Gerunds and infinitives

Gerund or infinitive forms

Neither form shows tense by itself. The main verb and context show the time. Put not before the gerund or infinitive to make that part negative.

The helping verb belongs to the main verb. You don't need a separate question form for the gerund. In “Did she decide to stay?”, did shows past time. Stay keeps its base form.

For -ing spelling, drop the final silent e in make → making. Double the final consonant in run → running. Change ie to y in lie → lying.

Gerunds as subjects

Use a gerund phrase to name an activity. One activity normally takes a singular verb. The phrase can include an object or extra information.

• Walking to work saves money.
• Learning a new language takes time.
• Not sleeping enough makes me tired.

A to-infinitive can also be a subject, but “To walk to work is healthy” sounds formal. “Walking to work is healthy” is more natural for everyday advice.

Gerunds after prepositions

When a verb comes directly after a preposition, use -ing. This includes after, before, without, by, in and about. Learn the preposition with its phrase.

• I'm interested in learning Korean.
• She left without saying goodbye.
• You can learn by listening to short recordings.
• We look forward to seeing you.

In look forward to, to is a preposition. It can come before a noun, as in “I look forward to the trip”. Before an action, use seeing or travelling, not see or travel.

Verbs followed by gerund

Use -ing directly after enjoy, avoid, finish, mind, suggest, consider and keep. Use it after practise too. British English writes the verb practise. American English writes practice.

• I enjoy cooking for friends.
• We avoided driving through the city.
• Have you finished writing the email?
• Do you mind waiting here?
• She suggested taking an earlier train.

“Consider moving” means think about moving. “Keep asking” means continue asking. Learn these as small phrases. Suggest also allows a that clause, as in “She suggested that we leave early”. Don't use suggest someone to do something.

Verbs followed by infinitive

Use to plus the base verb after want, decide, hope, plan, agree, refuse, manage and promise. The second action often involves a wish or plan, but meaning alone won't tell you every pattern.

• I want to study abroad.
• They decided to take the bus.
• We hope to see you soon.
• He refused to sign the form.
• She managed to repair the bike.

Manage to do means succeed in doing something, often with difficulty. “I promised to call” makes me responsible for calling. For a negative promise, say “I promised not to tell anyone”.

A person before the infinitive

Use ask, tell or want plus a person and a to-infinitive. The infinitive refers to that person's action, which may or may not happen. Compare “I want to leave” with “I want you to leave”. The person who leaves changes.

• I asked Mina to help.
• The teacher told us to close our books.
• They want their son to study nearby.
• She told me not to wait.

Put not before to for a negative instruction. Tell normally needs an object in this pattern. Ask can also appear without one, as in “I asked to leave early”. Then the speaker wants permission.

Make, let and help

A bare infinitive is the base verb without to. In active sentences, use make or let plus an object and a bare infinitive. Help allows the base verb with or without to.

• The funny story made us laugh.
• My parents let me stay out late.
• Can you help me carry this bag?
• Can you help me to carry this bag?

Make often means cause or force. Let means allow. In the passive, make takes to, as in “We were made to wait”. To express permission in the passive, use “I was allowed to leave”.

When either form works

Like, love and hate often allow both forms. The difference is small in many everyday sentences. The -ing form often focuses on the activity. The infinitive can focus on a habit, choice or result. Both forms occur in British and American English. American English often favours the to-infinitive.

• I love swimming in the sea.
• I love to swim before breakfast.
• It started raining after lunch.
• It started to rain after lunch.

Begin and continue also commonly take either form with little change. Both “She continued reading” and “She continued to read” work. After would like, would love and would hate, normally use the to-infinitive to express a wish, as in “I would like to join”.

Stop doing vs stop to do

With some verbs, changing the form changes the meaning. Read the whole situation before you choose.

Stop

Stop doing means end that action. Stop to do means pause another action for a purpose.

