Unit 3: Modals, Infinitives and Gerunds - Subjective Questions

Phrasal modals are multi-word expressions that perform functions similar to single-word modal verbs such as can, may, must, and should.

• They are generally followed by the base form of a verb.
• They express meanings such as ability, obligation, probability, intention, or advice.

Common examples:

• have to + verb: external obligation — Employees have to attend the meeting.
• be able to + verb: ability — She is able to communicate clearly.
• be going to + verb: future intention — We are going to revise the proposal.
• be supposed to + verb: expectation or duty — You are supposed to submit the report today.
• ought to + verb: advice or moral obligation — Managers ought to listen to their teams.

Unlike many central modals, phrasal modals can often be inflected for tense, as in had to and will be able to.

These expressions differ mainly in the kind and strength of obligation they convey.

• Have to expresses a strong obligation usually created by rules, circumstances, or external authority. Example: Visitors have to carry identity cards.
• Be supposed to expresses an expectation, assigned duty, or accepted procedure. It may also suggest that the expected action has not occurred. Example: The secretary is supposed to circulate the minutes.
• Ought to expresses advice, moral responsibility, or what is considered desirable. Example: Professionals ought to respect confidentiality.

Comparison:

• You have to apologize indicates necessity.
• You are supposed to apologize indicates an expectation.
• You ought to apologize presents the apology as the right or advisable action.

Thus, the expressions overlap in meaning but differ in source, force, and communicative purpose.

Both can and be able to express ability, but their grammatical behavior differs.

• Can is a central modal and is normally followed by a base verb: She can negotiate effectively.
• Be able to is a phrasal modal whose form changes according to tense and agreement: She is able to negotiate effectively.

Important differences:

• Can has only the forms can and could.
• Be able to can appear in a wider range of constructions: will be able to, has been able to, and would like to be able to.
• For a specific successful action in the past, was/were able to often emphasizes actual achievement: After a long discussion, they were able to reach an agreement.
• After another modal, be able to must be used: The team may be able to finish early.

Therefore, be able to is especially useful when tense, aspect, or another modal prevents the use of can.

Complex modals are modal constructions containing a modal verb followed by an infinitive that adds aspect or voice. Their common structure is:

modal + infinitive phrase

Major patterns include:

• Modal + perfect infinitive: must have completed — deduction about a past event.
• Modal + progressive infinitive: may be waiting — possibility involving an ongoing action.
• Modal + perfect progressive infinitive: could have been working — possibility concerning an action continuing in the past.
• Modal + passive infinitive: should be informed — obligation or expectation in the passive voice.
• Modal + perfect passive infinitive: might have been delayed — past possibility expressed passively.

Complex modals allow speakers to communicate fine distinctions involving time, completion, duration, probability, obligation, deduction, and voice.

The construction has the form modal + have + past participle. It normally refers to a situation before the present or before another reference point.

Functions include:

• Strong deduction: She must have misunderstood the instructions.
• Past possibility: The message may have reached the wrong department.
• Unrealized possibility or ability: They could have resolved the dispute earlier.
• Regret or criticism: You should have checked the figures.
• Past action that was unnecessary: You need not have printed every page.

The modal determines the speaker's attitude, while the perfect infinitive places the event in the past. For example, must have left expresses a strong present conclusion about a past departure, whereas might have left expresses uncertainty about it.

All four constructions contain a modal followed by the perfect infinitive have + past participle, but they express different attitudes toward a past event.

• Must have expresses a strong logical deduction: The client must have received the email.
• May have expresses a possible past event: The client may have received the email.
• Could have may express past possibility, an unrealized opportunity, or criticism: We could have avoided the delay.
• Should have expresses an unfulfilled expectation, regret, advice about the past, or criticism: We should have informed the client earlier.

Degree and meaning:

• Must have indicates high certainty.
• May have indicates uncertain possibility.
• Could have often focuses on a possible alternative.
• Should have evaluates the past action against what was desirable or expected.

Context is essential because could have and should have frequently imply that the stated action did not actually happen.

A simple infinitive uses the base form of a verb and generally refers to an action simultaneous with or later than the action of the main verb.

To-infinitive:

• Form: to + base verb, as in to speak.
• After certain verbs: They decided to participate.
• To express purpose: She called to confirm the appointment.
• After adjectives: The instructions are easy to follow.
• After nouns: He made an attempt to explain.

Bare infinitive:

• Form: base verb without to, as in speak.
• After central modals: You should speak clearly.
• After let and make in active constructions: Let her finish. / The trainer made us practise.
• After perception verbs in some constructions: We heard him deliver the speech.

