To Evaporate vs Evaporating Infinitives & Gerunds

When and How to Use Each Expression?

Get a sense of when and how each expression can be used through the following examples!

To evaporate (Infinitive)

Purpose or Intention: Use the infinitive "to evaporate" when you want to express a purpose, intention, desire, or potential action

Example

I want to evaporate the water to create steam.

Evaporating (Gerund)

Activity or Experience: Use the gerund "evaporating" when you want to refer to the activity itself or the experience as a noun.

Example

Evaporating is a crucial step in the distillation process.

Where can infinitives/gerunds be placed in a sentence?

To evaporate (Infinitive)

• 1. Subject

  To evaporate is a natural process of water turning into vapor.

  To evaporate is a natural process of water turning into vapor.

  • "*To evaporate*" serves as the subject of the sentence.
  • Infinitive phrase (subject) + verb (is) + noun phrase (a natural process of water turning into vapor).
• 2. Object

  He wants me to evaporate the liquid.

  He wants me to evaporate the liquid.

  • "Me *to evaporate* the liquid" is the object of the verb "wants."
  • Noun (He) + verb (wants) + noun phrase (me *to evaporate* the liquid).
• 3. Adjective Modifier

  We need a heat source to evaporate the solution.

  We need a heat source to evaporate the solution.

  • "*To evaporate* the solution" modifies the noun "heat source."
  • Noun (We) + verb (need) + noun phrase (a heat source *to evaporate* the solution).

Evaporating (Gerund)

• 1. Subject

  Evaporating requires heat and air movement.

  Evaporating requires heat and air movement.

  • "*Evaporating*" is the subject of the sentence.
  • Gerund (subject) + verb (requires) + noun phrase (heat and air movement).
• 2. Object

  I enjoy evaporating water to observe the changes.

  I enjoy evaporating water to observe the changes.

  • "*Evaporating* water to observe the changes" is the object of the verb "enjoy."
  • Noun (I) + verb (enjoy) + gerund (*evaporating* water to observe the changes).
• 3. Object of Preposition

  She has a talent for evaporating liquids effectively.

  She has a talent for evaporating liquids effectively.

  • "For *evaporating* liquids effectively" is the object of the preposition "for."
  • Noun phrase (She) + verb (has) + noun phrase (a talent for *evaporating* liquids effectively).

Verbs Taking Infinitives/Gerunds as Objects

The following are verbs that can take only the base form of the verb (infinitive), only the -ing form (gerund), or both.

Verbs Taking Infinitives as Objects

• plan
• hope
• want
• decide
• agree

Example

They plan to evaporate the water for the experiment.

She hopes to evaporate all the moisture from the clothes.

He wants to evaporate the liquid quickly.

We decided to evaporate the excess water from the mixture.

They agreed to evaporate the solvent at a higher temperature.

Verbs Taking Gerunds as Objects

• enjoy
• recommend
• dislike
• avoid
• imagine

Example

They enjoy evaporating different substances in the lab.

Experts recommend slow evaporating for better results.

I dislike the smell produced while evaporating chemicals.

He avoids evaporating volatile compounds without proper ventilation.

Can you imagine yourself evaporating water in a closed container?

Verbs Taking Both Infinitives and Gerunds as Objects

• like
• start
• begin

Example

She likes to evaporate the liquid for faster drying. She likes evaporating the liquid for faster drying.

We started to evaporate the water to test its purity. We started evaporating the water to test its purity.

He began to evaporate the solution slowly. He began evaporating the solution slowly.