Gerunds can often be modified with possessive forms such as his, her, its, your, their, our, John's, Mary's, the machine's, etc. This makes it clearer who or what is performing the action.
I enjoyed their singing. (They were singing)
She understood his refusing the offer. (He refused the offer)
She resented David coming late to the dinner. (David came late)
Some verbs are followed by a noun plus an infinitive. In some situations, the noun is required. In other situations, the noun is optional.
The police ordered the man to stop.
We asked to leave.
He asked them to leave.
Some verbs are usually followed by a gerund, BUT they can also be followed by a noun plus infinitive. Using a noun plus infinitive will usually change who is performing the action
I advised going to the doctor. (in general)
I advised David to go to the doctor. (David is going to the doctor)
There are many "go + gerund" expressions used for adventure sports and individual recreational activities.
I go skiing every winter.
Have you ever been scuba diving.
Gerunds are used after prepositions
He is thinking about moving to another country.
And after adjective + preposition and noun + preposition combinations.
Sarah is scared of flying (adjective + preposition)
My interest in learning different languages is well known. (noun + preposition)
Sarah’s story about seeing a shark was quite frightening. (noun + preposition)
Remember that it is not necessary to memorise the entire list of verbs that take the gerund, verbs that take the infinitive or the verbs that take both nor is it necessary to memorise the list of adjective + preposition combinations or noun + preposition combinations. It is important to remember that a gerund follows a preposition.
Gerunds and Infinitives: part 1
Lesson by Tristan, teacher at EC Malta English school
Now choose the correct form for the following:
