GERUND AND INFINITIVE AS OBJECT OF A VERB

Abstract

The variety of cases in which the gerund and/or the infinitive are used as object of a verb is so vast that the choice between the two verbal forms presents a difficulty to native as well as non-native speakers of English. With this in mind the writer of this article tried to discovery some of the basic differences by which the choice is made. To clear the ground the writer has drawn out from the semantic difference between I like getting up early (in general) and I like to get up early (in this particular case) the following three points: 1) The logical subject of "getting up" (gerund) need not be the same as the subject of the main verb while that of "to get up" (infinitive) is identical with the subject of the main verb. 2) The gerund-construction has practically nothing to do with the happening of the thing which it denotes, but the infinitive-construction is primarily concerned with the happening of the activity. 3) The gerund has no time reference, but the infinitive refers to future. As an example of the first point we can cite the contrast: He allows smoking/He allows to smoke* (cf. He allows us to smoke). This applies to such verbs as permit, advise, advocate, encourage, provoke, urge, etc., all of which represent actions commonly done by the agent to affect other people or things. He tried writing in pencil versus He tried to write in pencil is another example, and to the latter type belong such verbs as aim, endeavour, strive, contrive, and seek. A few retroactive gerundial constructions, e.g. Your work needs correcting (to be corrected), also illustrate this point. The gerund is active in form, because it represents an activity apart from the agent. The second point is exemplified in the idiomatic preference of I intend to go to I intend going. The infinitive is preferred here because, being concerned as it is with the happening of the activity, it is more determinative than the gerund. This may be the reason why verbs like want, hope, care, long, yearn, decide, resolve, and make up one's mind are always found with the infinitive to the exclusion of the gerund. The gerund is used with verbs like avoid, delay, defer, escape, evade, miss, postpone, put off, shirk, resist, etc., which are all negative in meaning to the realization of the activity. The third point is closely allied with the second in that the infinitive refers to the future. It is probably for this reason that the gerund, which is in itself non-distinctive of time, refers to the past. Typical examples are I remember posting your letter versus Please remember to post this letter and I shall never forget hearing you sing versus I forgot to answer your question. Reference of the gerund to the past can also be seen when it is used after such verbs as acknowlege, admit, deny, doubt, mention, and report. It is worth noticing, however, that the above three points do not cover the whole of the distinction between the two constructions. That is to say, with some of the main verbs of the sentences we must take into account the affinity of the -ing of the gerund with that of the present participle as used in progressive form. We stopped talking and We began talking are cases in point. So are the sentences containing commence, start, continue, go on, finish, or cease. We must also consider that unless we have a clear view of the close connection between the mark "to" of an infinitive and a mere preposition "to", we cannot possibly come to a proper understanding of "to talk" in We stopped to talk. To conclude the article, the writer adds that in making a study of this kind he himself is quite aware of the danger he will quite probably fall into-hasty generalization. Indeed a complete list of the verbs taking the gerund and/or the infinitive is necessary before we can make any general remark on this question, but this article, the writer believes, may have some claim to be a stepping-stone for further research.