• I stopped checking my phone during meals.
• We stopped to check the map.
• She stopped talking when the film began.

Remember and forget

Remember doing looks back at an earlier action. Remember to do means remember a duty before carrying it out. Forget to do means miss the duty. Forget doing means lose the memory of an earlier event.

• I remember meeting her at school.
• Remember to bring your ticket.
• I forgot to send the email, so it is still in my drafts.
• I'll never forget seeing snow for the first time.

Try a method or make an effort

Try doing means test an activity or method. Try to do means make an effort. It doesn't tell us whether you succeed.

• Try moving the lamp nearer your desk.
• I tried to lift the box, but it was too heavy.
• Try restarting the phone if the screen freezes.

Regret and go on

Regret doing means feel sorry about an action or situation. Regret to say, tell or inform introduces unwelcome news in formal language. Go on doing means continue the same activity. Go on to do introduces the next, different activity.

• I regret leaving without saying goodbye.
• We regret to inform you that the event is cancelled.
• She went on explaining the same point.
• After explaining the rule, she went on to give examples.

See the action order

Read each lane from left to right. Remembering an event follows it. Remembering a duty comes before it. Stopping ends an action or creates a pause for another. With try, the lanes show method and effort. The intended action may fail.

Gerunds and continuous tenses

The same -ing spelling has different jobs. A gerund names an activity. An -ing participle after be can form a continuous tense. Look at its job in the sentence.

• Swimming helps me relax.
• I am swimming now.
• She enjoys reading.
• She is reading on the train.

In the first pair, swimming is a subject in one sentence and part of the present continuous in the other. Don't add be just because you see -ing. “I enjoy reading” already has its main verb, enjoy.

Infinitives after adjectives

Use a to-infinitive after adjectives such as happy, ready, difficult and important. Some adjectives take a preposition instead. Compare “happy to help” with “interested in helping”.

• I'm happy to help.
• Are you ready to order?
• This word is difficult to pronounce.

To name who does the action, use for plus a person, as in “It's important for us to listen”. In “This word is difficult to pronounce”, the word receives the action.

Infinitives for purpose

Use a to-infinitive to explain why someone does something. It often answers “Why?” You can also use in order to. Don't use for plus a base verb for this meaning.

• I went to the shop to buy milk.
• She called to check the time.
• We left early in order to get a seat.

Compare “I use this bag to carry books” with “This bag is for carrying books”. Both work. The first explains my purpose. The second describes the bag's use.

Find a verb pattern

These are common patterns, not every possible use. Ask and want can take an object or appear without one. Use the meaning section for verbs marked “meaning changes”.

No matching verbs. Try a shorter word.

Common mistakes

For Chinese, Japanese and Korean speakers

Chinese doesn't use the English -ing and to forms to mark these patterns. A learner may write “I enjoy swim”. Learn enjoy swimming as one phrase.

Japanese and Korean use different endings to connect actions. Reusing one English ending everywhere can cause errors such as “I decided going”. Compare a pair aloud, “enjoy going” and “decide to go”. These are possible difficulties, not rules about individual learners.

Try the quiz

Write the full verb form in each gap, including to when needed. Use simple forms such as doing, to do or do.

1. I enjoy ___ (cook) for my family.
2. We decided ___ (leave) early.
3. She's interested in ___ (learn) Spanish.
4. I look forward to ___ (see) you.
5. The teacher asked us ___ (wait) outside.
6. The joke made everyone ___ (laugh).
7. ___ (Walk) to work is good exercise. Use the -ing form.
8. Show the purpose of stopping. I stopped ___ (check) the map, then continued my walk.
9. Remember ___ (lock) the door before you leave tomorrow.
10. I remember ___ (lock) the door yesterday. I can picture it.
11. If the room feels dark, try ___ (move) the lamp nearer. Use -ing to suggest a possible solution.
12. Introduce unwelcome news formally. We regret ___ (inform) you that your flight is cancelled.

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