Spotlight - 14.2019

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22 Spotlight 14/2019 VERB POWER

5. Gerund or the “to”-infinitive?

Choose the correct form of each verb in the sentences

below: the gerund or infinitive.

A. We always spend Christmas with my partner’s family,

so this year, I suggested spending / to spend it with my

family instead.

B. We discussed sharing / to share the day with both fam-

ilies.

C. However, that plan would have involved driving /

to drive 300 miles in one day.

D. My mother-in-law refused negotiating / to negotiate.

E. So, we decided staying / to stay at home instead.

E

rnest Empathy, the coach, poured himself a whisky and

looked out at the blizzard. He was sad. He missed spend-

ing time with people who had a positive mindset. He used to

imagine holding seminars where people actually reacted to

what he was saying, not where they avoided looking at him.

He couldn’t bear participating in events of this kind any more.

Ernest had thought that a company like Delirious Decorations

would be fun to work with. He had enjoyed preparing for the

three days with Victor and his team. He poured himself another

whisky. No, it would take a miracle to save Delirious Decorations.

Verbs followed by a gerund

A gerund is the “-ing” form of a verb (for example

“spending”, “doing”). Some verbs are followed by a

gerund, as you can see in the story: “missed spending”,

“imagine holding”, “avoided looking”, “bear participating”

and “enjoyed preparing”. Other examples are: “admit

doing”, “deny doing”, “spend time doing” and “risk

doing”. You can find a list of these verbs at

spotlight-online.de/gerunds-infinitives

Answers

5.

G

erund or the “to”-infinitive?

A.

spending

B.

sharing

C.

driving

D.

to negotiate

E.

to stay

deny [di(naI]

, leugnen

empathy [(empETi]

, Einfühlungsvermögen

mindset [(maIndset]

, Denkweise, Einstellung

miracle [(mIrEk&l]

, Wunder

pour [pO:]

, einschenken