¿CUÁNDO USAR UN INFINITIVO O UN GERUNDIO EN INGLÉS?

Una de las partes gramaticales más complicadas de aprender en inglés es saber cuándo usar gerundio y cuando usar infinitivo. A continuación, vamos a explicar las nociones básicas:

Usamos GERUNDIO cuando:

• Cuando el verbo es el sujeto de la oración.

Por ejemplo: “Running in the morning makes me feel less tired” (Correr por las mañanas hace que me sienta menos cansado)

• Cuando el verbo se usa después de una preposición.

Por ejemplo: He kept on insisting (El siguió insistiendo)

• Después de algunos verbos. Se muestran abajo algunos de los ejemplos:

Verbs	Examples
admit	He admitted stealing the wallet.
advise	I wouldn’t advise buying a used car.
allow	They don’t allow smoking here. (Note that when an object is introduced an infinitive is used instead of a gerund: they allowed us to leave early.)
consider	She considered starting a new business.
finish	She finished writing the letter.
go	go swimming.
keep	He keeps complaining about his girlfriend.
mention	He mentioned working in that company.
mind	Would you mind helping me?
miss	He misses talking to her.
permit	They don’t permit smoking here. (Note that, like allow, when an object is introduced an infinitive is used instead of a gerund: they permitted us to leave early.)
practice	She practiced painting.
resist	He couldn’t resist eating the cake.
suggest	I suggest leaving early.
like	I like watching TV.

Usamos INFINITIVO cuando:

• Queremos expresar el próposito o razón por la que hacemos algo.

Por ejemplo: I went to France to see my sister.

• Después de algunos adjetivos (be determined, be delighted, be disappointed, be happy…)

Por ejemplo: She is determined to pass her exam.

• Después de too y enough.

Por ejemplo: That book is too long to read it in 1 week.

• Después de algunos verbos. Se muestran abajo algunos ejemplos:

Verbs	Examples
afford	We can’t afford to buy a new car.
agree	She agreed to help him.
choose	He chose to stay at home.
decide	They decided to go to the movies.
expect	They expected to arrive early.
happen	They happened to be at the theatre when we met them.
learn	He learned to play the guitar when he was young.
need	I need to find a job.
offer	He offers to help us.
plan	He plans to follow a career as an engineer.
pretend	The child pretended to be asleep.
proceed	He proceeded to show us how to use the machine.
promise	She promised to come on time.
seem	He seemed to be unhappy.
want	I want to finish my work early.
would hate	He would hate to lose.
would like	He would like to drink a cup of tea.
would love	I would love to meet you.