In modern English the Gerund is widely used and competes with the Infinitive.
1. The Gerund is always used after:
a) Verbs followed by prepositions:
| accuse of
apologize for
approve of
blame smb for
forgive for
congratulate on
| object to
persist in
prevent from
result in
stop from
succeed in
| They succeeded in finding a good flat.
Can you stop the child from getting into mischief?
Thank you for coming.
He was accused of having broken the law.
I insisted on his coming with us.
|
| Count on
depend on
hear of
inform of
insist on
| suspend smb of
thank for
think of
| Who is to blame for starting the fire?
Are you thinking of buyinga house?
I apologize for being so awkward.
|
b) Nouns used with prepositions:
| art of
chance of
difficulty (in)
experience in
habit of
harm of
idea of
importance of
interest in
means of
mistake of
| opportunity of
plan for
point in; of
preparation for
process of
purpose of
reason for
right of
sense of
skill in
way of
| He has no intention of staying.
The importance of being earnest.
There is no chance of winning.
We had no opportunity of meeting
interesting people there.
I have no experience in building houses.
There are different ways of solving this
problem.
Do you have any reason for saying such a
thing?
|
c) Phrasal verbs:
| burst out
give up
go on
| leave off
keep on
put off, etc
| He gave up smoking two years ago.
She kept on interrupting me while I was
speaking.
|
| (see " English through Reading")
|
d) Such verbs as:
| avoid
consider
delay
deny
escape
excuse
fancy
finish
forgive
include
| involve
justify
mind
miss
postpone
practise
recall
recollect
resent
risk
| Would you mind closing the door?
He denied having seen this man before.
You can hardly avoid meeting her.
We've just missed having nasty accident.
They postponed sending an answer to the
request.
My work involves filing and typing letters.
I'll risk trying my hand in it.
|
e) Word combinations:
| be afraid of
be angry for
be aware of
be bored with
be busy
be capable of
be clever at
be disappointed at
be engaged in
be fond of
be good/clever at
be grateful for
can't stand/bear
feel like
have difficulty in
| be guilty of
be interested in
be keen on
be pleased at
be proud of
be slow at
be sorry for
be sure of
be surprised at
be worried about
be worth
be responsible for
be no good
be no use
| There is no use crying over spilt milk.
He didn't feel like going out.
He couldn't help laughing.
She was afraid of falling.
He is slow at doingsums.
He is interested in developing the project.
She'// be sorry for being rude.
He is proud of having won the chess
tournament.
He was surprised at having been asked
about it.
It's no use worrying about it. There is
nothing you can do.
Did you have any difficulty in getting a visa?
|
f) Prepositions
| after
before
besides
instead of
| in spite of
on
without
by
| They ran five miles without stopping.
Before going to bed she locked the door.
John went to his office in spite of being ill.
|
(for Verbs followed by the Infinitive see Appendix 6).
NOTES
1. After the verbs come and go we often use the Gerund related to outdoor activities: climbing, driving, fishing, riding, sailing, shopping, skiing, walking, etc.
Why don't you come sailing with us?
Let's go skiing!
2. The following verbs always have a direct object: catch, find, notice, observe, see.
I'd better not catch you doing that again!
3. It is necessary to distinguish two particularly confusing verb phrases, used to and be used to.
Used to + InfinitiveBe used to + noun/gerund
Used to + Infinitive refers to habitual The phrase is parallel in structure to
action in the past, and used to can not be to be interested in, and it is possible
followed by a noun (or a gerund): to put a noun after to:
When I was in England, I used to eat I'm used to his curious ways.
a big breakfast. I'm used to hearing about the odd
things he does.
Used to is a fixed idiom and is not used in The verb to be in to be used to can
any other tense. be used in any appropriate tense.
To be used to suggests familiarity
through a repetition of the activitity
or occurrence; it does not state the
existence of a habit as such.
