge and present it very clearly. Just in relation to your point N + inf and the noun rule superseding the verb rule. What do you make of the sentence: 'I can't imagine Jeremy doing anything like that!' In this case, Jeremy follows imagine and it still uses the gerund. I'm thinking that there are probably a list of words that are going to be used with the gerund regardless of the a pronoun or noun. What do you think? Is this an exhaustive list that you know of? Or does it just keep on giving?
Anna

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Hi Anna,

Thanks for your comments! Unfortunately for our students, there are always exceptions to every rule. One that I often point out is with 'spend/waste time'. The rule of 'N + Inf' doesn't apply here, either. E.g., I spent a lot of time cleaning my room. / She wasted two hours watching TV. I hadn't heard of the verb 'imagine' being an exception before, so thanks for pointing that out!

I wish there were a complete list of exceptions to this rule, but I've never seen one. If teachers keep listing exceptions they know of here, maybe we'll end up with a good list!

Tanya

patrick (Guest)

how would you teach the form '(be) going to + infinitive used for future plans to a pre-intermediate class.

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Hi Patrick,

Good question! First of all, I would tell my students that this was not a case where an infinitive verb is used. Tell them to think of it as 'be going to + base verb' (not as 'be going + infinitive').

I recently blogged about how to teach all three forms of the simple future (will + base verb, be going to + base verb, and be + -ing verb). http://www.esl-library.com/blog/2013/09/05/simple-future-teaching-the-three-forms/

In that post, I explained how I would present and explain the different uses to students, and I gave some examples and included some fun activities. Hope that helps! :)

Faye Duke(Guest)

Brilliant. The clearest explanation I have been able to find! Thanks!

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Thank you, Faye!

hamza (Guest)

thank you very much Tanya you really helped me

Reply to Comment

Log In to Comment Reply

or
Comment Reply as a Guest
  • **bold**_italics_> quote

    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    You're welcome, Hamza! Thanks for your comment.

    anahita (Guest)

    i know boring, exciting,thrilling are adjs but are day gerund?

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Good question, Anahita. Boring, exciting, and thrilling are indeed participial adjectives, but they are not gerunds. Adjectives will always be describing a noun, but gerunds will not (because they ARE the nouns). Keep in mind that gerunds are usually actions, whereas adjectives are not.

    For example:
    - I watched a boring movie. (correct, boring is an adjective because it describes the noun movie)
    - The movie was boring. (correct, boring is an adjective because it describes the noun movie)
    - I watched boring. (incorrect, boring is not a noun/gerund)

    • I went skiing. (correct, skiing is a noun/gerund in the object position)
    • Skiing is fun. (correct, skiing is a noun/gerund in the subject position)
    • I went skiing mountain. (incorrect, skiing is not an adjective describing the noun mountain)

    Siddiqa S.(Teacher)

    This was superb
    Will be working on this this week.! Thanks

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Great to hear! Thanks for your comment. :)

    Sally (Guest)

    Thank you for your tips on the gerund and to infinitive. I am teaching this grammar point at the moment.

    I wondered whether you could help me form an explanation regarding the negative of 'to infinitive', please.

    The general negative is made by using 'not', for example,

    We decided not to go to the party. However, with want, the negative is formed in another way.

    We didn't want to go to the party.

    I have searched all my grammar books and I can't find a simple explanation for the question, 'Why are there two forms and how do I know which one to use?' The 'don't / didn't' negative seems to refer to a few select verbs including appear / seem / expect and a few others.

    Thank you for reading and thanks again for the above useful information.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Sally,

    Thanks for your excellent question! I hadn't specifically thought of it before. This is a great idea for a future blog post!

    I think that in general, the way to tell which verb should include the negative auxiliary 'not' is to think of the meaning. In your example 'We decided not to go to the party', it would be strange to say 'We didn't decide to go...' because you DID decide. The decision has been made about not going to the party.

    In the example 'We didn't want to go to the party', you don't want to do something. It would be a little strange to say 'We wanted to not go' because we never say 'I want to not do something', we say 'I want to' or 'I don't want to'. But you're right, it would be handy to have a list of verbs like this. Let me think about it some more and write a blog post about it sometime in the near future. :)

    Sally (Guest)

    Hi Tanya
    Thanks for your reply.
    Sally

    Reply to Comment

    Shiv Pareek Gogasar(Guest)

    Sir, you have stated there is no difference in meaning if 'an infinitive or a Gerund is used after the verb 'like' and 'love' etc, but some writers make difference in -
    I like to swim.
    and
    I like swimming. The first means The speaker wants to swim at the time of speaking but in the second the speaker always likes swimming.
    What is your opinion about it? Please do satisfy me.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Shiv,

    I haven't heard of this difference in gerunds and infinitives before, and I wouldn't teach students this difference because both 'I like to swim' and 'I like swimming' can mean the speaker enjoys swimming as a hobby (he/she always likes swimming).

