To Group vs Grouping 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 group (Infinitive)

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

Example

I want to group the items based on their categories.

Grouping (Gerund)

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

Example

Grouping the plants based on their characteristics helps in identification.

Where can infinitives/gerunds be placed in a sentence?

To group (Infinitive)

• 1. Subject

  To group is an essential step in organizing data.

  To group is an essential step in organizing data.

  • "*To group*" serves as the subject of the sentence.
  • Infinitive phrase (subject) + verb (is) + noun phrase (an essential step in organizing data).
• 2. Object

  She wants me to group the documents for the presentation.

  She wants me to group the documents for the presentation.

  • "Me *to group* the documents for the presentation" is the object of the verb "wants."
  • Noun (She) + verb (wants) + noun phrase (me *to group* the documents for the presentation).
• 3. Adjective Modifier

  We need a larger table to group all the participants.

  We need a larger table to group all the participants.

  • "*To group* all the participants" modifies the noun "table."
  • Noun (We) + verb (need) + noun phrase (a larger table *to group* all the participants).

Grouping (Gerund)

• 1. Subject

  Grouping is a common practice in scientific research.

  Grouping is a common practice in scientific research.

  • "*Grouping*" is the subject of the sentence.
  • Gerund (subject) + verb (is) + noun phrase (a common practice in scientific research).
• 2. Object

  I enjoy grouping the items according to their colors.

  I enjoy grouping the items according to their colors.

  • "*Grouping* the items according to their colors" is the object of the verb "enjoy."
  • Noun (I) + verb (enjoy) + gerund (*grouping* the items according to their colors).
• 3. Object of Preposition

  They have a talent for grouping different objects.

  They have a talent for grouping different objects.

  • "For *grouping* different objects" is the object of the preposition "for."
  • Noun phrase (They) + verb (have) + noun phrase (a talent for *grouping* different objects).

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 group the students according to their abilities.

I hope to group the items efficiently for the inventory.

She wants to group the tasks by priority.

He decided to group the data into different categories.

We agreed to group the products by price range.

Verbs Taking Gerunds as Objects

• enjoy
• recommend
• consider
• avoid
• imagine

Example

She enjoys grouping the photographs for the album.

Experts recommend grouping the data for better analysis.

We are considering grouping the employees based on their skills.

He avoids grouping the items randomly.

Can you imagine yourself grouping the animals by their habitats?

Verbs Taking Both Infinitives and Gerunds as Objects

• like
• start
• begin

Example

She likes to group the books by genre. She likes grouping the books by genre.

We started to group the participants into teams. We started grouping the participants into teams.

He began to group the data into different categories. He began grouping the data into different categories.