Friday, August 9, 2013

Lesson 83--Stop +gerunds/infinitives

Gerunds versus Infinitives

 

Some verbs are followed by infinitives and some are followed by gerunds.  In some cases verbs are followed by both.  The difficult thing is that in some cases (start, like) there really isn't any difference in meaning.

However, there are some verbs that have very different meanings.

Stop


infinitives

He stopped to buy a newspaper.

This means that he was on the way somewhere and stopped with the purpose to buy a newspaper.  He stopped doing something so that he could buy a newspaper.

gerunds--This has two meanings.  Though people often think this means quit, it can also be a short stop.

He stopped buying newspapers.

This means that he no longer buys newspapers.

 
He stopped singing.

He was singing, then he stopped.


The combination of both of them


He stopped singing to answer the phone.

2 comments:

  1. At this phrase

    "He was singing, they he stopped".

    I think it is "He was singing, THEN he stopped", no? Maybe u mispelled it :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are absolutely right. I changed it. Thanks for catching my typing mistake.

    ReplyDelete