    At the time of speaking, if the speaker wants to swim, you couldn't say 'I like to swim.' You could say 'I'd like to swim,' 'I want to swim,' I'd like to go swimming,' etc. The expression 'would like' is followed by an infinitive verb.

    Hope that helps!
    Tanya

    Sharon (Guest)

    Very clear explanation. I am confident it will be helpful. Thank you!

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Happy to hear it, Sharon! Thanks for your comment.

    Tara Benwell(Author)

    Tanya developed a NEW Gerunds & Infinitives lesson for our Grammar Practice Worksheets section. We hope you love it as much as you love this post! https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2256

    Reply to Comment

    Sunil (Guest)

    Thank you very much... It is really very good now i am clear with this...

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    That's great, Sunil. Thank you!

    Krishan (Guest)

    Sir, please clear one issue.

    I have not heard about a place like this.

    Please explain here word 'about' after verb use as preposition or adverb for verb heard.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Krishan,

    With the verb 'to hear,' it is common to use the preposition 'about' followed by a noun. This is something that most people call a 'preposition expression'—that is, it's a common verb + preposition combination that's not idiomatic (i.e., the meaning doesn't change). In the case of a preposition expression, the verb can also be followed by other prepositions, but it is usually followed by a certain one. Other preposition expressions include think about, plan on, believe in, etc. (So, for example, we can also say 'think of,' but 'about' is far more common after 'think.')

    Examples:
    - I heard about the accident.
    - Did you hear about her new baby?
    - I can't wait to hear all about it.

    JOAO MILTON LAVOIER FILHO(Guest)

    Thanks so much for this explanation. I enjoyed studying this!

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    That's great to hear! Thanks for your comment.

    Sakib C.(Student)

    Hello Good evening, Thanks for sharing these valuable information. But I have some problem s in infinitive n gerund. Which action should I use these two formula. N there is so many verbs infinitive n gerund. I couldn't memory all the verbs How I would use easy n correctly way. N my English skills is a little bit weak. How to be improved it? Thank you..!!

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Sakib,

    Memorizing the patterns above (#1 and 2 for Gerunds and Infinitives) makes it easy to know which to choose in those cases. After a verb (#3 above), it just depends on the verb and unfortunately it requires memorization. You can start by memorizing the common verbs followed by a gerund or infinitive in the short lists in point #3 above for both cases. For a longer list of verbs that are great to memorize, you can ask your teacher to assign you the second digital task (called Verbs Followed by Gerunds or Infinitives) in this lesson: https://www.ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2256

    There are also many practice tasks in that lesson that you can ask your teacher to assign you. The more you practice, the easier it will be to remember which verbs are followed by gerunds and which are followed by infinitives. Good luck!

    Shane W.(Student)

    Heyy. When we use be verbs exam I have to be study. You will be gone there. There is so many be verbs we can start conversation.? Could you please tell me.? Thank you.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Shane,

    The Be verb is used in many cases in English. Here are some blog posts that you can study. They will help you understand the different cases when we can use Be.
    - Simple Present & Present Progressive: https://www.ellii.com/blog/simple-present-vs-present-progressive
    - Adjectives: https://www.ellii.com/blog/adjectives
    - Passive Voice: https://www.ellii.com/blog/the-passive-voice
    - Be, Have & Do in Questions: https://www.ellii.com/blog/be-have-do-in-questions

    Hope that helps. Good luck on your exam!

    Shane W.(Student)

    Thank a lot Tanya. Unfortunately I forgot my last username. So l could n't reply sorry. n How to joining learning English class. I couldn't join class. Thank you once again.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    No worries, Shane! Your teacher has to put you in a class and assign a task to you. You will see the task when you log in. If you don't see anything, then your teacher hasn't assigned you any homework yet. There is a lot of helpful information for students in this blog post: https://ellii.com/blog/student-faq

    Shane W.(Student)

    Heyy Tanya Trusler. Hope everything is well. Could you please tell me when I use these be. Being. Been
    Exam you be careful
    You have to be there. Been there all the time. What does it be, being, been sentences means? . Which situation I use these verbs. Thank you.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Shane,

    One of your examples uses an extra word for emphasis and the other drops some of the words (casual, informal speech or writing). It's tough to recognize what grammar is taking place in those cases! Let me explain the underlying grammar.

