About the ged writting exam 4 pot

Incorrect: What is the side effects of this

medication?

Correct: What are the side effects of this

medication?

Gerunds and Infinitives

Gerunds and infinitives have given many students of Eng￾lish a grammar headache, but they are not so difficult to

master. Gerunds, as we noted earlier, look like verbs

because they end in –ing, but they actually function as

nouns in sentences:

Tracy loves camping.

Here, the “action” Tracy performs is loves. The thing

(noun) she enjoys is camping. In the following sentence,

however, camping is the action Tracy performs, so it is

functioning as a verb, not as a gerund:

Tracy is camping in the Pine Barrens next week.

Words ending in –ing can also function as adjectives:

Some of our camping gear needs to be replaced

before our trip.

Here’s another example of how the same word can

have three different functions:

Verb: He is screaming loudly.

Gerund (noun): That screaming is driving me

crazy!

Adjective: The screaming boy finally stopped.

What this means is that you can’t count on word end￾ings to determine a word’s part of speech. Lots of words

that look like verbs may not be. It’s how they function in

the sentence that counts.

Infinitives are the base (unconjugated) form of the

verb preceded by to: to be, to delay, to manage. They are

often part of a verb chain, but they are not the main verb

(main action) of a sentence:

Priya likes to write poems.

In this example, likes is the main verb; what Priya likes

(the action she likes to take) is to write poems.

WHEN TO USE INFINITIVES AND GERUNDS

In many situations, you may be uncertain whther to use

an infinitive or a gerund. Which is correct: I like to swim

or I like swimming? In this case, both are correct; like,

hate, and other verbs that express preference can be fol￾lowed by either a gerund or infinitive. But other verbs

can only be followed by one or the other. Here are a few

helpful guidelines:

■ Always use a gerund after a preposition.

Keza thought that by taking the train, she would

save money and time.

Noriel was afraid of offending her host, but she

couldn’t eat the dinner.

■ Always use a gerund after the following verbs:

admit dislike practice

appreciate enjoy put off

avoid escape quit

can’t help finish recall

consider imagine resist

delay keep risk

deny miss suggest

discuss postpone tolerate

We should discuss buying a new computer.

I am going to quit smoking.

■ In general, use an infinitive after these verbs:

agree decide need refuse

ask expect offer venture

beg fail plan want

bother hope pretend wish

claim manage promise

Aswad promises to be back by noon.

Fatima failed to keep her promise.

–USAGE–

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