Gerunds – Infinitives

Το infinitive – απαρέμφατο μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί ως :

Υποκείμενο της πρότασης (subject)
Αντικείμενο (object)
Μετά από συγκεκριμένα ρήματα

Full Infinitive (to + verb) – Πλήρες Απαρέμφατο

Χρησιμοποιείται :

• για να εκφράσει σκοπό – purpose

I went out to get some fresh air.

• μετά από τη σύνταξη  be + επίθετο (adjective)

afraid, ashamed, considerate (συνετός, ευγενικός), disappointed, difficult, eager (πρόθυμος), easy, foolish, fortunate, happy, lucky, pleased, prepared, proud, qualified (έχων τα προσόντα), ready, sorry, surprised

It’s not easy to find work these days. I was happy to help.
I was surprised to hear that you failed the test.
It was nice of you to send me flowers on my birthday.
It was impossible for me to reach the shelf.

• μετά από το ρήμα to be, για να δώσουμε διαταγές (orders) ή για να εκφράσουμε κάτι κανονισμένο να γίνει (an arrangement).

You are to stay here until I get back.
The President is to visit our town next week.

• μετά από τα   would hate / like / love / prefer   με ή χωρίς αντικείμενο.

Would you like me to do it now?
What would you like to do now, kids?

• μετά από τα ρήματα :

agree, appear, arrange, ask, attempt, choose, decide, demand, deserve, expect, fail, help, hesitate (διστάζω), hope, learn, manage, need, offer, prepare, pretend, promise, refuse, seem, threaten, want, wish, happen, intend, mean (έχω σκοπό να), plan, remember

If you need any help, don’t hesitate to contact me.
They hoped to negotiate a better deal.

• μετά από τα παρακάτω ρήματα + αντικείμενο (object) :

advise, allow, ask, cause, challenge (προκαλώ), enable (δίνω τη δυνατότητα), encourage, expect, forbid (απαγορεύω), force, get, help, intend, invite, order, persuade, recommend, remind, teach, tell, urge (παροτρύνω), warn

My family encouraged me to go to university.
The police asked everyone to remain calm.

• μετά από τα παρακάτω ουσιαστικά :

ability, attempt, capacity (ικανότητα, ιδιότητα), chance, decision, desire, determination (αποφασιστικότητα), effort, failure, intention, need, opportunity, permission, plan, proposal, refusal, right, tendency, it’s time, way, willingness (προθυμία)

It was the director’s refusal to accept his proposal that led to his decision to resign.

Bare Infinitive – Γυμνό Απαρέμφατο

Το Γυμνό Απαρέμφατο – Bare Infinitive (without to) χρησιμοποιείται :

• μετά από τα  modal verbs

I shouldn’t eat this chocolate pie, but I can’t resist it.

• μετά από τα παρακάτω ρήματα :

help, had better, let, make, would rather, would sooner, have to, be able to

We’d better go home now- it’s very late.
Can you help me tidy up, please?
Mother made us do all the dirty jobs.
He would rather not go out tonight.

** Στην Παθητική Φωνή – Passive Voice το  make  ακολουθείται από  to + απαρέμφατο.

We were made to do all the dirty jobs.

• μετά από τα  why, why not, and, or, but (εκτός), except (εκτός), than, rather than (αντί…)

The weather is fine, so why not go to the beach?
I want to eat something and go to bed.
He does nothing all day but / except watch TV.

• Τα ρήματα  feel, hear, see, notice, overhear και watch  ακολουθούνται από object + bare infinitive όταν περιγράφουμε μια ολοκληρωμένη πράξη.

We saw a young mother slap her child in the supermarket.
I saw Martha cross the road.

Τα ίδια ρήματα ακολουθούνται από  object + gerund (ing) όταν η πράξη είναι επαναλαμβανόμενη ή είδαμε μόνο ένα μέρος του συνόλου της πράξης.

I saw a young mother slapping her child.
I saw Martha crossing the road.

