Infinite and gerund phrases

Gerunds and infinitives as subjects

The subject of a sentence is usually a noun or a pronoun. But sometimes, to-infinitives and –ing forms are also used as subjects.

Study the examples given below.

• Swimming is a good exercise.

Here the –ing form ‘swimming’ acts as the subject of the verb ‘is’.

More examples are given below.

• Smoking is injurious to health.
• Singing gives me great pleasure.
• Telling lies can get you into deep trouble.
• Collecting stamps is his hobby.
• Driving very fast on a busy road may lead to an accident.

In each of the following sentences, the subject is an –ing form.

A to-infinitive can also act as the subject of a verb.

Study the example sentences given below.

• To err is human.
• To give advice is easy.
• To follow this advice may be difficult.
• To swim in that sea may be dangerous.
• To drive very fast here is not advisable.

Now study the examples given below. They show another kind of subject a sentence can have.

• What you say is not true.
• Where the police have taken him is not known.
• Why even good people suffer in this world is a great mystery.

As you can see, the subject in each of these sentences is not a word or a phrase, but a group of words which itself looks like a sentence. A group of words of this kind is called a clause. Here the clause functions as a noun and therefore it is called a noun clause.

Exercise 1: Decide if the verbs are followed by a verb in the gerund or in theinfinitive form