Gerund or infinitive part 3

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

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

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

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

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

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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!

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Gerund or Infinitive e-book

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