Gerunds and infinitives: Complex forms
Master perfect, passive, and continuous forms of gerunds and infinitives to express yourself with advanced precision.
- check_circleI can use perfect gerunds and infinitives to refer to past actions.
- check_circleI can use passive gerunds and infinitives.
- check_circleI can use continuous infinitives to describe ongoing actions.
Discover
Meet today's English in a real situation — no rules yet. Read it once and try to guess the pattern in the words in bold. Underlined words open a short definition.
Detective Hayes: You claim to have been sleeping when the burglary happened, Mr. Vance?
Mr. Vance: Yes! I remember being woken up by a loud crash around 2 AM. I didn’t appreciate having been disturbed, so I went back to sleep.
Detective Hayes: But your neighbor reported having seen you outside at 2:15 AM.
Mr. Vance: They must be mistaken. I admit to having walked to the kitchen for a glass of water, but I never went outside. I despise being accused of things I didn’t do.
Detective Hayes: Well, the evidence seems to be pointing in your direction. We found your watch at the scene. It appears to have been dropped in a hurry.
Mr. Vance: That’s impossible! I reported it missing yesterday. It must have been stolen by the real thief to frame me! I demand to be released immediately!
Learn
Now the rules behind what you just saw — explained simply, with examples. Underlined words open a short definition — hover on desktop, tap on a phone.
When we want to add specific meanings to our sentences, simple gerunds (doing) and infinitives (to do) aren’t always enough. In B2, you need to use complex forms to show if an action is in the past, ongoing, or passive.
Perfect Forms: Referring to the past
We use perfect forms to emphasize that the action of the gerund or infinitive happened before the action of the main verb.
Perfect Gerund: having + past participle
He denied having stolen the money. (He denied it now / The stealing happened in the past)
Perfect Infinitive: to have + past participle
She seems to have forgotten our meeting. (She seems that way now / She forgot in the past)
With some verbs, like deny or admit, the simple gerund can also refer to the past (He denied stealing the money). However, the perfect gerund makes the time difference clearer.
Passive Forms
We use passive forms when the subject of the gerund or infinitive is receiving the action, not doing it.
Passive Gerund: being + past participle
I don’t like being told what to do. (I don’t like it when people tell me what to do.)
Passive Infinitive: to be + past participle
The documents need to be signed by tomorrow. (Someone needs to sign the documents.)
Common mistake: Using an active form when a passive meaning is required.
She hopes to choose for the team.
She hopes to be chosen for the team.
Continuous Infinitive
We use the continuous infinitive to show that an action is in progress at the time of the main verb.
Continuous Infinitive: to be + verb-ing
They appear to be arguing. Let’s not interrupt them.
This form is very common after modal verbs and verbs like seem, appear, happen, and pretend.
I happened to be walking by when the collision occurred.
Sometimes, you need to combine forms to express complex ideas accurately.
He was angry about having been ignored during the meeting. (Perfect + Passive Gerund)
- Perfect Gerund (
having done): Shows action happened before the main verb. - Perfect Infinitive (
to have done): Shows action happened before the main verb. - Passive Gerund (
being done): Subject receives the action. - Passive Infinitive (
to be done): Subject receives the action. - Continuous Infinitive (
to be doing): Action is ongoing at the time of the main verb.
Practice
Try it yourself. You'll see right away whether you got it right, plus a short explanation of why.
Use It
Now make the language yours in a real task. Use the prompt below — the editor keeps a simple word count, and nothing is saved or graded.
Before you finish — be honest. Can you do these now?