Sunday, October 18, 2015

Infinitive vs Gerund

In English, when a verb follows another verb, this verb has to be in Infinitive or Gerund.

We use gerunds (verb + ing):
After certain verbs - I enjoy singing
After prepositions - I drank a cup of coffee before leaving
As the subject or object of a sentence - Swimming is good exercise

We use 'to' + infinitive:
After certain verbs - We decided to leave
After many adjectives - It's difficult to get up early
To show purpose - I came to London to study English

We use the bare infinitive (the infinitive without 'to'):
After modal verbs - I can meet you at six o'clock
After 'let', 'make' and (sometimes) 'help' - The teacher let us leave early
After some verbs of perception (see, watch, hear, notice, feel, sense) - I watched her walk away
After expressions with 'why' - why go out the night before an exam?

Here are some of the most common verbs that are usually followed by the gerund or the infinitive:

Verbs Followed by an Infinitive
She agreed to speak before the game.

agree, aim, appear, arrange, ask, attempt, be able, beg, begin, care, choose, condescend, consent, continue, dare, decide, deserve, detest, dislike, expect, fail, forget, get, happen, have, 
hesitate, hope, hurry, intend, leap, leave, like, long, love, mean, neglect,  offer, ought,
plan, prefe,r prepare, proceed, promise, propose, refuse, remember,
say, shoot, start, stop, strive, swear, threaten, try, use, wait, want, wish


Verbs Followed by an Object and an Infinitive
Everyone expected her to win.

advise, allow, ask, beg, bring, build, buy, challenge, choose, command, dare, direct, encourage,
expect, forbid, force, have, hire, instruct, invite, lead, leave, let, like, love, motivate, order,
pay, permit, persuade, prepare, promise, remind, require, send, teach, tell, urge, want, warn

Note: Some of these verbs are included in the list above
and may be used without an object.

Verbs Followed by a Gerund
They enjoyed working on the boat.

admit, advise, appreciate, avoid, can't help, complete, consider,  delay, deny, detest, dislike,
enjoy, escape, excuse, finish, forbid, get, through, have, imagine, mind, miss, permit,
postpone, practice, quit, recall, report, resent, resist, resume, risk, spend, (time), suggest,
tolerate, waste (time)


Verbs Followed by a Preposition and a Gerund
We concentrated on doing well.

admit to, approve of, argue about, believe in, care about, complain about, concentrate on,
confess to, depend on, disapprove of, discourage from, dream about, feel like, forget about,
insist on, object to, plan on, prevent (someone) from, refrain from, succeed in, talk about,
think about, worry about

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