    • You be careful. = Be careful.
      This example is an imperative verb with the pronoun (you, which is usually dropped) added in for emphasis. Imperative verbs are conjugated according to the missing "you" subject, but the Be verb is an exception and is always in the base form (be) when it's an imperative verb. See more explanation here: https://ellii.com/blog/imperative-verbs

    • Been there often. = I have been often.
      This is a present perfect verb for a past/repeated past action with no mention of exactly "when." The present perfect is formed with "have" and the past participle (been). For more info, see: https://ellii.com/blog/present-perfect-two-uses
      Note that I changed your example from "all the time" to "often." You could also say a lot, sometimes, etc. For "all the time," we'd just use the simple present because it's still happening: "I go there all the time." See more info here: https://ellii.com/blog/simple-present-vs-present-progressive

    • You have to be there.
      This uses the modal expression "have to," which means "must." Modals are always followed by a base verb (be). See more info here: https://ellii.com/blog/suggestions-with-modals-of-advice-and-necessity-2

    • being
      The present participle (-ing form) is used when the Be verb is acting as a gerund (see this post) or when it's in a progressive verb tense. For example, see https://ellii.com/blog/simple-present-vs-present-progressive

    Hope that helps!

    Shane W.(Student)

    Thanks a lot.. Stay safe, stay well. Take care.
    Have a good day.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    You're welcome, Shane! I hope you stay safe and well too.

    Shane W.(Student)

    Heyy! Tanya Trusler. Hope you are well. Could you please tell me these two sentences differents?

    I can't hear you, I reading your lips
    I can't hear you, I am reading your lips.
    He is running away.
    He running away.
    What's these two meaning? Which situation I would be able to use these two sentences cuz both sentences verb+ing.
    Thank you for helping me... Have a good day!

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Shane,

    Actually, the first instance of each example is incorrect. We can't have an -ing verb in the verb position without the Be verb before it. You could say "I'm reading/I am reading" and "He's running/He is running," but you could never say "I reading" or "He running." Hope that helps!

    Maha E.(Member)

    Thanks a lot. But I have a question after the gerund as a subject it follows by singular? EX: touching spiders is ( or are)scary.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Maha,

    Great question! Subject gerunds take a singular verb, whether they have a noun following (e.g., Touching spiders is scary) or not (e.g., Swimming is good exercise). That's because the main subject is the gerund (e.g., touching, which is ONE singular action), and not the noun (e.g., spiders—hopefully there aren't too many of them!! I hate spiders!).

    Shane W.(Student)

    Hello Tanya. How is it going. I hope you are well. Could you please help me one question. Exam: sakib taking some inspiration from Shane. We don't use here is here. If I use is,it would be correct sentence. Which condition should I use the present participle sentence taking, or sometimes. When I am gonna talking to others
    Exam I am done talking about it. I am done playing nice. When I should be use. I am a little bit confused. Thank you. Stay safe.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Shane, I hope you're doing well too! In your first sentence, you need a main verb, so "taking" alone is incorrect. You need to say "Sakib is taking some inspiration from Shane" (present progressive tense).

    You can use the present participle (-ing form) alone in the three Gerund cases mentioned in this blog post (subject position, after a preposition, after certain verbs). There are other cases too, such as in an adjective (relative) phrase (e.g., Sakib, taking inspiration from Shane, finished his project early) and expressions such as the one you mentioned (be + done + -ing verb). Another expression that's common is "waste + time + -ing verb" (e.g., Don't waste time watching TV). Hope that helps! Hope you stay safe too.

    Zakib B.(Member)

    i can't understand why the specific word is important to make either gerund or infinitive.???
    I want swimming here.(swimming is a noun, so after verb we can use swimming.)
    on the other hand,
    I want to swim here. (according to you)

    both meaning is same. so why should I follow the rule???

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Zakib, I know how confusing gerunds and infinitives can be! First of all, if your meaning is that you want to go swimming, you can only say "I want to swim here." The other way, "I want swimming," is incorrect since the verb "want" is almost always followed by an infinitive.

    Your sentence "I want swimming here" is possible, but the meaning is quite different. For example, imagine you're planning the layout of a new resort you're building, and you want to put a pool in a certain spot, you could say that you want swimming (a swimming pool/people to be able to swim) in that spot. That meaning wouldn't be used very often.

    With "want" and the action meaning of a verb, you almost always have to use "want + infinitive" (e.g., I want to play tennis, I want to have burgers for dinner, I want to go shopping, etc.). Hope that helps!

    Hudi P.(Teacher)

    The doctor "advised" Mark to eat more vegetables.
    Does this pattern ( noun object + to + infinitive ) also work with "recommended" and "suggested" ?

