Infinitive & gerunds

Infinitive & gerunds

1. Verb + to infinitive

   • afford, agree, aim, appear, arrange, attempt, choose, decide, demand, deserve, fail, hope, learn, manage, neglect, offer, omit, plan, prepare, pretend, refuse, seem, tend, threaten, wait, wish
     • The negative form
       • If you decide not to ice it...
     • if you decide to add nuts...
   • The following verbs always have an object before the to infinitive
     • advise, allow, encourage, forbid, force, invite, order, permit, persuade, remind, teach, tell, warm
       • Her father taught her to play play tennis
       • Advise, allow, encourage, forbid, permit can also be followed by -ing when there is no object
         • I advise you to add nuts or I advise adding nuts
   • the following verbs + to infinitive sometimes have an object
     • ask, beg, expect, help, intend, promise, want
       • We expected to be late or We expected Tom to be late
   • Would, like, would prefer are also followed by the to infinitive

2. Verb + infinitive without to

   • Modal verbs are followed by the infinitive without to
     • You should add the eggs slowly
   • "Help" can be followed by the infinitive with or without to
     • We helped them (to) start their car
   • "Make and Let" (always with an object) are followed by the infinitive without to
     • Let the cake cool for a half an hour

3. Verb + -ing

   • admit, avoid, can´t face, can´t help, can´t stand, carry on, consider, delay, deny, detest, dislike, enjoy, fancy, feel like, finish, give up, imagine, involve, keep(on), mention, (not) mind, miss, postpone, practice, put off, recommend, risk, resist, suggest
     • I enjoy making it
     • The negative form...
       • If you don´t leave immediately, you risk not catching your plane
     • Question form...
       • Can you imagine not having a car nowadays?

4. Verb + to infinitive or -ing (with no difference in meaning)

   • begin, can´t bear, continue, hate, dislike, like, love, prefer, propose, start
     • I prefer using apricots or I prefer to use apricots
     • Like, prefer, hate, love can be followed by the to infinitive or -ing
     • Like + to infinitive has a slightly different meaning from like -ing
       • I like dancing (I enjoy it)
         • I like to catch the early bus on Monday (this is a good thing to do or it´s a habit but not necessarily something I enjoy)
     • would, like, would prefer, would hate, would love are always followed by the to infinitive
       • She would like to go out but we would prefer to stay in

5. Verb + to infinitive or -ing (with a different meaning)

   • remember, forget, regret, try, stop, mean, go on
     • Remember + to: remember an action you need to do
       • remember + -ing: have a memory on a past action
     • Regret + to: I am sorry to..
       • Regret + -ing: we wish we hadn´t
     • mean + to: they don´t inted to
       • mean + -ing: it involves
     • Try+ to: attempt to do it
       • Try + -ing: do it as a experiment
     • Forget + to: fail to remember something you need to do
       • Forget + -ing: lose the memory of something you did
     • stop + to: in order to have a rest
       • stop + -ing: finish doing it
     • go on + to: the next thing he did
       • go on + -ing: they continued

6. Verb + that clauses

   • agree, arrange, decide, demand, hope, pretend, advise, persuade, remind, teach, warm, tell, expect, intend, promise, admit, consider, deny, imagine, mention, recommend, suggest, propose, remember, forget, regret
     • Can also be followed by a "that" clause with the same meaning
     • She admitted taking the money = She admitted that she had taken the money

7. Verb + -ing or infinite without to (with a difference in meaning)

   • Feel, hear, notice, see, watch
     • I watched the boy kick the football into the road
       • a short completed action
     • I watched the boys playing football
       • An activity continuing over a period of time