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Choosing between the infinitive and the gerund after verbs, adjectives and nouns.
The choice between a to-infinitive and a gerund depends on the grammatical pattern required by the preceding verb, adjective, noun, or expression.
Some words select an infinitive, some select a gerund, some allow both, and some allow both but with a change in meaning.
Some verbs are normally followed by a to-infinitive.
Common examples include want to, hope to, decide to, plan to, agree to, promise to, and refuse to.
Some verbs are normally followed by a gerund.
Common examples include enjoy doing, avoid doing, finish doing, suggest doing, consider doing, and mind doing.
Some verbs are followed by an object and then a to-infinitive.
Common examples include want someone to do, expect someone to do, ask someone to do, tell someone to do, and advise someone to do.
Some verbs can be followed by an object and a gerund when the object is associated with the activity.
Examples include stop someone doing something and prevent someone from doing something, depending on the verb pattern.
Some verbs can be followed by either a to-infinitive or a gerund with little or no significant change in meaning.
Examples include begin to work and begin working, and continue to work and continue working.
Begin and start can normally be followed by either a to-infinitive or a gerund.
For example, It began to rain and It began raining.
Continue can normally be followed by either a to-infinitive or a gerund with little difference in meaning.
For example, She continued to work and She continued working.
Prefer can occur with gerunds when comparing activities, while would prefer commonly takes a to-infinitive.
For example, I prefer walking to driving, but I would prefer to walk home today.
Like and love can be followed by either a to-infinitive or a gerund, although the choice can sometimes reflect differences in meaning or style.
For example, I like swimming describes a general enjoyment, while I like to check my email in the morning can describe a preferred habit.
Hate can take either a to-infinitive or a gerund, while can't stand is normally followed by a gerund.
For example, I hate waiting and I hate to wait, but I cannot stand waiting.
Remember takes a to-infinitive when referring to something that needs to be done and a gerund when referring to a remembered past event.
Compare Remember to lock the door with I remember locking the door.
Forget takes a to-infinitive when referring to something that should be done and can take a gerund when referring to a past event that has been forgotten.
Compare I forgot to call him with I will never forget meeting her.
Regret + gerund refers to regretting a past action, while regret + to-infinitive is used in formal expressions when announcing unpleasant information.
Compare I regret saying that with I regret to inform you that your application was unsuccessful.
Stop + gerund means to end an activity, while stop + to-infinitive means to interrupt one activity in order to perform another.
Compare He stopped smoking with He stopped to smoke.
Try + to-infinitive means make an effort to do something, while try + gerund means experiment with an action as a possible solution.
Compare Try to restart the computer with Try restarting the computer.
Mean + to-infinitive expresses intention, while mean + gerund expresses that one thing involves or results in another.
Compare I meant to call you with This job means working late.
Go on + gerund means continue the same activity, while go on + to-infinitive means move to a different activity or topic.
Compare She went on talking with She went on to explain the next point.
Need can take different forms depending on whether the subject performs the action or the action is required on the subject.
Compare I need to clean the car with The car needs cleaning, where the second structure has passive meaning.
Allow and permit commonly take an object + to-infinitive or a gerund/prepositional pattern depending on the construction.
For example, They allowed him to leave and They do not permit smoking.
Advise and recommend can take different complement patterns, including a to-infinitive with an object and a gerund.
For example, I advised him to wait and I advised waiting. Recommend is normally followed by a gerund or a that-clause rather than object + to-infinitive.
Suggest is normally followed by a gerund, a that-clause, or another structure, but not by object + to-infinitive in standard English.
For example, She suggested going by train and She suggested that we go by train. Avoid She suggested us to go.
When a verb follows a preposition, it normally appears in the -ing form rather than as a to-infinitive.
For example, She left without saying goodbye and They talked about moving abroad.
In expressions where to is a preposition rather than an infinitive marker, it is followed by a gerund.
For example, I look forward to seeing you and She is used to getting up early.
Some adjectives allow a to-infinitive, while adjective + preposition combinations normally require a gerund.
Compare happy to help with interested in learning and afraid of making mistakes.
Some nouns are followed by a to-infinitive while others commonly take a preposition + gerund structure.
For example, a decision to leave but difficulty in understanding the instructions.
The choice between infinitive and gerund is sometimes determined by the verb's lexical pattern rather than a general meaning rule.
Learners often need to learn verb patterns such as avoid doing, decide to do, and hope to do as individual constructions.
When a verb can have more than one complement pattern, dictionary information and context can help determine the appropriate construction.
This is particularly important for verbs such as remember, stop, try, regret, mean, and go on.
Choose the complement form required by the preceding verb, adjective, noun, or preposition and consider whether changing the form changes the meaning.
Common mistakes include using an infinitive after a preposition, confusing to-infinitive and gerund patterns, using object + to-infinitive after suggest, and overlooking meaning changes after verbs such as remember, stop, try, and regret.