Unit 10: Sunny's job hunt
Gerunds and infinitives
Select a unit
- 1Nice to meet you!
- 2What to wear
- 3Like this, like that
- 4The daily grind
- 5Christmas every day
- 6Great achievers
- 7The Titanic
- 8Travel
- 9The big wedding
- 10Sunny's job hunt
- 11The bucket list
- 12Moving and migration
- 13Welcome to BBC Broadcasting House
- 14New Year, New Project
- 15From Handel to Hendrix
- 16What's the weather like?
- 17The Digital Revolution
- 18A detective story
- 19A place to live
- 20The Cult of Celebrity
- 21Welcome to your new job
- 22Beyond the planets
- 23Great expectations!
- 24Eco-tourism
- 25Moving house
- 26It must be love
- 27Job hunting success... and failure
- 28Speeding into the future
- 29Lost arts
- 30Tales of survival
Session 2
So, when is a verb followed by a gerund - and when is it followed by an infinitive? In this session you will do some practical activities, and listen to 6 Minute Grammar, to help you improve your knowledge of this tricky area of grammar.
Activity 1
Gerund or infinitive?
I've tried looking for a job everywhere…
In Session 1 you heard all about Sunny and her search for a job. Can you remember what Sunny said she really, really likes doing? And another thing she always tries to do?
ነቲ ጽሑፍ ብምንባብ ነቲ ስራሕ ዕመምዎ
Grammar notes
When we use two verbs together, the second verb usually changes its form to either a gerund or an infinitive. Gerunds and infinitives combine the meaning of a verb with the grammar of a noun.
Sunny said: I really, really liketravelling – here, the verb like is followed by a gerund: travelling.
Sunny also said she decided to study drama – the verb decided here is followed by an infinitive: to study.
Gerunds are made by changing a verb to an –ing form.
- play – playing
- watch – watching
- run – running
- swim – swimming
Infinitives are made of to +the base form of the verb.
- to play
- to watch
- to run
- to swim
But we need to learn which form comes after each verb. Some verbs can only be followed by a gerund, and some only by an infinitive. Others can be followed by either. See how many you already know in the next activity.
To do
Are these verbs followed by gerunds or infinitives?
Followed by gerund or infinitive?
10 Questions
Move each verb into the correct column
ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.Question 1 of 10
Followed by a gerund
Followed by an infinitive
Excellent!Great job!ሕማቕ ዕድል!ዘመዝገብኩምዎ ነጥቢ ...:
Followed by gerund or infinitive?
10 Questions
Move each verb into the correct column
ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.Question 1 of 10
ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.Question 2 of 10
ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.Question 3 of 10
ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.Question 4 of 10
ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.Question 5 of 10
ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.Question 6 of 10
ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.Question 7 of 10
ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.Question 8 of 10
ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.Question 9 of 10
ሓገዝ
Activity
Move each verb into the correct column
ኣመት
If you need to, you can check the Grammar Reference. But try to do it without that to see how much you know already.Question 10 of 10
Excellent!Great job!ሕማቕ ዕድል!ዘመዝገብኩምዎ ነጥቢ ...:
So how did you do? If you need to read a bit more about this, take a look at the Grammar Reference.
Next
In the next activity we’ll explain a bit more about how these verbs, gerunds and infinitives all work together. And we’ll learn that with some verbs it’s really important to know which one to use because it can change the meaning of what you say!
ናይ ስዋስው ክፍሊ
Gerund
= verb+ing (swimming, studying)Infinitive
= 'to' + base form of the verb (to swim, to study)
