GERUNDS

AND
INFINITIVES
 WHAT IS GERUND AND INFINITIVE?

Verbs followed by the -ing form

When enjoy, admit and mind are followed by another verb, it must be
in the -ing form.
I enjoy traveling.
He admitted stealing the necklace.
I don't mind waiting if you're busy.
 WHAT IS GERUND AND INFINITIVE?

Other verbs in this group include

avoid, can't help, consider, dislike, feel like, finish, give up, miss,
practice and suggest.

NOTE

Like and love can be followed by the -ing form and the to + infinitive
form. They are both correct.
 WHAT IS GERUND AND INFINITIVE?

Verbs followed by to + infinitive form

When want, learn and offer are followed by another verb, it must be
in the to + infinitive form.
I want to speak to the manager.
She's learning to play the piano.
He offered to help us wash up.

Other verbs in this group include

afford, agree, ask, choose, decide, expect, hope, plan, prepare,
promise, refuse and would like.
Some verbs have a different meaning depending on whether they
are followed by an -ing form or to + infinitive.

Stop + -ing means the action is not happening any more.

I've stopped buying the newspaper because now I read the news
online.

Stop + to + infinitive means that someone or something stops

an activity so that they can do something else.

He stopped the video to ask the students some questions.

Some verbs have a different meaning depending on whether they
are followed by an -ing form or to + infinitive.

Try + -ing means that you are trying something as an

experiment, especially as a possible solution to a problem, to see
if it works or not.

Have you tried turning the computer off and on again?

Try + to + infinitive means that something is difficult but you are

making an effort to do it.

I'm trying to learn Japanese but it's very difficult.

Some verbs have a different meaning depending on whether they
are followed by an -ing form or to + infinitive.

remember/forget
Remember + -ing and forget + -ing refer to having (or not having) a
memory of something in the past.

I remember watching this film before.

I'll never forget meeting you for the first time in this café.

Remember + to + infinitive and forget + to + infinitive refer to recalling (or

not recalling) that there is something we need to do before we do it.

Please remember to buy some milk on the way home.

He forgot to lock the door when he went out.
SO, there are some verbs followed by a gerund or infinitive with little to no change in meaning:
Example: It started to rain. / It started raining.

begin
can’t bear
can’t stand
continue
hate
like
love
prefer
start
 Followed by a gerund (-ing form)
admit, advise, consider, discuss, dislike, enjoy, finish, mind, practice,
recommend, suggest

Followed by an infinitive
agree, appear, choose, decide, expect, fail, hope, learn, need, refuse, seem,
wait, want

Followed by either, usually with no change in meaning

begin, continue, hate, like, love, prefer, start

Followed by either, with a change in meaning

forget, remember, stop, try

Some verbs are followed by a direct object and then the to-infinitive:

advise persuade
ask remind
encourage tell
expect want
intend warn
invite would like/love
order would prefer

He encouraged his friends to vote for him.

Remind me to give Julia a call.
We also use the to-infinitive to express purpose (to answer why?)

He bought some flowers to give to his wife.

He locked the door to keep everyone out.

We can also express purpose with in order to and in order not to:

We started our journey early in order to avoid the traffic.

They spoke quietly in order not to wake the children.

or so as to and so as not to:

We started our journey early so as to avoid the traffic.

They spoke quietly so as not to wake the children.

We use the to-infinitive after certain adjectives:

amazed
delighted
disappointed
glad
happy
pleased
proud
relieved
sad
sorry
surprised
unhappy

 We were happy to come to the end of our journey.

(= We were happy because we had come to the end
of our journey.)

John was surprised to see me.

(= He was surprised because he saw me.)

We often use it + be followed by an adjective to give opinions:

clever
difficult
easy
foolish
hard
kind
nice
possible
impossible
right
wrong
silly

It's easy to play the piano, but it's very difficult to

play well.

He spoke so quickly that it was impossible to

understand him.

 We can use the -ing form of a verb

as a noun:

I love swimming.
Swimming is very good for your health.
You can get fit by swimming regularly.

 We can use the -ing form of a verb

as an adjective:

The main problem today is rising prices.

That programme was really boring.
He saw a woman lying on the floor.

Learning English is not easy.

We enjoy learning English.

Some people are not interested in learning English.

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IF YOU HAVE ANY
QUESTIONS

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