VERBS FOLLOWED BY

INFINITIVES AND GERUNDS

This is a difficult area, but the longer you work with English, the easier this topic will become. The idea is to keep using, speaking, and writing English, and you will begin to have a feeling for infinitives and gerunds. First, let us understand what gerunds and infinitives are.

A gerund is the form of the verb which ends in -ing. And it is used as a noun.

The infinitive is the form of the verb which is not conjugated and is preceded by "to" that is, the word "to" + the simple form of the verb.

The following common verbs are followed by a gerund:

enjoy	finish	stop
quit	mind	postpone
put off	keep	keep on
consider	think about	discuss
	talk about

Here are some examples of the verbs above followed by gerunds:

I enjoy working in my garden.

Bob finished studying at midnight.

It stopped raining a few minutes ago.

David quit smoking.

Would you mind opening the window?

We postponed doing our homework.

I put off doing my homework.

Keep working.

Keep on working.

I might consider traveling to Hawaii.

I thought about flying to Frankfurt, Germany.

They discussed buying a new car.

We talked about buying a new car.

The following common verbs and verbal expressions are followed by an infinitive:

want	hope	decide	seem
learn how	need	expect	promise
appear	try	plan	offer
pretend		mean	agree
refuse	forget	would like	would love
remember	cannot	afford	cannot, can't wait

For example:

Tom offered to give me some money.

I’ve decided to buy a car.

There are a few common verbs and verbal expressions, however, which can be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive:

begin	like	love	start
end	hate	cannot	can't stand

For example:

It is possible to say either:

It began to rain.

It began raining.

Test Your Skill