Infinitive and gerund

When you want to build a sentence using two verbs, you often have to decide whether to use an infinitive or a gerund form for the second verb. This blog entry shall give you an overview of when to use an infinitive (to-form) or a gerund (ing-form). Sometimes both are possible, but they might have a different meaning.

The following verbs are being followed by gerund forms, never by infinitives:

enjoy: I enjoy taking a walk in the morning.

mind: Would you mind closing the windows?

suggest: He suggested taking the train.

postpone: You have postponed sending the mail again, haven't you?

admit: They admitted having stolen the keys.

avoid: We avoid going to the creepy building.

imagine: Imagine all the people living life in peace.

finish: I finished knitting my next lace shawl!

consider: Have you considered breaking up with her?

deny: He denied having seen anything.

risk: We risk being expelled if we do this!

fancy: I don't fancy leaving the house today.

The negative form would be Verb + not + ing: I enjoy not being around so many people.

If a preposition is followed by a verb, the verb has to be a gerund.

Please remember that "to" can also be a preposition. While a "to" can be an indicator for an infinitive, there can also be a gerund after the preposition "to".

I am used to cleaning the kitchen alone.

She is looking forward to travelling to Spain.

I prefer singing to playing the violin.

As for the gerund, there are some verbs that have to be followed by an infinitive, never by a gerund:

offer: I offered to take him home.

decide: He decided to take the test.

hope: We hope to enlighten you.

deserve: You don't deserve to be sad. No-one does.

promise: I promised not to tell anyone.

agree: We agreed to help Eda with her homework.

plan: Do you plan to just run away?

manage: They managed to get away with it.

afford: I can afford to buy a used car.

threaten: John Shooter threatened to kill Mort Rainey.

refuse: Mort refused to just give up.

arrage: They arranged to meet in three days.

fail: I failed to realize that this was not a real product.

forget: He forgot to lock the door.

learn: At school we learned to speak English.

seem: Federico seemed to enjoy getting into trouble.

appear: Whereas Frederike appeared to be a decent and quiet person.

tend: You tend to overreact!

pretend: I pretend to be what I'm not, you see?

claim: He claimed to have found the Holy Grail.

After dare you can use an infinitive with or even without the "to":

Don't you dare to take me for a fool. / Don't you dare take me for a fool.

You can also use a continous infinitive (to be doing) or a perfect infinitive (to have done):

He pretended to be watching TV.

You seem to have gone through a lot of trouble.

The negative form would be Verb + not + to + infinitive:

At elementary school we learned not to talk during lessons.

If you want that someone does something, you can also use the construction verb + object + infinitive. This construction is mostly used after these verbs:

want: I want you to join the army! 

tell: He told Victor to seek professional help.

would like: I would like Sofia to be in my group.

teach: At a workshop someone named Emmi taught us to survive in the forest.

aks: The customer asked Kerstin to show him the flowers.

help: Can I help you to understand English grammar better?

expect: I expected things to be a little easier.

advise: I advise you to be honest.

allow: He allowed me to cuddle him.

force: He forced her to watch Police Academy.

beg: She begged him to watch something else.

would prefer: Mr. Fleischmann would prefer us to do our homework in time.

mean: Sophia never meant Alexander to pick her up, but there he was.

encourage: Chrys encouraged me to sing in front of the crowd of people.

warn: The caretaker warned the students to keep the building clean.

persuade: I was a bit nervous, but Laurin persuaded me to visit him.

enable: Her friends helped Karolina with her chores and thus enabled her to go to the party with them.

order: The general ordered the soldiers to do twenty push-ups.

remind: Please remind me to learn Spanish.

After advise and allow there are two possible structures:

I wouldn't advise staying in that hotel. / I wouldn't advise anybody to stay in that hotel.

Parking is not allowed outside the Stadtgalerie (shopping centre). / They don't allow customers to park in front of the Stadtgalerie.

You can either use the verb + gerund or the construction verb + object + to + infinitive.

With the verbs make and let you don't need a "to" in front of the infinitive using the construction make/let + object + verb:

Let me help you.

He made me feel uncomfortable.

Melanie made Amina promise that she would pick her up at 7:45 am.

Her parents never let Jessica drink alcohol.

After some verbs, you can use the construction verb + question word + infinitive:

ask: I asked how to build these shelves.

decide: We can't decide whether to go by bike or by bus.

know: I don't know when to call.

remember: Don't forget to buy chocolate. Do you remember which to take?

forget: Tim forgot how to form an English sentence because his mind was set to Spanish.

explain: The teacher explained what to do next.

learn: I learned how to walk when I was nine months old.

understand: He understood what to say and how to handle the situation.

wonder: I wondered whether to meet him or not.

You can also mix the two above constructions: verb + object + question word + infinitive:

show: Chrysanthios showed his students how to play the guitar.

tell: I told you what to say. You should have listened to me.

ask: They asked me where to go, but I also didn't know.

advise: The police advised us where to cross the street - at the traffic lights of course.

teach: You taught me what to say in moments like this.

Now you have learned when to use a gerund and when to use an infinitive. But sometimes you can use both, whereas there may be a difference in meaning.

After these verbs you can use both an infinitive and a gerund. There is no difference in meaning:

attempt (versuchen): He attempted to jump. = He attempted jumping.

begin (anfangen): She began to sing. = She began singing.

bother (sich die Mühe machen): I don't bother to do my homework. = I don't bother doing my homework.

cease (aufhören):  France ceased to invade Africa. = France ceased invading Africa.

intend (beabsichtigen): You intend to learn English.  = You intend learning English.

love (lieben): I love to eat ice cream. = I love eating ice cream.

hate (hassen): I hate to clean the house. = I hate cleaning the house.

prefer (bevorzugen): I prefer to take the bus. = I prefer taking the bus.

start (beginnen): It started to rain. = It started raining.

After these verbs there is a slight difference whether you use an infinitive or a gerund.

like (mögen):

I like to clean the floor now and then. = I think cleaning the floor now and then makes sense, but I wouldn't call it a hobby.

I like cleaning the kitchen. = Cleaning the kitchen is my hobby, I do it every day.

continue (fortfahren, weitermachen):

My friend talked about his girlfriend. After a short pause he continued to talk about his new hobby. = He talked about two different things.

My friend talked about his girlfriend. After a short pause he continued talking about her. = He talked about the same thing.

mean (beabsichtigen; bedeuten):

I don't mean to hurt you. = I don't want / intend to hurt you.

Does this mean moving to Bamberg? = Is the consequence of this that we have to move to Bamberg?

regret ("leider"; bereuen):

We regret to inform you that we chose another candidate. = A simple phrase, they don't really feel bad.

Now I regret saying this to her. = I feel bad for having said this once.

forget (vergessen):

 Don't forget to do the laundry. = Please do this in the near future.

 I forgot doing the laundry. = I didn't do it in the past.

remember (sich erinnern; daran denken):

Please remember to close the door. = Please close the door in the near future.

I clearly remember closing the door. = I remember that I did this in the past.

stop (aufhören):

Andreas was on his way home when he stopped to eat a burger. = He stopped in order to eat a burger.

Andreas stopped eating the burger to ask me something. = He was in the middle of eating, stopped and asked me something.

try (mit aller Kraft versuchen; ausprobieren):

Lassie tried to save the boy. = Lassie did everything possible to save the boy.

Try taking the bus. You might arrive earlier. = Consider the option to take the bus.