Words in Transition

Infinitives and gerunds are verbals, words formed from verbs. Verbals can function in a sentence as nouns, adjectives, or clauses. Infinitives and gerunds can both be used as nouns and, therefore, can follow main verbs as direct objects. Some main verbs can be followed by either an infinitive or a gerund. However, some must be followed by an infinitive and others must be followed by a gerund.

The following six rules list common verbs and phrases associated with each of these verbals. They also give help in correctly using infinitives and gerunds as objects.

1. Use an infinitive with to after these common verbs:
   

   agree	come	have	mean	refuse
   arrange	decide	hope	offer	wait
   bed	deserve	intend	plan	want
   claim	expect	manage	promise	wish

   Keith refused participating in the discussion. [to participate]

2. Learn which verbs are followed by a noun or pronoun object and an infinitive with to.Some verbs are followed by two objects-a noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb and then the infinitive. The following verbs have a noun or pronoun object as well as an infinitive object:
   

   advise	convince	invite	persuade	tell
   allow	forbid	order	remind	urge
   cause	instruct	permit	require	warm

   We persuaded_^to come with us. [our neighbors]

   The Embassy invited_^to attend a reception in the Princess’s honor. [us]

   The following verbs may either take a noun or pronoun object or be followed directly by an infinitive:

   allow *	cause	force	help	want
   ask	expect	get	need	would like

   I would like dessert.

   I would like it.

   I would like to go.

   Exception: When allow does not have a noun or pronoun object, it is followed by a gerund.

   Many companies no longer allow smoking on their premises.

3. Use let, make, and have correctly.When let means “allow,” make means “force,” and have means “cause,” they are followed by a noun or pronoun object (0) and the infinitive without to.

   Customs officials let Martha pass through without inspecting her luggage. [O]

   They did not make her show them her briefcase, either. [O]

   Tom had the barber cut his hair much shorter this time. [O]

4. Use a gerund after the following verbs:
   

   admit	delay	imagine	practice	risk
   allow *	deny	keep	prevent	stop
   appreciate	discuss	mind	regret	suggest
   avoid	enjoy	miss	remember	toerate
   consider	finish	postpone	resist

   I enjoyed to meet your family. [meeting]

   The government no longer allows to smoke in government offices. [smoking]

   *Note: Allow is followed by an infinitive when it has a noun or pronoun object.

   I don’t allow anyone smoking in the house. [to smoke]

5. Use a gerund after certain verbs plus a preposition.The following phrases are frequently followed by gerunds:
   

   accuse someone of	be responsible for	feel like
   apologize to	be tired of	insist on
   approve of	be used to	look forward to
   be afraid of	believe in	object to
   be capable of	depend on	talk about
   be interested in	dream of	think about

   Sue is responsible for preparing the financial data.

6. Use either an infinitive or a gerund after the following verbs:
   

   begin *	hate	love	start *
   continue	like	prefer

   The store cannot continue to raise prices.

   The store cannot continue raising prices.

   Note: When begin and start are used in the progressive tenses, they can only be followed by an infinitive.

   Lani is beginning_^enjoying her dance class. [to enjoy]

   After some verbs, such as remember, stop, and try, the infinitive and the gerund have different meanings.

   Sid remembers going to the bank on Friday.

   [Sid remembers that he went to the bank last Friday.]

   Sid remembers to go to the bank on Friday.

   [He remembers to go to the bank every Friday.]

Two-word verbs consist of a main verb plus a particle (a preposition or adverb). Note that the particle changes the meaning of a verb completely.

let down [disappoint]

let out [free]

These combinations of verb + particle are idiomatic; that is, the separate meanings of the verb and the particle do not predict their meaning when they are combined into a two-word verb.

Like other verbs, two-word verbs may be either transitive or intransitive.

Transitive come across [find], let down [disappoint], tell off [rebuke]

Intransitive catch on [understand], crop up [occur], give in [yield]

Transitive two-word verbs are either inseparable or separable. The verb and particle of inseparable two-word verbs are never separated by the direct object. However, the verb and particle of separable two-word verbs are sometimes separated by the direct object. There is no way of telling which two-word verbs are inseparable and which are separable except by noting how a writer handles the object of these verbs. You must, therefore, note this distinction when you learn each new two-word verb.

Follow these four rules in placing the direct object of transitive two-word verbs.

1. Do not separate the verb and particle of inseparable two-word verbs. Place the noun or pronoun after the particle.Lucy does not take after her older sister. [DO]

   Lucy does not take after her. [DO]

2. When the object of a separable two-word verb is a noun, place it either between the main verb and the particle or after the particle.We turned the offer down. [DO]

   We turned down the offer. [DO]

3. When the object of a separable two-word verb is a pronoun, place the object only between the verb and the particle.We turned it down because it came too late. [DO]
4. Learn some common separable and inseparable transitive two-word verbs.
   

   Separable

   fill out an application/fill it out
   give up smoking/give it up
   look up some words/look them up
   put out a fire/ put it out
   tear down a house / tear one down
   throw away the paper / throw it away
   try on some clothes / try some on
   turn down the TV / turn it down
   turn up the volume/turn it up

   Inseparable

   call on a student/ call on her
   come across an article / come across it
   get over a cold/get over it
   hear from an old friend/hear from him
   look after his mother / look after her
   look through an encyclopedia/look through it
   pick on someone smaller / pick on someone
   run into a neighbour / run into her
   take after a grandparent/ take after him

The passive voice of a verb (V) consists of a form of be (am, is, are, was, were, being, be, or been) plus the past participle of the main verb. In a sentence in the passive voice, the subject (S) receives the action; it does not do the action.

Diamonds and gold are mined in South Africa. [S] [V]

Keep the following three points in mind to form the passive voice correctly.

1. Use the past participle, not the base form or past tense, to form the passive voice.Pay particular attention to past participles of irregular verbs.A lot of electronic parts are manufacture in Southeast Asia. [manufactured]

   In my family, clothing was wore by all three children and then gave to the church. [worn] [given]

2. Identify the subject and make sure the helping verb be agrees with it. The sea otter, an endangered species, are native to the Pacific coast. [is][The subject, sea otter, is singular, even though the appositive, species, sounds plural.]
3. Use only transitive verbs in the passive voice. A transitive verb, unlike an intransitive one, always takes a direct object (DO).TransitiveJacques Villeneuve drove the car to victory in the Indy 500. [S] [V] [DO]

   [The direct object, car, receives the action of the verb drove.]

   Intransitive

   Sylvia seems forgetful lately. [V]

   [The verb seems has no direct object. Forgetful is a predicate adjective that describes the subject, Sylvia.]

   In the passive voice, the object of the action becomes the grammatical subject of the sentence.

   The car was driven to victory in the Indy 500 by Jacques Villeneuve. [S] [V]

   Since intransitive verbs have no direct object, you cannot form the passive voice with them. If you are not sure whether a verb is transitive, check your dictionary.