Lesson 2b

Verbs taking the infinitive or –ing (participle) according to meaning

 

Introductory note:

The difference between gerund and participle is that the present participle (unlike the gerund) cannot be preceded by a possessive (e.g. your, his, my, …). Compare:

 

They saw me (NOT my) leaving the house early in the morning. = PARTICIPLE (Viděli mě, jak jsem odcházela z domu brzy ráno.)

- the object of saw is me, which can become the subject of a corresponding passive:

I was seen leaving the house early in the morning.

X

They saw (=regarded) my leaving the house early in the morning as something very suspicious. = GERUND (Můj odchod z domu brzy ráno považovali za něco velmi podezřelého.)

- here the object of saw is my leaving the house early in the morning, which then becomes the subject of a corresponding passive:

 

a) feel, hear, notice, observe, overhear, see, watch (= verbs of three senses)

- they are followed by an object + infinitive to refer to a complete event, e.g.:

I saw him eat a whole loaf of bread in ten minutes.

I’ve just heard Tom say that he’s not coming tonight.

- they are followed by an object + -ing to refer to part only of an event, e.g.:

I saw him eating and drinking a lot at the party. (I couldn’t see “the whole of eating and drinking” at the party…)

I’ve just overheard Lucy saying rude things about her colleague Mary, but I didn’t hear everything.

When these verbs are in the passive, the principle is the same, but the full infinitive (not plain) is used, e.g.:

I was overheard criticising my boss yesterday. But luckily I wasn’t heard to say I didn’t like him.  

b) come, go (= verbs of movement)

 

- these are used with the infinitive if we want to express purpose, e.g.:

I came to help you.

- they are used in a phrase with –ing to desribe an activity, e.g.:

go swimming, go skiing, …

c) find, get, have, left

find

a) to find sth. by chance + ing:

When he was walking home, he found a man hiding in a ditch.

b) to find sth. by investigation = to find that… + full infinitive (usu. to be or to have):

The police later found him to be unconnected with the crime. = …found that…

get / have

a) expressing result + ing:

I’ll soon get / have the apartment looking really neat. 

b) causal + infinitive (full with get X plain with have) = to get someone to do sth. / to have s-one do sth.:

I’ll get them to repaint / have them repaint the whole aparment.

c) causal + past participle = have / get something done:

I’ll have / get the whole apartment repainted.

- have is more common than get in this use; get is regarded to be informal

 

References:

Gethin, H. (1992) Grammar in Context. Harlow: Addison Wesley Longman Limited, pp. 113-116.