Video Summary - GERUND (-ing) or INFINITIVE (to) - When & How to Use them! (+ Free PDF & Quiz)

Main ideas / lessons

Goal of the lesson: fix common mistakes such as confusing gerunds (-ing) with infinitives (to + verb).
- “I enjoy walking” ✅ vs “I enjoy to walk” ❌
- “I plan to come” ✅ vs “I plan coming” ❌
Core concept: Gerunds and infinitives can both function like “verbal nouns”—verb-derived forms that behave like nouns.

Definition: A gerund is an -ing form of a verb that functions as a noun (or noun phrase).
- Example: walk → walking
Key rule: If the -ing form acts like a noun, it’s a gerund.
- Example: Walking always puts me in a good mood.
  - walking is the subject (noun role).
Important distinction: Not every -ing form is a gerund.
- Progressive/continuous tenses use be + present participle—also ending in -ing—but they work as part of the verb phrase, not as a noun.
- Example: I am eating. (progressive verb form, not a gerund)

A) As the subject of a sentence
- Walking always puts me in a good mood.
B) As the object of verbs
- Jenny enjoys walking.
  - walking = object of enjoys
C) In noun phrases
- playing the guitar, baking a cake (the gerund is part of a larger noun phrase)
D) With “go” for hobbies/recreation
- go hiking, go shopping, go swimming, go fishing, go sightseeing, etc.
E) As the object of prepositions
- Common prepositions: before, by, bye, since, except, without, after, from
- Example patterns from subtitles:
  - before completing…
  - by getting up early…
  - since meeting him…
  - except writing…
  - without planning…
  - after recovering from…
  - retired from rugby

Definition: An infinitive is the base form of a verb preceded by to (the “two infinitives” joke references “to + infinity”).
- Example: walk → to walk

A) As the subject of a sentence (often sounds formal)
- Subtitles note it can sound very formal/fancy:
  - To sing gives me great pleasure (more “posh/old-fashioned”)
- More common/neutral:
  - Singing gives me great pleasure (gerund subject)
When infinitives-as-subject are acceptable
- Instructions / directions
  - To cook properly, place the fish skin side down…
  - To get there, take the bus… and cross the road.
- Quoting
- Dictionary definitions
  - to + verb used for definitions (noted conceptually in the text)
B) After certain verbs (infinitive as direct object)
- Infinitives commonly follow verbs like:
  - agree: We agreed to…
  - demand: They demanded to…
  - manage: He managed to…
  - plan: She’s planning to… (example context: after returning…)
  - want: Ben wants to…
- Verb + object + infinitive
  - They asked us to help…
  - She told him to bring…
  - He encouraged her to…
C) Infinitives after adjectives
- He was happy to include…
- They were sad to leave…
- We are pleased to welcome you…

Some verbs allow either a gerund or an infinitive with similar meaning:
- She hates sleeping late / She hates to sleep late
- We prefer eating at home / We prefer to eat at home
- They started working… / They started to work…
Some verbs have limited options
- Gerund-friendly verbs listed in the text: consider, deny, enjoy, imagine, suggest
- Examples:
  - consider moving…
  - deny cheating…
  - enjoy watching…
  - imagine waking up…
  - suggest bringing…
- The subtitles mention that other verbs exist with opposite restrictions (only gerund-only or infinitive-only), but only the gerund-only list is detailed here.

Use this “emergency” guide:

If the first action leads to a second action → use an infinitive
- Example: He wants to eat pizza for dinner.
If the first action happens at the same time as the second action → use a gerund
- Example: He likes eating pizza for dinner.

Note: The teacher warns the trick doesn’t work all the time, but it can help when choosing under pressure (e.g., an exam).

Lucy (teacher/host), “English with Lucy” (referred to as “english with lucy” in the subtitles)
[Music] appears as an audio marker (no specific artist named in the subtitles)