VERBO SIGNIFICADO EJEMPLO

WANT querer I want to be rich.

DECIDE decidir We decided to travel tomorrow.
PROMISE prometer He promised to finish his homework.
PLAN planear They plan to sell the house soon.
FORGET olvidar Please, don’t forget to take your umbrella.
esperar, tener
HOPE I know you were hoping to see her again.
esperanza
OFFER ofrecer The girls offered to help me with the cake.
Last night, we agreed to go to the supermarket
AGREE estar de acuerdo
together.
LEARN aprender The kids will learn to make their beds.
NEED necesitar That family needs to spend more time together.
HAVE tener You have to go to school.
ASK pedir, preguntar The officer asked them to stay calm.
The mothers arranged to have a play date for their
ARRANGE organizar
kids.
REFUSE rechazar The workers refuse to stay after-hours.
DEMAND exigir The group demands to talk to the manager.

Si necesitas formular la versión negativa para el segundo verbo, tan solo tienes que añadir
¨not¨ delante del ¨to¨. Por ejemplo: We decided not to go out tonight. (Decidimos no salir
esta noche). Verbos seguidos de (verbo + ing) Ahora vamos a hablar de aquellos verbos
que cuando van seguidos de otro verbo, este último requiere la terminación -ing.

VERBO SIGNIFICADO EJEMPLO

ENJOY disfrutar They enjoy spending time out.

Last year, she didn’t mind staying home for her
MIND tener inconveniente
birthday.
IMAGINE imaginar Can you imagine having to work on Sundays?
AVOID evitar She avoided travelling during pregnancy.
FINISH terminar When I finish cleaning, I’ll call it a day.
LOOK FORWARD TO esperar con ansia We look forward to hearing from you.
perder, echar de
MISS They miss staying up all night.
menos
RISK arriesgar He would never risk losing his job.
SUGGEST/RECOMMEND sugerir/recomendar The advisor suggested studying one hour a day.
KEEP mantener You have to keep trying.

1
La forma negativa es parecida al caso anterior del infinitivo. Para estos verbos hay que
escribir not antes del verbo que termina con -ing. Por ejemplo: We miss not having to wake
up early. (Echamos de menos tener a nuestros amigos cerca). Verbos que aceptan ambas
variaciones: to e –ing Existen dos grupos de verbos que pueden ser seguidos tanto por
verbos en infinitivo o verbos con la terminación -ing.1) El primer grupo de verbos es aquel
que no cambia (mucho) de significado al usar el infinitivo o la terminación -ing.
La diferencia es muy sutil y afecta básicamente a la intención del sujeto para verbos que
hablan de gustos. Mientras que la forma -ing resalta la preferencia del sujeto en sí misma
(de manera general), con la forma del infinitivo se habla más del resultado o el hábito
concreto (más específico). Vamos a verlo con algunos ejemplos:

VERBO SIGNIFICADO EJEMPLO CON ING EJEMPLO CON TO

I love to go for a walk in the

LOVE amar He loves travelling.
morning.
My neighbor likes to stay home
LIKE gustar We like dancing.
after dinner.
My friend hated to have to drive
HATE odiar She hates ironing.
that night, it was dark.
The students prefer to read books
Our family prefers going
PREFER preferir about adventures rather than
out for dinner.
classics.
The group started
The group started to sing in the
START comenzar singing in the middle of the
middle of the street.
street.
He finally began writing a He finally began to write a
BEGIN iniciar
proposal. proposal.

2) El segundo es el grupo de verbos que aceptan las dos formas pero que cambian de
significado. ¡Veámoslo!

VERBO SIGNIFICADO EJEMPLO COM ING EJEMPLO COM TO

I don’t remember
You have to remember to
closing the windows.
close the windows.
REMEMBER acordarse (remember + ing = Recordar
(remember + to =
posteriormente si algo se
Recordar y luego hacer)
hizo o no
We were tired, so
She needs to stop biting her
we stopped to rest. (stop
STOP parar nails. (stop + ing = parar, no
+ to = parar de hacer algo
hacer más)
para empezar a hacer otra

2
 cosa, interrumpir un
proceso)
Being a mother means
Sorry, we didn’t mean to
significar, tener having more patience. (mean
MEAN upset you. (mean + to=
intención de + ing = resultado de una
tener intención de)
acción)
We can try working together He will try to fix the TV
to solve this. (try + ing = for you. (try + to =
intentar,
TRY experimentar, intentar algo intentar, hacer um esfuerzo
experimentar
para ver si es correcto o para conseguir un
funciona) objetivo)
He went to Paris and,
She went on talking . (go on
then, went on to
+ ing = continuar una acción,
GO ON continuar, seguir see London. (go on + to =
en general, por más tiempo
empezar con la próxima
del que gustaría)
acción, continuar)