Gerund – Γερούνδιο

Το Γερούνδιο – Gerund  σχηματίζεται με το ρήμα + ing  και παίζει το ρόλο ουσιαστικού.
Χρησιμοποιείται :

• ως υποκείμενο (subject) ή αντικείμενο (object) του ρήματος της πρότασης.

Playing golf helps me relax but I find watching it on television rather boring.
Smoking is bad for you.

• μετά από προθέσεις

We thought about going to Italy this year.
Are you still interested in buying the house in the suburbs?

• μετά από τις εκφράσεις :

have difficulty / problems, there’s no / little point, it’s no good / use, it’s (not) worth, what’s the use of, in addition to, the key to

It’s no use asking him – he won’t know the answer.

• μετά από τα παρακάτω ρήματα :

admit, adore (λατρεύω), advise, appreciate, anticipate (προσδοκώ), avoid, can’t help, can’t stand, consider, delay, deny, detest (μισώ, απεχθάνομαι), dislike, dread (be afraid of), enjoy, feel like, give up, imagine, involve, keep, (don’t) mind, miss, postpone, put off, practise, prevent, propose, recommend, resent (feel bitter or angry – μνησικακώ, απεχθάνομαι), risk, suggest, allow, finish, like, love, remember, risk, stop

I resent having to do all the housework myself.
I don’t appreciate being treated like a child.

• μετά από τα παρακάτω ρήματα :

adapt/adjust to, admit to, confess to, get round to, be used to, get used to, look forward to, object to, be accustomed to, get accustomed to, be opposed to, be averse to

She confessed to being surprised by her success.
I am used to waking up early in the morning.

• Στην περίπτωση της ετεροπροσωπίας χρησιμοποιούμαι μια αντωνυμία αιτιατικής πτώσης (obhect pronoun) ή κτητικό επίθετο (possessive adjective) πριν από το Γερούνδιο.

We would appreciate you/your letting us know of any problems.
I really appreciate their helping me like this.
We appreciate his coming to tell us so quickly.
He disliked her staying away from home.
She resented him/his making all the decisions.
I can just imagine him/his saying that!
I couldn’t imagine us/our eating something like this.

Gerund or Infinitive ?!?

• Τα παρακάτω ρήματα μπορούν να ακολουθούνται από  Γερούνδιο – Gerund  ή Απαρέμφατο – Infinitive  με to χωρίς να αλλάζει το νόημά τους:

begin, can’t bear, continue, intend, start, hate, like, love, prefer

She suddenly started singing / to sing.

** Αν θέλουμε με κάποιο από αυτά τα ρήματα να αναφερθούμε σε συγκεκριμένη κατάσταση τότε χρησιμοποιούμε το απαρέμφατο.

I hate to say this, but your breath smells.
I hate getting up early every morning.

• Τα παρακάτω ρήματα μπορούν να ακολουθούνται από  Γερούνδιο – Gerund  ή Απαρέμφατο – Infinitive  με to , όμως αλλάζει το νόημά τους:

• • The infinitive is used with remember, forget, regret, go on and stop when the act of remembering, etc comes first. The gerund is used when it comes second.

I must remember to post this letter later.
I distinctly remember posting the letter yesterday.
Her car broke down and no one stopped to help her.
I’ve stopped eating chocolate.

• • When regret is followed by the infinitive with to, it is normally used with verbs such as say, tell and inform.

We regret to inform you that your application has been rejected.

• • When followed by gerund, go on means “to continue with the same activity”. With an infinitive, it means “to change to a different activity”.

He went on working well after normal retirement age.
After her early teaching career she went on to become a doctor.

• • Try + infinitive with to means “attempt”. Try + gerund means “experiment with”.

Please be quiet- I’m trying to sleep.
If you can’t sleep, try drinking a warm cup of milk.

• • mean + infinitive with to means “intend”. Mean + gerund means “involve”.

I’ve been meaning to write to you for ages.
Changing jobs also meant changing house.

Passive infinitive or -ing form are used to describe actions which are done to the subject.

I hate being told what to do.
It is expected to be finished soon.

Perfect infinitive or -ing form are used to emphasise when one action happened before another.

She mentioned having seen him leave.
They seem to have solved the problem.

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