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Hudi, that's an excellent question. While all three verbs (advise, suggest, recommend) can be followed by a gerund, the same is not true for a noun object when it's a person. You can say "advise + someone + to do something/about something" but you can't do that with "recommend" or "suggest." You need to say "recommend/suggest + something + to someone." There are examples in this blog post under point #1: https://ellii.com/blog/recommend

    Hudi P.(Teacher)

    Thank you very much, Tanya. It is very clear now.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    You're welcome, Hudi! I'm happy to hear it.

    Manon B.(Teacher)

    Great, well needed lesson. Is it possible to say

    "I need this for sharing" after reading your post I guess it is simply a verb and not a gerund. Is this phrase grammatically correct?

    THANK YOU

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Thanks, Manon! Your sentence is grammatically correct, but we'd usually use "share" like this: "I need to share this." Another verb would work well in your example, such as "I need this for studying/teaching."

    Jennifer R.(Teacher)

    Thank you so much for you post...well all of your posts. They helped me a lot.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    I'm so glad to hear they're useful for you, Jennifer. Happy teaching!

    Nadia G.(Teacher)

    Super helpful! ...any updates for 2022?

    Thank you for the great work you do, Tanya!
    you´re doing a wonderful possitive difference in this world, nothing better than education... :)

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Thank you for your sweet words, Nadia! As for updates, have you seen our grammar videos? They're available on our site in the Grammar Practice Worksheets lessons (for certain targets) and on YouTube. Here's the one for Gerunds & Infinitives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s1gu725tA4

    Judith Amador(Guest)

    Was a very useful explanation

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    That's great to hear, Judith. Thanks for your comment!

    Janet L.(Teacher)

    Hello dear Tanya, this is all helpful. You write, "My boss asked me to help her. (“me” is the direct object of “asked,” “to help” is also the direct object of “asked,” and ...." My question: Isn't 'me' the indirect object, and 'to help' the direct object? My question is unrelated to the topic but I just wondered. Thank you. -- Janet

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Janet, you are correct! I've changed the post to read that "me" is the indirect object of "asked." I really appreciate you bringing this to my attention, and I'm glad you found the post helpful overall!

    Hamidreza Y.(Member)

    Hi Tanya,

    In the part of "infinitives following a noun or pronoun" you have given this example "You asked me to call"
    But you have already mentioned in the subjunctive mood with demand verbs that we can't say "You suggested/recommended me to call you"
    So "suggest, recommend and ask" are all demand verbs but it seems that there are some exceptions for some demand verbs. I would be grateful if you could clarify.

    You asked me to call you.
    You asked (that) I call you.

    You suggested me to call you.
    You suggested me (that) I call you.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Hamidreza, good question. So there are three things at work here. The first thing is whether the verb is normally followed by a gerund or an infinitive. "Ask" always takes an infinitive, while "suggest" takes a gerund (e.g., I asked to stay out late / I suggested studying harder.)

    The second thing is whether the verb can take a person object or not. Speaking verbs are a bit tricky. "Ask" can take a person object, but "suggest" can never take a person object. I talk about speaking verbs in this post: https://ellii.com/blog/say-vs-tell-and-other-speaking-verbs. So "ask me" is correct, but "suggest me" is never correct.

    The third thing is the subjunctive, and here you're correct that they are both "verbs of suggestion" or "demand verbs" that can take an SVO clause where the verb must be in the base form. (More info here: https://ellii.com/blog/tips-for-teaching-the-subjunctive)

    Here are the correct sentences:
    You asked me to call you.
    You asked that I call you.

    You suggested calling you. (Note that the "I" doing the calling would have to be clear from context.)
    You suggested (that) I call you.

    You're correct that both "ask" and "suggest" can have the pattern "that + S + base V + O" (subjunctive), but if you're not using the subjunctive pattern, you need to remember that these verbs are in different "lists" (ask + infinitive; suggest + gerund) that just need to be memorized—there aren't a lot of good rules for which verbs take a gerund or infinitive. And finally, you need to remember that some verbs can take a person object (like "ask") but some never can (like "suggest"), which, again, is mostly just memorization.

    One final note is that a verb using a subjunctive pattern will never take an object person, so "You asked me that I call you" is incorrect, as is "You suggested me (that) I call you." Note, too, that you can't drop "that" after the verb "ask" in the subjunctive. Most of the times "that" is optional, but not always, and never with "ask." (So "You asked I call you" is incorrect.) When in doubt, use "that."

    Hope that helps!

    Leave a Comment

    Log In to Comment Reply

    or
    Comment Reply as a Guest
  • **bold**_italics_> quote

    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

    Thinking of joining Ellii?

    Complete this form to create an account and stay up to date on all the happenings here at Ellii.