Unit 5 Grammar B: Gerunds and prepositions
Use -ing forms after target verbs, prepositions, and time expressions.
A gerund is an -ing form used as a noun. The target verbs can’t help, enjoy, imagine, keep, mind, miss, practise, risk, and suggest take a gerund in the patterns studied here. A gerund also follows the preposition in expressions such as afraid of, complain about, interested in, look forward to, proud of, and worried about. In look forward to, to is a preposition, so it is followed by an -ing form. Spend time is followed by an -ing activity: spend time reading.
Key terms
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| target verb + -ing | They enjoy living here. |
| adjective + preposition + -ing | She is interested in learning. |
| look forward to + -ing | We look forward to visiting. |
| spend time + -ing | He spends time reading. |
- 1Find the expression: The sentence uses look forward to.
- 2Classify to: Here, to is a preposition.
- 3Choose the form: Use visiting, not visit.
The word immediately before a gap may belong to a longer pattern such as interested in or look forward to.
Infinitive to takes a base verb, but the preposition to in look forward to takes an -ing form.
Rules
- 1Use an -ing form after the target verbs: enjoy reading, imagine living, and keep practising.
- 2Use an -ing form after prepositions: afraid of falling and interested in learning.
- 3Treat to in look forward to as a preposition: look forward to seeing someone.
- 4Use spend time + -ing to name the activity that occupies the time.
- 5To say that waiting is acceptable, negate mind with do not or does not: Sam does not mind waiting.
- 6Choose the infinitive or gerund by the governing expression, not by the topic of the sentence.
Practice
4 easy · 4 medium · 4 hard
Up to 10 random questions per test