The choice between the two forms depends on the preceding grammatical element and the intended meaning.

A gerund is the -ing form of a verb used primarily as a noun or as the head of a noun phrase. Although it has a nominal function, it can retain verbal properties, such as taking an object.

Principal functions:

• Subject: Listening improves communication.
• Subject complement: Her main responsibility is training new employees.
• Direct object: They enjoy discussing new ideas.
• Object of a preposition: He succeeded by working consistently.
• After a possessive or noun phrase: We appreciated her responding promptly.

A gerund can also be modified by an adverb and can take its own object: Carefully reviewing the document prevented errors. Here, reviewing takes the document as its object and is modified by carefully.

A gerund and a present participle have the same -ing form, but they perform different grammatical functions.

• A gerund functions like a noun or heads a noun phrase: Writing reports requires concentration. Here, writing reports is the subject.
• A present participle functions as part of a progressive verb phrase or as a modifier: She is writing a report. / The employee writing the report is absent.

Tests for distinction:

• If the -ing expression occupies a position normally occupied by a noun, it is a gerund.
• If it combines with a form of be to show progressive aspect, it is a participle.
• If it modifies a noun or clause, it is participial.

Compare Speaking confidently improves credibility with Speaking confidently, she addressed the audience. The first phrase is a gerund phrase serving as subject; the second is a participial phrase describing the subject she.

Complex infinitives combine infinitive structure with perfect aspect, progressive aspect, or passive voice.

• Perfect infinitive: to have + past participle — indicates an earlier completed action. Example: She appears to have understood the problem.
• Progressive infinitive: to be + present participle — indicates an action in progress. Example: They seem to be discussing the proposal.
• Perfect progressive infinitive: to have been + present participle — emphasizes duration before a reference point. Example: He claims to have been working all day.
• Passive infinitive: to be + past participle — focuses on the receiver of an action. Example: The document needs to be revised.
• Perfect passive infinitive: to have been + past participle — refers to an earlier completed passive event. Example: The email appears to have been deleted.

These forms enable precise expression of time relationships, duration, completion, and voice.

Complex gerunds show perfect aspect or passive voice while continuing to function as noun-like expressions.

• Perfect gerund: having + past participle — shows that the gerund action occurred earlier. Example: She regretted having rejected the offer.
• Passive gerund: being + past participle — shows that the subject of the gerund receives the action. Example: He dislikes being interrupted.
• Perfect passive gerund: having been + past participle — shows an earlier completed action received by the subject. Example: They denied having been informed about the change.

Complex gerunds may function as subjects, objects, or objects of prepositions. In She was proud of having completed the course, the perfect gerund is the object of the preposition of and makes clear that completing the course occurred before the feeling of pride.

Both forms indicate that one action happened before another, but their structures and grammatical environments differ.

Perfect infinitive:

• Form: to have + past participle.
• Often follows verbs, adjectives, nouns, or reporting structures.
• Example: The manager seems to have approved the plan.
• The approval occurred before the present appearance or judgment.

Perfect gerund:

• Form: having + past participle.
• Functions as a noun-like expression and often follows verbs or prepositions.
• Example: The manager admitted having approved the plan.
• The approval occurred before the admission.

The infinitive in seems to have approved forms part of a structure reporting appearance or inference. The gerund in admitted having approved functions as the object of admitted. Thus, both express anterior time, but their syntactic roles and governing expressions are different.

Nouns may be followed by infinitives or by gerund constructions, but the relationship expressed is different.

Noun + to-infinitive:

• The infinitive may define the action associated with the noun: a decision to resign.
• It may express purpose or opportunity: a chance to speak.
• Common nouns include ability, attempt, decision, desire, need, opportunity, plan, and willingness.

Noun + preposition + gerund:

• The gerund usually follows a preposition selected by the noun: an interest in learning, a reason for leaving, and a method of solving the problem.
• Common patterns include difficulty in doing, experience of doing, and objection to doing.

The word to in a decision to leave introduces an infinitive, while to in an objection to leaving is a preposition and therefore takes a gerund.

Pronouns may identify the person or thing performing the action of an infinitive or gerund.

With infinitives:

• The pattern is often verb + object pronoun + to-infinitive: The supervisor asked me to wait.
• In formal constructions using for, the pattern is for + object pronoun + to-infinitive: It is important for them to respond.
• Object forms such as me, him, her, us, and them are used.

