Grammar Essentials (Handbook)
🔒 Log in to trackNon-finites (infinitive, gerund, participle), inversion and parallelism
🔒 Log in to trackNon-finite verb forms are the infinitive (to go), the gerund (going) and the participle (going, gone). They do not show tense or number by themselves. Inversion means putting the helper verb before the subject, as in questions and after some negative words.
Infinitive and gerund
Some verbs are followed by an infinitive, some by a gerund, and a few by either.
| Follows | Verbs |
|---|---|
| to + verb | want, hope, decide, plan, promise, refuse, manage, afford, offer, learn, fail, agree, wish |
| -ing | enjoy, avoid, finish, mind, practise, suggest, deny, admit, consider, postpone, imagine, keep, escape |
| either (meaning same) | begin, start, like, love, hate, continue, prefer |
| either (meaning changes) | stop, remember, forget, try, regret |
- He stopped to smoke = he paused in order to smoke. He stopped smoking = he quit.
- I remember meeting him = I recall it. Remember to post it = do not forget the task.
- After a preposition, use the gerund: She is fond of singing. He left without saying goodbye.
- To as a preposition needs a gerund: look forward to meeting, used to waking early, object to paying, be accustomed to working.
Bare infinitive and fixed patterns
- After let, make, see, hear, help the bare infinitive follows: She made me laugh. But in the passive the to returns: I was made to laugh.
- After modal verbs, had better, would rather use the bare verb.
- It is worth, no use, no good, cannot help, be busy + gerund: It is no use crying.
- The split infinitive puts a word between to and the verb (to quickly run). Exams prefer the unsplit form.
Participles and their subjects
- Present participle (-ing) shows an action at the same time: Walking home, I met him.
- Past participle (V3) has a passive or completed sense: Tired of waiting, she left.
- A participle phrase at the start must belong to the subject that follows. Otherwise it dangles.
- Wrong: Walking down the street, the rain started. Right: Walking down the street, I felt the rain.
- Perfect participle having + V3: Having finished the work, he left.
Watch: After a participle phrase, ask "who did that action?" The subject of the main clause must answer.
Inversion
Inversion puts the helper before the subject: Rarely have I seen such a view.
- Questions: Where did he go? The helper is before the subject.
- Negative openers force inversion: never, rarely, seldom, hardly, scarcely, barely, no sooner, nowhere, little, not only, not until, under no circumstances, on no account, at no time.
- Never have I seen such a crowd.
- No sooner had he left than it rained.
- Not only did she sing, but she also danced.
- Hardly had I sat when the phone rang.
- So / neither / nor agreement: He likes tea, and so do I. She cannot swim, and neither can he.
- Conditional inversion: Had I known, ... Were he here, ... Should you need, ...
- Only + adverb at the start: Only then did I realise my mistake. Only after dinner did she speak.
- Do not invert an embedded question: I asked where he went. Not where did he go.
Tip: A sentence starting with a negative word and followed by the subject and then the verb is nearly always wrong.
Question types you will see
Each type: how to recognise it, the method step by step, and one question to try.
Verb + infinitive or gerund
The blank follows a verb such as enjoy, avoid, hope, decide, mind or suggest.
Find the main verb.
Check the verb list: gerund group or infinitive group.
Choose -ing or to + verb accordingly.
Each verb selects its own pattern, and the exam uses a fixed core set.
She avoided ___ to him. (to talk / talking / talk / talked)
Show solutionHide solution
'Avoid' takes a gerund.
Choose 'talking'.
talking
Preposition + gerund
The blank comes right after a preposition, including 'to' in look forward to and used to.
Identify the preposition.
Remember that a preposition is followed by a noun or gerund.
Change to -ing form.
A preposition needs a noun-like word after it.
He left without ___ goodbye. (say / to say / saying / said)
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'Without' is a preposition.
The verb must be a gerund: 'saying'.
saying
Dangling participles
A sentence begins with an -ing or -ed phrase followed by a comma and a subject.
Ask who did the action in the phrase.
Does the subject after the comma answer that?
If not, change the subject or rewrite the phrase.
The opening phrase describes the noun right after the comma.
Reading the newspaper, the tea got cold. What is wrong?
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The tea did not read the newspaper.
The phrase and the subject do not match.
The participle dangles; a person must be the subject: Reading the newspaper, I let the tea go cold.
Inversion after negative openers
A sentence opens with never, hardly, no sooner, rarely, not only, seldom or little.
Spot the negative opener.
Put the helper verb before the subject.
If no helper exists, add do, does or did.
English flips the subject and the helper after such openers.
Hardly ___ the class begun when the bell rang. (had / has / did / was)
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'Hardly' opens the sentence, so invert.
The past perfect helper 'had' comes before the subject.
had
Bare infinitive after let, make, see, hear
The blank follows let, make, see, hear or help, with an object between.
Spot the verb.
In the active, use the bare verb (no to).
In the passive, add to.
These verbs are followed by an object and a bare infinitive.
The teacher made the boy ___ the answer. (repeat / to repeat / repeating)
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'Made' is followed by a bare infinitive.
Choose 'repeat'.
repeat
Stop, remember, forget, try
The blank follows stop, remember, forget, try or regret and both forms look possible.
Read the meaning.
Verb + to: a purpose or a task ahead.
Verb + -ing: an action already done or an experiment.
The form tells the reader whether the action is past or still to come.
Please remember ___ the letter on your way. (to post / posting)
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It is a task still ahead.
Use 'to post'.
to post
So, neither and nor agreement
A second clause starts with so, neither or nor and refers to the first clause.
Positive first clause: so + helper + subject.
Negative first clause: neither or nor + helper + subject.
Copy the helper of the first clause.
The reply agrees or disagrees with the first clause and flips the helper.
She can swim, and so ___ her brother. (can / does / is / will)
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The first clause has 'can'.
Copy it: 'so can her brother'.
can
Shortcuts that save time
If the word before the blank is a preposition (of, in, at, without, after, before, by, about), the verb must end in -ing. Watch for to in look forward to and used to: it is a preposition there.
She is looking forward to ___ you soon. (see / seeing / saw / seen)
Show solutionHide solution
'Look forward to' has 'to' as a preposition.
A preposition takes a gerund: 'seeing'.
seeing
When a sentence opens with never, rarely, hardly, no sooner, not only or not until, flip the first helper before the subject. If there is no helper, add do, does or did.
Mistakes to avoid
Where most students lose marks on this subtopic.
She enjoys to dance.
She enjoys dancing.
He is interested to learn music.
He is interested in learning music.
I look forward to meet you.
I look forward to meeting you.
Hardly he had left when it rained.
Hardly had he left when it rained.
Never I have seen such a crowd.
Never have I seen such a crowd.
Walking down the road, the rain began.
Walking down the road, I felt the rain begin.
She asked where did he go.
She asked where he went.
Quick revision
Read this the night before the exam.
enjoy, avoid, finish, mind, suggest, deny, practise + gerund.
want, hope, decide, refuse, manage, promise + to + verb.
After a preposition use -ing; look forward to, used to, object to take -ing.
let, make, see, hear + bare infinitive; the passive of make adds to.
stop, remember, forget, try change meaning with the form.
A participle phrase must match the subject that follows it.
Negative openers (never, hardly, no sooner, not only) force inversion.
So do I / neither can he: invert the helper verb.
Practice: 12 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Every answer has a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 12 questions
Suggested time 5 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.