Gerunds, Infinitives, etc. in construction

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1

<p>I'm not very clear on the rules governing gerunds and infinitives in sentence construction.</p>

<p>On the sparknotes seven deadly rules #6 (gerunds) it vaguely states that gerunds and infinitives do not belong in the same clause. I have a few questions:</p>

<p>1) Are gerunds and infinitives ever acceptable in the same clause?
2) Are gerunds and infinitives acceptable in the same sentence if they are in separate clauses?
3) Can someone illustrate the use of each (gerund/infinitive) and how they differ?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>“His being hungry makes me want to eat” is perfectly acceptable.</p>

3

<p>Hmm, can you be more specific about when gerunds and infinitives are not allowed in the same clause or sentence?</p>

4

<p>There is no specific rule about that. However, parallelism must always be preserved. So, I can’t grammatically say:</p>

<p>“Being hungry and to eat go together nicely.”</p>

5

<p>Thanks. I figured it was just a parallelism thing, because it usually sounds incorrect. Rules make everything so much simpler, though. :)</p>