Transcript Gerunds and Infinitives

Gerunds and Infinitives
Chapter 14
News Story:
Cat Tries to Pull a Fast One
on Firefighters
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Recently in Florida, a typical “Cat Avoids Getting Rescued”
story had an unexpected twist. Catching a scared cat is no
easy task as the firefighters from the South Florida city of
Weston were well aware, but extracting a kitty from under the
frame of a car in heavy rain is even harder. Firefighters tried
jacking up the car and taking off a wheel, but the feline was
scared of being hurt. She kept avoiding the men. At some
point, the cat escaped undetected. This caused the crew to
continue searching for another hour. They began by peering
into the bushes and scouring a nearby parking lot. The
firefighters were used to catching a kitty in a short amount of
time. This was taking much too long. Eventually, they gave up
trying to find the cat and headed back to the station.
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A gerund can be used as the subject of a
sentence or the object of a verb.
Catching a scared kitty is no easy task.
subject
The firefighters tried jacking up the car.
object of
the verb
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A gerund can be used as the object of a
preposition.
The kitty was scared of being hurt.
object of
preposition
The firefighters were worried about hurting
the kitty.
object of
preposition
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PRACTICE 1
Complete each sentence with a preposition and a
form of the verb in parentheses.
1. Firefighters are accustomed (catch) __________
to catching cats quickly.
2. Firefighters usually succeed (rescue) ___________
in rescuing lost cats.
3. They were tired (search) _____________
of searching for the kitty.
4. They were worried (hurt) ______________
about hurting the scared cat.
5. After 4 hours, no one would blame the firefighters (end)
___________
for ending the search for the kitty.
6. But the firefighters insisted (find) __________
on finding the lost cat.
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Five hours later, the elusive cat reappeared -- at the station, in
the fire truck's rear wheel well. The firefighters were not having
a good time searching for the cat. They had spent a lot of time
trying to catch the cat, but they decided to give it one more
try. This time, firefighters used food to try to lure the cat out.
It didn’t work. The cat refused to budge, so the crew resorted
to a successful three-person attack: one poked the feline
gently in the backside with a stick, another used a hose to
push it into an open area, so the third could grab it and pull it
out. The cat was dirty but unharmed. The cat’s owner thanked
them over and over for bringing his cat to safety.
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-ing form follows certain special expressions.
have a good time
have fun
+ Verb -ing
The firefighters were not having a good time
searching for the cat.
The firefighters were not having fun searching
for the cat.
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-ing form follows certain special expressions.
have trouble/difficulty
have a hard time
have a difficult time
+ -ing
They had a hard time trying to catch the cat.
They had trouble trying to catch the cat.
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Some verbs are immediately followed
by an infinitive.
The firefighters wanted to find the cat quickly.
The cat refused to budge.
want to
refuse to
intend to
hope to
need to
promise to
plan to
offer to
seem to
like to
agree to
pretend to
decide to
appear to
ask to
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PRACTICE 2
Gerund or Infinitive?
1. The firefighters had a difficult time (rescue)
rescuing the cat.
_________
to avoid the men
2. The cat seemed (avoid) _________
intentionally.
hurting the
3. They were worried about (hurt) ________
kitty.
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PRACTICE 2
Gerund or Infinitive?
4. In the end, it required three people (catch)
to catch the cat.
_________
to stop the
5. The firefighters refused (stop) ________
search for the cat.
hiding in
6. Finally, they found the cat (hide) ______
their own truck.
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Some verbs can be followed by either an
infinitive or a gerund…with no difference in
meaning.
The crew continued searching for the cat.
same meaning
The crew continued to search for the cat.
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Some verbs can be followed by either an
infinitive or a gerund, but the meaning is
different.
Remember
Forget
Regret
Try
Firefighters tried jacking up the car and taking off
a wheel.
(They were able to jack up the car.)
Firefighters tried to jack up the car and take off
a wheel.
(They were NOT able to jack up the car.)
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Some verbs can be followed by either an
infinitive or a gerund, but the meaning is
different.
A firefighter said to the cat’s owner: “I regret to
tell you that we couldn’t catch your cat.”
(sorry to tell someone bad news right now)
After they found the cat, the firefighter said, “I
don’t regret spending so much time on the
search for the cat.”
(sorry or not about something that already
happened)
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PRACTICE 3
Check Your Knowledge
1. Who went (running, to run) after the cat?
2. The men spent too much time (catching, to catch)
the cat.
3. They remembered (searching, to search) for a lot of
other cats on other rainy days.
4. They caught the cat (hiding, to hide) in the fire
truck.
5. They tried (finding, to find) the cat for a long time.
6. It is dangerous for cats (hurting, to hide) under a
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car.
CREDITS
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