Lesson 2 – Step 3 – Gerunds and Infinitives

Goal

It’s time to learn about the use of two things that can confuse Spanish speakers: gerunds and infinitives with to.

You can watch the video or go straight to the written explanation. You decide! Once you’ve finished, you can move to step 4.

Language Discovery

Look at the words in blue in the text in step 1. What do they have in common?

1.  All of them end in -ing
2.  They are all actions

Look at the words in green in the text in step 1. What do they have in common?

1.  All of them are to + infinitive
2.  They are all actions

Gerunds

Gerunds are verbs used as nouns (or things). Look at the examples:

1. Travelling by bus is cheaper than travelling by plane.
2. My boyfriend loves watching sports on TV.
3. My father is really good at playing the piano.

Use gerunds…

1. as the subject or object in a sentence
2. after some verbs: like, love, hate, enjoy, stop, finish.
3. after prepositions

Forming Gerunds

To form a gerund simply add -ing at the end of a verb. Remember some verbs omit the final vowel or double the consonant.

Infinitives With To

Look at the examples

1. They want to go on speaking.
2. It’s not good to leave the other person waiting.
3. Some people do it to avoid being early.

Use infinitives…

1. after some verbs like: want, need, would like, forget, learn, promise, try, start.
2. after adjectives.
3. to say why you do or did something.

Nota para los hispanohablantes

Este tema puede confundir a algunos alumnos ya que en español utilizamos estos verbos de otra manera. Fíjate en este ejemplo:

• ¿Cómo dirías “jugar videojuegos” en inglés?

“Play video games”

• ¿Cómo dirías “necesito jugar videojuegos”?

“I need to play video games”

• ¿Cómo dirías: “me gusta jugar videojuegos”?

“I like playing video games”

Conclusion

Ready? Terrific! Let’s move on to step 3 to practise what you’ve learnt in this step.