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Join Maria and I as we learn about which verbs in English to use in the infinitive and which verbs to use in the gerund. See you in class! - Stay updated on how to learn English: Canguro English newsletter: - Official Facebook group: Instagram: Listen to the podcast: Twitter: - Buy official Canguro English merchandise here: - Have you noticed that sometimes in English we use “to go“ and other times we use “going“? In this class you are going to learn about whether to use the infinitive or the gerund version of a verb. WHAT ARE INFINITIVES AND GERUNDS? Infinitive simply means that we use the verb with to, and without conjugation. For example here are some infinitives: to be to go to eat Gerund simply means that we remove the “to“ and we add -ing to the end of the verb, for example: being going eating INFINITIVE OR GERUND? There are two categories of verbs in English, those that are used in the infinitive and those that are used in the gerund, when used with other verbs. For example: I want to eat pizza (infinitive). I avoid eating pizza (gerund). There are also some verbs that can be used in both forms: I hate to eat pizza (infinitive). I hate eating pizza (gerund). So how do you know which one to use? Well, the first thing to remember is that the vast majority of verbs take the infinitive, and all modal verbs take the infinitive too. So, really all you need to do is memorise the verbs that take the gerund. Here is a non-comprehensive list: admit avoid consider deny dislike enjoy escape finish imagine keep practise remember stop suggest understand Now the list above should be sufficient for most people, and for most situations, but there are some verbs can take both infinitive or gerund, and sometimes this can change their meaning completely. Let's look at the most important examples. MODAL VERBS There is also a special category of verbs called modal verbs, which use neither the infinitive, nor the gerund. There are less than 10 common modal verbs in English, and they are: can could might must should will would With these verbs we use the infinitive, but without the “to“, for example: I can eat a lot of pizza. They should eat less pizza. Now you should be a true master of verb conjugations. See you in class!
