Gerund or infinitive part 3

Quiz: Which sentence is correct?
1a I'm pleased to meet you.
1b I'm pleased meeting you.

2a She's good at to speak English.
2b She's good at speaking English.

3a He's given up to smoke.
3b He's given up smoking.

4a Being happy is more important than being rich.
4b To be happy is more important than to be rich.

5a I went to the shop to buy some milk.
​5b I went to the shopping buying some milk.

Keep reading to see the answers.

​Answers
​1 a I'm pleased to meet you.
We use "to meet" because "pleased" is an adjective. We usually use the infinitive after an adjective.
Another example: The instructions weren't easy to understand.

2 b She's good at speaking English.
We use the gerund after prepositions.
Another example: I'm afraid of driving on the motorway.

3 b He's given up smoking.
"Give up" is a phrasal verb. We use the gerund after phrasal verbs.
Another example: He's looking forward to seeing his friends at the weekend.

4 a Being happy is more important than being rich.
We can use the gerund as the subject or object of a sentence.
Another example: Going to the cinema on a Saturday is very expensive.

5 a I went to the shop to buy some milk.
We use the infinitive to explain why we do something.
I could say "I went to the shop in order to buy some milk." To = in order to.
Another example: I went to the library to do my homework.

This is part 3 in a series.
See part 1 here and part 2 here.
Click here for Part 4!

Click the buttons below to get my e-book which covers this topic in more detail, including practice exercises, and my free verb list.
​

FREE gerund or infinitive verb list

Gerund or Infinitive e-book

Answers: 1a, 2b, 3a, 4b