HAVE YOUR STUDENTS SPENT ENOUGH TIME STUDYING GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES?

Gerunds and infinitives are many students’ worst nightmare. Certain verbs are followed by the -ing form of a verb (gerund), and others are followed by to + base verb (infinitive). Students often feel that hours of memorization are required to keep gerunds and infinitives straight.

Luckily, there are four rules that are almost always true: 1) noun + infinitive, 2) adjective + infinitive, 3) preposition + gerund, and 4) subject = gerund. (See Gerunds and Infinitives: Helpful Teaching Tips for more information and examples.)

However, almost all English grammar rules have exceptions. While the noun + infinitive rule is very useful for students, there is an important exception involving time that is common enough to warrant pointing it out to students.

THE NOUN + INFINITIVE RULE

If there is an noun or pronoun following the main verb, it should be followed by the infinitive form.

Examples:

• I asked my friend to help me move next Saturday.
• She wanted him to call her.
• My coworkers need me to finish the project on time.
• The teacher advised her students to study for the test.

The last example with the verb “advise” shows just how useful this rule is. Advise is usually followed by a gerund (Our teacher advised studying for the test), but when you add a noun/pronoun object, the noun + infinitive rule takes precedence (The teacher advised her students to study for the test).

THE EXCEPTION: SPEND/WASTE TIME + GERUND

While the noun + infinitive rule works in almost every case, there is a common exception involving time. When the phrases spend time or waste time are used, the noun “time” is NOT followed by an infinitive. A gerund always follows these phrases. Also note that the noun “time” can be replaced by an amount of time (using the nouns months, days, hours, minutes, etc.) and a gerund is still required.

Examples:

• I spent time working on my project last night.
• He wastes a lot of time watching TV.
• My sister is spending five hours helping out at the auction.
• They have wasted four days arguing about it.

But be careful! If the noun “time” is not part of the spend time/waste timephrase, the normal noun + infinitive rule applies.

• I have time to help you today.
• They need more time to finish the test.