Gerunds and Infinitives Part 1 Lecture

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From the course by University of California, Irvine

Tricky English Grammar

451 ratings

University of California, Irvine

Tricky English Grammar

451 ratings

Course 3 of 4 in the Specialization Learn English: Intermediate Grammar

English is a difficult language to learn because of its many obscure grammatical rules, which are fairly easy to mess up--even for native speakers. While it’s easy for non-native speakers to get overwhelmed by confusing grammar rules, in this course, we'll provide you with tips that will help you understand the rules more easily and give you lots of practice with the tricky grammar of everyday English. Please note that the free version of this class gives you access to all of the instructional videos and handouts. The peer feedback and quizzes are only available in the paid version.

From the lesson

Gerunds, Infinitives, and Requests and Permission

This week will not be as intense as last week was, but you will still have the chance to learn about some tricky grammar. First, you'll learn about using gerunds and infinitives correctly. Then you'll learn about making requests and asking for permission, something that English learners often misuse.

Week 2 Introduction0:31

Gerunds and Infinitives Part 1 Lecture3:04

Gerunds and Infinitives Part 2 Lecture9:51

Meet the Instructors

Tamy Chapman
Instructor, International Programs
University of California Irvine Division of Continuing Education
Helen Nam
Instructor
International Programs, UCI Extension
Brad Gilpin

In this video, we're going to do a basic review of gerunds and infinitives, and

listen to an example of gerunds and infinitives in use.

Now let's start with a basic review of what gerunds and infinitives are.

Gerunds are words that look like verbs ending in ing, eating,

dancing, studying, but they do not express a tense, and are used like nouns.

They can be the subject or object of a sentence.

For example, we enjoy laughing with our friends.

Notice that enjoy is the verb and laughing is the gerund.

Laughing is the object of enjoy.

We enjoy dinner with our friends.

Notice how laughing in the first sentence is like a noun and

can be replaced with a noun like dinner.

Infinitives, on the other hand,

look like the base form of a verb, drink, see, believe.

But they are not used as the main verb of a sentence, and so

they also do not express the tense in a sentence.

Commonly infinitives follow to, to drink, to see, to believe.

Example, I want to ask the teacher a question.

Notice that want is the main verb and to ask is the infinitive.

Now, let's look to an example of how someone might use both gerunds and

infinitives in a real life situation.

The speaker is Angela, who has a very important event to plan.

Listen to her give instructions to several of the people helping her plan

an awards dinner.

As you listen, see if you can catch how many gerunds and

how many infinitives are used.

Okay everyone, attention.

I hate to tell you this, but we only have five hours to prepare this room for

our event tonight.

To place the podium center stage would be best.

Hanna, please put all the medals and

prizes right behind the speaker to make it easy for him to reach them.

Unfortunately, we must postpone setting up the microphone.

We don't have all the equipment yet.

We'll need to quickly hook up the microphone later.

And I know Linda wants to arrange the flowers.

Linda, you're good at decorating.

Would you also consider setting the silverware and napkins on the tables?

But I can do it if you don't have enough time.

Jackson, please tell the band to set up by the dance floor, not on the stage.

And would you mind showing the caterers where the kitchen is?

Planning this event would not be possible without you.

I love working with you guys.

Now let's get to work.

>> Okay, how many gerunds and infinitives did you count?

Did you count 6 gerunds and 7 infinitives?

Well done.

Please continue to Part 2, where you'll about the different uses of infinitives

and gerunds, as well as common mistakes with them.

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