Gerunds and Infinitives for Kids
A gerund is an -ing verb form used as a noun; an infinitive is to plus a base verb. Gerunds and Infinitives for Kids: A Practical Guide shows which form children need and how each choice affects meaning. Familiar examples and brief practice help children build sentences such as “We enjoy reading” and “We want to read.”
What Children Need to Understand
Both forms come from verbs but may work as nouns. In “Swimming is fun,” swimming names an activity. In “We want to swim,” to swim completes the idea after want. Children first identify each form and its function.
Gerunds and Infinitives for Kids: A Practical Guide teaches complete chunks instead of long definitions. “Enjoy drawing,” “finish eating,” “plan to visit,” and “need to study” reveal the pattern: the preceding word often determines the form.
Younger children can match patterns with pictures and actions. Older children can compare meanings and explain choices. Multilingual learners may contrast English with another language, while keeping the English pattern central.
How the Two Forms Work
Most gerunds add -ing: read–reading and play–playing. Spelling changes include dance–dancing, swim–swimming, and lie–lying. A full infinitive combines to with a base verb: to read, to play, or not to worry.
The chart in Gerunds and Infinitives for Kids: A Practical Guide prevents a frequent mix-up. In “They are swimming,” swimming belongs to the present continuous verb. In “Swimming is good exercise,” it names an activity and functions as a gerund.
Choosing a Form After Another Verb
Gerunds and Infinitives for Kids: A Practical Guide groups trigger verbs into short sets. Enjoy, avoid, finish, keep, mind, and suggest take a gerund. Teach chunks such as “enjoy making,” “finish writing,” and “keep trying.”
Want, need, hope, plan, decide, learn, and agree take a full infinitive: “want to play,” “plan to cook,” and “decide to wait.” Infinitives may express purpose: “We opened the book to find the answer.”
Start, begin, and continue accept both forms with little difference: “It started raining” and “It started to rain.” Other verbs change meaning. “Stop drawing” ends drawing; “stop to draw” pauses another activity for drawing.
Patterns Beyond the Main Verb
Gerunds and Infinitives for Kids: A Practical Guide includes the preposition rule. Gerunds follow prepositions: “good at listening,” “before leaving,” and “thank you for helping.” This applies when to is a preposition: “look forward to seeing you.”
Infinitives follow adjectives: “happy to help,” “ready to begin,” and “easy to carry.” They may follow question words: “We know how to start” and “Your child is learning what to say.” Modal verbs such as can, should, and must require a bare infinitive.
During online lessons, LearnLink tutors can match examples to each child’s age and interests. Younger learners might sort pictures into “enjoy doing” and “want to do.” Teens can compare “remember locking the door” with “remember to lock the door.”
Common Mistakes and Clear Corrections
Children may extend one pattern to every verb: “I enjoy to draw” or “We decided going.” Correct the complete chunk: “I enjoy drawing” or “We decided to go.” Next, request a new sentence using the same trigger.
Spelling errors include swiming, makeing, and lieing. Show each pair: swim–swimming, make–making, and lie–lying. Separate spelling practice from choosing between a gerund and an infinitive.
Gerunds and continuous verbs both end in -ing. Ask what the word does. “Drawing takes time” names an activity; “Your child is drawing” describes an action in progress. Identical spelling can serve different grammatical functions.
Practice Children Can Do
Present one decision per sentence. Ask your child to identify the trigger, choose a form, and read the result aloud. Reveal the answer afterward, prompting inspection of the pattern.
Choose the Correct Form
Complete each sentence with a gerund or infinitive.
1. We enjoy ___ puppets. (make)
2. Your child decided ___ the puzzle. (finish)
3. Thank you for ___ me. (help)
4. They hope ___ the library. (visit)
5. Keep ___ even when it is hard. (try)
6. We went outside ___ football. (play)
7. Your child is good at ___. (draw)
8. Remember ___ some water. (pack)
Answers: 1. making; 2. to finish; 3. helping; 4. to visit; 5. trying; 6. to play; 7. drawing; 8. to pack.
Meaning-changing pairs require contrast. Let your child act out or explain both situations before selecting a sentence. Acting exposes the difference and shows why either form might be correct.
Match the Sentence to the Meaning
Choose the correct sentence for each meaning.
1. End the game now: “Stop playing” or “Stop to play”?
2. Pause another task in order to play: “Stop playing” or “Stop to play”?
3. You have a memory of closing the window: “Remember closing” or “Remember to close”?
4. You must not forget a future action: “Remember closing” or “Remember to close”?
5. Test reading as a possible solution: “Try reading” or “Try to read”?
Answers: 1. Stop playing; 2. Stop to play; 3. Remember closing; 4. Remember to close; 5. Try reading.
Write trigger verbs on cards and sort them into gerund and infinitive groups. Create one sentence per card. Later, reshuffle the cards and add verbs that accept both forms. Older children can explain each meaning change.
When a word has several meanings or pronunciations, Cambridge Dictionary is a useful check before turning it into child-friendly examples.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Can I Explain a Gerund to a Young Child?
Describe a gerund as an action word naming an activity. In “Drawing is fun,” drawing names the activity; in “Your child enjoys drawing,” it names what the child enjoys. Begin with familiar actions, then compare “likes swimming” with “wants to swim.”
How Can My Child Know Which Form Follows a Verb?
Gerunds and Infinitives for Kids: A Practical Guide uses short verb groups because no universal test exists. Teach enjoy, avoid, finish, and keep with -ing; teach want, need, decide, and plan with to plus the base verb. Memorize chunks such as “enjoys reading.”
Can the Same Verb Take Both Forms?
Yes. “Start reading” and “start to read” have similar meanings. “Stop reading” ends the reading; “stop to read” pauses another action for reading. Interpret the entire sentence because certain verbs change meaning with the form.
Should I Correct Every Gerund and Infinitive Mistake?
Correct target patterns during focused practice without interrupting every message. Repeat the sentence with the correct form, then invite one repetition. For “I enjoy to draw,” respond: “You enjoy drawing. What do you enjoy drawing?” This preserves meaning while reinforcing the chunk.
How Much Practice Does My Child Need?
Brief, regular practice works better than one long list. Choose three or four trigger verbs, create one sentence per verb, and review them later that week. Younger children can speak and sort cards; older children can justify choices and compare changing meanings.
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