Intermediate · B1–B2
Gerunds vs Infinitives
Some verbs take a gerund, some take an infinitive, and some take both — with the same or different meanings. Mastering this distinction is key to natural English.
Verbs followed by gerunds only
| Verb | Example |
|---|---|
| enjoy, avoid, consider, suggest, mind, finish, practise, keep, recommend, deny, admit, postpone, miss, risk, imagine, involve | She enjoys swimming. He avoided answering. I finished writing the report. |
Verbs followed by infinitives only
| Verb | Example |
|---|---|
| want, need, hope, plan, decide, agree, refuse, offer, promise, manage, expect, learn, seem, appear, fail, tend, choose, deserve | She wants to leave. He refused to answer. They managed to escape. |
Verbs followed by either — same meaning
| Verb | Examples |
|---|---|
| start, begin, continue, like, love, hate, prefer, intend | She started crying / to cry. I love reading / to read. |
Verbs followed by either — different meaning
| Verb | Gerund | Infinitive |
|---|---|---|
| remember | I remember meeting her. (past memory) | Remember to call her. (future task) |
| forget | I'll never forget seeing the Northern Lights. (past memory) | Don't forget to lock the door. (future task) |
| stop | He stopped smoking. (quit the habit) | He stopped to smoke. (paused in order to) |
| try | Try adding more salt. (experiment) | Try to be on time. (make an effort) |
| regret | I regret telling her. (past action) | I regret to inform you... (formal present) |
Same verb — different meaning
She stopped talking. (she quit talking)
She stopped to talk. (she paused in order to talk)
I remember locking the door. (I have a memory of doing it)
Remember to lock the door. (don't forget — future task)
Tip: For the key verbs (remember, forget, stop, try), ask: does the -ing refer to something that happened before, or is the infinitive pointing forward to a task or purpose?