Watch a recording of our LearnEnglish webinar on the topic of motivation at work. It reviews and practises when to use the gerund or infinitive and is for B1 level learners.
I hope this message finds you well. I have a question regarding the sentence, "I don't like having my photograph taken." I am wondering if it would be grammatically and semantically correct to paraphrase it as, "I dislike the act of someone taking a photograph of me."
I would like to note that I am aware that a gerund phrase can take a subject, so I have used "someone" after "the act of," as in the example: "There are specific factors which will increase the likelihood of children leaving school early."
Additionally, I am aware that I could paraphrase my original sentence as, "I dislike the act of being photographed by someone."
That sentence is grammatically correct, but the construction 'I dislike the act of...' is used to talk about something the speaker does rather than something someone else does to them. When talking about something done to use we would be more likely to say 'I dislike the experience of being photographed'.
In the below two examples:
1 - People use their phones to take photos.
2 - People use their phones for taking photos.
If we should use the gerund after prepositions, what is the explanation for the fist example?
In the first sentence 'to' is not a preposition but rather a particle forming the infinitive 'to take'. The verb pattern here is >use (sth) + to infinitive<.
The difference between 'try to do' and 'try doing' is explained on our Verbs followed by '-ing' or 'to'-infinitive 2 page. Either one could work here, but I imagine the form with the infinitive makes more sense in most situations.
There are some rules. Gerunds are used after prepositions, for example. However, mostly it is a question of remembering which verbs are followed by which form. For explanations and examples take a look at these pages:
Hello The LearnEnglish Team,
I hope this message finds you well. I have a question regarding the sentence, "I don't like having my photograph taken." I am wondering if it would be grammatically and semantically correct to paraphrase it as, "I dislike the act of someone taking a photograph of me."
I would like to note that I am aware that a gerund phrase can take a subject, so I have used "someone" after "the act of," as in the example: "There are specific factors which will increase the likelihood of children leaving school early."
Additionally, I am aware that I could paraphrase my original sentence as, "I dislike the act of being photographed by someone."
Thank you for your assistance and clarification.
Best regards,
Sep80
Hello Sep80,
That sentence is grammatically correct, but the construction 'I dislike the act of...' is used to talk about something the speaker does rather than something someone else does to them. When talking about something done to use we would be more likely to say 'I dislike the experience of being photographed'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Team,
In the below two examples:
1 - People use their phones to take photos.
2 - People use their phones for taking photos.
If we should use the gerund after prepositions, what is the explanation for the fist example?
Thanks in advance.
Mara
Hi Mara,
In the first sentence 'to' is not a preposition but rather a particle forming the infinitive 'to take'. The verb pattern here is >use (sth) + to infinitive<.
I hope that helps to clarify it.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you, Peter.
Hello. Could you please help me? Which choice is correct? Why?
- If you want to stay healthy, you should try (to do - doing) more exercise
Thank you.
Hello Ahmed Imam,
The difference between 'try to do' and 'try doing' is explained on our Verbs followed by '-ing' or 'to'-infinitive 2 page. Either one could work here, but I imagine the form with the infinitive makes more sense in most situations.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Motivation is one of reasons but not all reasons
Is there any trick to guess when to use gerund or infinitive?
Hello mug006,
There are some rules. Gerunds are used after prepositions, for example. However, mostly it is a question of remembering which verbs are followed by which form. For explanations and examples take a look at these pages:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/clause-structure-and-verb-patterns
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/ing-forms
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/to-infinitives
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/verbs-followed-by-the-ing-form
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/verbs-followed-by-the-infinitive
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team