With gerunds:

• A possessive pronoun may formally mark the subject: We appreciated her speaking honestly.
• In less formal usage, an object pronoun is also common: We appreciated her speaking honestly. The form her can be interpreted as possessive or objective depending on analysis; a clearer contrast is We appreciated John's speaking honestly versus We appreciated John speaking honestly.
• Possessive forms emphasize the action, while object forms may place more emphasis on the person.

Pronoun choice therefore depends on the construction, level of formality, and intended emphasis.

Verb complementation can be classified into three broad groups.

Verbs followed by a to-infinitive:

• agree, choose, decide, expect, hope, learn, plan, promise, refuse, and want.
• Example: They agreed to cooperate.

Verbs followed by a gerund:

• admit, avoid, consider, delay, deny, enjoy, finish, mind, postpone, and suggest.
• Example: They considered changing the schedule.

Verbs followed by either form with little or no major change:

• begin, continue, hate, like, love, prefer, and start.
• Example: She began to speak and She began speaking.

Even in the third group, differences of style or emphasis may occur. The infinitive can suggest a particular occasion or intention, while the gerund can emphasize an activity in general.

With these verbs, the choice between an infinitive and a gerund changes the time relationship or meaning.

• Remember to do means not to forget a required future action: Remember to attach the file.
• Remember doing means recalling a past action: I remember attaching the file.
• Forget to do means fail to perform an action: She forgot to call.
• Forget doing means lose the memory of a completed action: She forgot calling him earlier.
• Regret to do introduces unpleasant information, often formally: We regret to inform you that the application was unsuccessful.
• Regret doing expresses remorse about a past action: I regret sending that message.
• Stop to do means pause one activity in order to perform another: He stopped to answer the phone.
• Stop doing means discontinue an activity: He stopped answering personal calls at work.

The infinitive generally points forward to a purpose or subsequent action, whereas the gerund usually refers to an earlier or ongoing activity.

The infinitive and gerund produce distinct meanings after try and mean.

Try:

• Try to do means make an effort to accomplish something, possibly without success: I tried to explain the policy clearly.
• Try doing means test a method or possible solution: Try using a simpler example.

Mean:

• Mean to do means intend to perform an action: I meant to reply yesterday.
• Mean doing means involve or result in an action or consequence: Accepting the role means working longer hours.

Thus, the infinitive after these verbs commonly relates to effort or intention, while the gerund relates to experimentation, involvement, or consequence. Correct selection is essential because substituting one form for the other can alter the message substantially.

Adjectives commonly take infinitive complements to express evaluation, emotion, readiness, difficulty, or necessity.

Subject-focused pattern:

• subject + linking verb + adjective + to-infinitive.
• Example: She is eager to participate.
• The grammatical subject normally performs the infinitive action.
• Common adjectives include able, anxious, eager, happy, likely, ready, and willing.

Impersonal pattern:

• It + linking verb + adjective + to-infinitive.
• Example: It is important to listen carefully.
• An explicit subject may be added with for: It is important for managers to listen carefully.

Object-focused pattern:

• Example: The report is difficult to understand.
• The report is grammatically the subject of the main clause but logically the object of understand.

These patterns allow speakers to evaluate actions and participants concisely.

When an adjective is followed by a preposition, any verb placed after that preposition normally takes the gerund form.

Examples:

• She is interested in learning negotiation skills.
• They are responsible for preparing the agenda.
• He is afraid of making a mistake.
• We are accustomed to working under pressure.
• The team is capable of solving the problem.

In these examples, in, for, of, and to are prepositions, so they are followed by gerunds.

By contrast, some adjectives directly take a to-infinitive:

• She is ready to learn.
• They are willing to prepare the agenda.
• He is afraid to speak.

The contrast may also affect meaning. Afraid of speaking suggests fear connected with the activity, while afraid to speak suggests unwillingness to perform the action because of fear. It is therefore necessary to identify whether to is an infinitive marker or a preposition.

These complex modal patterns combine modality with different aspects or voices.

Modal + progressive infinitive:

• Form: modal + be + present participle.
• Expresses an action in progress: The committee may be reviewing the complaint.

Modal + passive infinitive:

• Form: modal + be + past participle.
• Expresses possibility, necessity, or obligation while focusing on the receiver: The complaint should be reviewed immediately.

Modal + perfect passive infinitive:

• Form: modal + have been + past participle.
• Refers to a past passive event: The complaint may have been reviewed already.

The first pattern emphasizes an ongoing action, the second emphasizes a present or future passive requirement or possibility, and the third expresses a judgment about a completed past event. The modal itself determines certainty, obligation, permission, or advisability.