Verbs that may be followed by gerunds or infinitives.

BECOME FAMILIAR WITH VERBS THAT MAY BE FOLLOWED BY GERUNDS OR INFINITIVES.

A gerund is a verb form that ends in –ing and is used as a noun: sleeping, dreaming; or as an adjective a working woman,a sleeping bag. An infinitive is the base form of the verb preceded by the word to: to sleep, to dream. The word to is not a preposition in this use but an infinitive marker. A few verbs may befollowed by either a gerund or an infinitive; others may be followed by a gerund but not by an infinitive; still others may be followed by an infinitive (either directly or with a noun or pronounintervening) but not by a gerund.

Verb + gerund or infinitive

These commonly used verbs may be followed by a gerund or an infinitive, with little or no difference in meaning:

begincontinue like start
can’t stand hate love

I love skiing I love to ski

With a few verbs, however, the choice of a gerund orinfinitive changes the meaning dramatically:

forget remember stop try

She stopped speaking to Lucia. (she no longer spoke to Lucia)
She stoppedto speak to Lucia. (she paused so that she could speak to Lucia)

Verb + gerund

These verbs may be followed by a gerund but not by an infinitive:

admit discuss imagineput off risk
appreciate enjoy miss quit suggest
appreciate consider escape postpone recalltolerate
deny finish practice resist keep


Have you finished decorating ( not to decorate ) the tree?

Bill enjoys playing (not to play ) the piano.


Note: Gerunds are used after verbs expressing attitudes



Verb + infinitive

These verbs may be followed by an infinitive but not by a gerund:

Agree...