Gerunds and infinitives are forms of verbs that act like nouns. They
can follow adjectives and other verbs. Gerunds can also follow prepositions.
A gerund (often known as an -ing word) is a noun formed from a verb by
adding -ing.
An infinitive is to + the verb.
When a verb follows a verb it either takes
the gerund or infinitive form.
Some verbs can take either the gerund or the infinitive with no loss
of meaning.
For example:
- With the verb start - "It started to rain." or "It started raining." Both sentences have the same meaning.
Sometimes the use of the gerund or infinitive changes the meaning of
the sentence.
For example:
- With the verb remember - "I remembered to do my homework". or "I remembered doing my homework."
In the first sentence (I remembered to do my homework), the person speaking
remembered they had some homework first and then carried out the action
and did it. In the second sentence (I remembered doing my homework.),
the person speaking carried out the action (their homework) first and
then remembered doing it.
Other verbs only take one or the other, unfortunately there is no rule
as to which form the verb takes. The same is true when the verb follows
an adjective.
Gerunds after Prepositions
When a verb is used after a preposition the verb takes the -ing form.
For example:-
- You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.