Infinitives

Forms:

Simple: to examine

Complex:

to have examined

to be examining

to be examined

to have been examining

to have been examined

Uses of the infinitive

The present infinitive: He is thought to be in England. = people think that he is in England, a generalized opinion

The past infinitive: He is believed to have left England last week. = people believe that he left England last week

• if the reporting verb is in the past the past infinitive tends to follow: She was thought to have paid too much. = People thought she had paid too much.

The passive infinitive - past: The portrait is known to have been painted by an Italian. = everyone knows the portrait was painted by an Italian.

The continuous infinitive - present: She is thought to be living in Scotland.

The continuous infinitive - past: The driver is thought to have been doing a U-turn.

Functions of infinitives in sentences

1. as subjects: To err is human.

2. as objects: He decided to leave. He refused to believe it.

3. in place of clauses of purpose: He came to see me last night.

Structures with the bare infinitive (infinitive without “to”) after:

- modal verbs: Shall I help you?

- verbs of perception: I saw him turn round the corner. I didn’t hear you greet.

- let and make: Let us go. Let’s take a taxi. What makes you think so? She made the boys stay in after school.

- help: Help me clear the breakfast table.

- had better, would rather: It’s five o’clock. I’d better go now before the traffic gets too bad.

He would rather starve than steal. Radšej by zomrel od hladu, ako by mal kradnúť.

Verbs followed by the infinitive

afford, aim, appear, care, demand, determine, agree, decide, expect, fail, hope, plan, manage, mean, offer, prepare, promise, appoint, cause, challenge, drive, empower, invite, lead, ask, beg, choose, refuse, want, wish

Verbs followed by the gerund

admit, appreciate, avoid, consider, deny, imagine, mention, mind, need, dislike, enjoy, finish, practise, recollect, admit, avoid, consider, delay, deny, finish, practise, prevent, recollect, resist, suffer

Verbs followed by the gerund or infinitive - different meanings

-general and particular meaning:

I like looking round antique shops. = general

I’d like to visit you in your new house when you’ve settled in. = specific action.

I´d like to talk to you. Rád by som sa s vami porozprával.

I like talking to you. Rád sa s vami rozprávam.

Other differences in meaning:

I hate disturbing you. (I am disturbing you and I am sorry about that.)

I hate to disturb you. (I am about to do it.)

I prefer waiting here. (I am waiting here and I prefer it.)

I prefer to wait here. (I’ll wait here if you don’t mind.)

After the verbs remember, regret, forget the gerund refers to an action earlier than that of the main verb. e.g. He remembered giving her the message. = he remembered that he had given her the message at some earlier time.

I remember buying stamps.

Remember to buy stamps.

I regret saying (or having said) that you were mistaken. = I regret that I said at some earlier time that you were mistaken.

I regret having said it was true. = Ľutujem, že som povedal, že je to pravda.

I regret to say it was true. = Žiaľ, bola to pravda.

Have you forgotten meeting her?

Don’t forget to ask Tom.

After mean:

I mean to work harder next year. = intention Na budúci rok mám v úmysle pracovať usilovnejšie.

That will mean working extra hard next year. = result To znamená, že na budúci rok budem musieť pracovať obzvlášť usilovne.

After stop:

He stopped to smoke. = Zastavil sa, aby si zafajčil.

He stopped smoking. Prestal fajčiť.

After try:

Try holding your breath for more than a minute. (experiment)

You must try to overcome your shyness. (make an effort, see if you can)

He tried to write with my pen. Pokúšal sa písať mojím perom. (Išlo mu to zle.)

He tried writing with my pen. Skúšal písať mojím perom. (chcel vedieť ako píše.)

After go on:

He went on talking, although I asked him to stop. We went on talking till after midnight = the activity continues

Having mentioned the main problem, he went on to talk of other, less important matters. After approving the agenda, we went on to discuss finance = a new activity

Read Lecture 8 – Countable and uncountable nouns, answer all questions in Homework assignment 8, bring the answers and exercises to the class, please. 

Questions

Please, answer the following questions: