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Common Uses








            13.5   Using Gerunds

            Gerunds (and gerund phrases) are commonly used in academic writing. They are used:

            1.  as the subject of a sentence        Volunteering is one of several ways to acquire job
                                                    experience.

            2. as the object of a preposition       The study focused on finding new methods to detect cancer.
                                                    Researchers are interested in conducting further studies.

            3. as the object of certain verbs       People dislike speaking in public for several reasons.

            4. as a noun after the verb be          Students stated their favorite weekend activity was
                                                    sleeping late.

            5.  after by (to explain how something   Participants were divided into two groups by selecting
               is done)                             names at random from a longer, larger list.

            Notes
            1. Gerund subjects are always singular.
            2.  Common verb + preposition + gerund combinations include ask about, worry about, think of, count on, keep on, and
              succeed in.
            3.  Common adjective + preposition + gerund combinations include afraid of, good at, interested in, worried about, and
              responsible for.






            13.6   Using Infinitives
            Infinitives (and infinitive phrases) are commonly used in academic writing. They are used:

            1. as the object of the verb            The researchers intended to show which study habits were
                                                    most successful.

            2. after a form of the verb be          According to the survey, the main goal of most students is
                                                    to graduate without a lot of debt.
            3. after it + be + adjective            It is almost impossible to predict the outcome of some
                                                    criminal trials.

            Notes
            1.  Infinitives are not commonly used as subjects. Gerunds are more common.
            2. Infinitives (to + verb) can be used to express purpose. They have the same meaning as in order to + verb.
                [In order] To graduate from college with no debt, many students work part time or even full time.
            3. Common adjectives after it + be include difficult, easy, important, impossible, interesting, and necessary.









           176  Unit 13  Using Gerunds and Infinitives


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                 Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
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               Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
                    Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.  WCN 02-200-203
   172-185_18606_GGW_SB_B_U13.indd   176                                                                         12/14/16   3:06 PM
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