Download Verbs: the bare infinitive (=without to), the to

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Verbs: the bare infinitive (=without to), the to-infinitive, or –ing?
See p. 182-183 in the Advanced Expert CAE Coursebook .
The following notes are far from exhaustive. They are based on R. Close, A
Teachers’ Grammar, Language Teaching Publications, revised edition 1992.
What we are really talking about here is a difference in verb complementation or
verb patterns.
SV The door opened
SVC It is good
SVO Someone opened the door
SVOO My father gave me this
book
SVOC I consider him to be innocent
(S =grammatical subject; V = verb; O = object[direct/indirect]; C = complement)
The bare infinitive is used after do, will, should, would, shall, can, could, may,
might, might as well, had better, would rather, would sooner; and after let. It is
also used in the SVO pattern I heard the bell ring.
The to-infinitive occurs after ought, used and have. It is also used in the SVO verb
patterns: I wanted to scream, I wanted him to go away and I longed for someone to
come.
The – ing form occurs in the following SVO patterns: I stopped trembling, I
remember you coming, We heard a dog barking.
We can say We began to sing or We began singing with no substantial change of
meaning.
We can say I heard her sing or I heard her singing, with a change of emphasis (a
single act versus an activity having duration, see point 2) below).
We can say I remembered to go which does not mean the same as I remembered
going (see below).
Only the -ing form, not the infinitive, follows a preposition or a prepositional verb:
Let’s talk about fishing. He earns his living by translating. Take these pills before
and after eating.
There are three differences in meaning between the infinitive and the ing form:
1) Activity in general or activity in progress?
2
The infinitive may refer either to the activity in general or to the act completed.
The -ing form refers to activity in progress:
I saw the man jump (single completed act)
I saw him running away ( activity in progress)
I have often heard that dog bark (series of completed acts)
I heard it barking all night (activity in progress)
2) Activity in progress or a new act?
I like dancing (activity in progress)
Would you like to dance? (begin a new act)
This distinction between a new act (infinitive) and an activity having duration (ing) can be seen in the following pairs:
It is a great pleasure to be with you tonight
It is a great pleasure being with you tonight
We were interested to hear your news
We are not interested in hearing gossip
Now let us try to turn the key to the right (to turn it to the left and to the right
are two separate acts.)
Now let us try turning the key to the right (turning it to the left and to the right
are part of a single, unfinished process of experiment.)
3) Move in a series or activity in progress
The infinitive points to a move forward in a series of events, while the –ing looks
backwards to previous activity in progress or even to a previous act completed.
Here, the two members of the pair may have quite different meanings:
I remembered to telephone the doctor (I remembered what I had to do and then I
did it.)
I remembered telephoning the doctor (I recalled the act of telephoning.)
I regret to tell you that I shall be away (I regret having now to tell you something.)
I regret telling you that I shall be away (I regret having already told you
something.)