Recommended level: Upper-intermediate (B2)
Quick Reference
A gerund is a verbal noun. It looks like an -ing verb but acts like a noun (swimming, reading, hiking, talking, etc.).
A to-infinitive follows many verbs and is formed with to + an infinitive verb (to see, to go, to meet, to leave, etc.).
Some verbs must be followed by a gerund (He avoided going to jail), and some verbs must be followed by a to-infinitive (Why did you agree to do this?).
Some verbs can be followed by gerunds (verb+ing) or to-infinitives (to + verb) with little difference in meaning. For example, start, begin, like, love, and hate.
When discussing an activity or hobby in general with one of the verbs directly above, the gerund form is preferred. For example, "I love swimming."
When discussing the initiation of an action--the act itself--the to-infinitive is preferred. For example, "I love to swim."
Some verbs can be followed by a gerund or to-infinitive but have a difference in meaning ("Remember to do your homework" vs. "I remembering visiting my grandma every summer when I was a child").
One of the most common questions I hear from English learners is "How do I know when to use a gerund and when to use an infinitive?" This question usually refers to verbs which only have one option, such as hope ("I hope to win") or enjoy ("I enjoy winning"). You can find lists of these verbs online, and for them, unfortunately, there is no major secret except for practice and memorization.
Of course, there are some mental reminders you can give yourself in these cases. For example, what I call verbs of desire and intention typically use the to-infinitive. These are verbs like want, choose, hope, wish, need, plan, offer, and would like. You can also keep in mind that gerunds act as nouns, which means that they refer to activities more than they refer to actions, so "I miss playing with my friends" makes sense because you mean that you miss a thing from your past--you miss the activity. But even this knowledge about gerunds can still lead to mistakes. For instance, instead of saying you enjoy doing something, which means you enjoy a particular activity, you might think it is also logical to say that you enjoy to do something, which means you enjoy initiating a particular action. However, only enjoy doing is acceptable and considered correct.
So, why am I talking about this? If you opened this page, it's probably because you are curious about verbs which can be followed by a gerund or a to-infinitive. Is the information above relevant to this topic? Well, yes.
Don't worry. It will all become clear in a minute.
Which Verbs Can be Followed by a Gerund or a to-Infinitive?
There is a relatively small list of verbs which can be followed by a gerund or an infinitive and which usually have very little difference in meaning. Here they are:
begin - It began raining. / It began to rain.
can't bear - I can't bear seeing you like this. / I can't bear to see you like this.
can't stand - I can't stand doing nothing. / I can't stand to do nothing.
continue - We continued talking. / We continued to talk.
hate - She hates arguing. / She hates to argue.
like - I like dancing. / I like to dance.
love - He loved hiking. / He loved to hike.
prefer - I prefer sitting. / I prefer to sit.
propose - They proposed canceling the contract. / They proposed to cancel the contract.
start - He started yelling. / He started to yell.
In most of these cases, there is little difference in meaning. However, there are some nuances and things to keep in mind with certain verbs. Here is one of them:
For the verbal phrase can't stand, which means you strongly dislike and have a very low tolerance for something, there are some verbs which can change the meaning of a sentence. Take a look at these two examples:
"I can't stand shouting."
"I can't stand to shout."
In the first case, the meaning is a bit ambiguous. Either the person does not enjoy hearing other people shout, or they do not enjoy doing the act themselves. Here are two extensions of this example to clarify this point: "I can't stand shouting. It gives me a headache whenever I hear it." "I can't stand shouting at my kids. I always feel bad about it afterwards." As you can see, you sometimes need to clarify things, especially in the absence of context.
However, in the case of "I can't stand to shout," there is only one possible understanding: The person is clearly talking about initiating the action themselves. They do not like to speak in a loud, angry tone to other people.
So, what about the verb like?
What's the difference between "I like dancing" and "I like to dance"?
Like is one of the most common verbs in most languages. English is not different in this regard. So, is there a difference between "I like dancing" and "I like to dance"? Yes and no. In a casual conversation, no one would correct you if you responded with one of these sentences to a question like "What do you do in your free time?" However, the gerund form is preferred when you want to talk about something you do or did regularly. This means it is or was a hobby or a frequent activity for you.
Remember, a gerund is a verbal noun. This means it looks like a verb but acts like a noun. In the sentence "I like dancing," you are referring to the activity or the subject of dancing. It's a thing as much as a dynamic activity in this case. This is a subtle nuance, but if you say "I like to dance," you are referring to the act, not the activity. It refers to initiating, or starting, the action. You take pleasure in the act itself.
A person who says "I like dancing" might also mean they enjoy dancing as a subject that is meant to be studied. Perhaps they like watching shows about dancing, or they like reading about the history of dancing.
Here are some other examples to illustrate this nuance:
"I like going to the movies." (This is something I do regularly.)
"I like to go to the movies." (When I go to the movies, I enjoy it.)
"I didn't like reading in high school." (This was an activity I did not like.)
"I didn't like to read in high school." (I did not enjoy opening books and reading.)
"He used to like hiking." (He liked this activity in the past. It was something he did regularly.)
"He used to like to hike." (He enjoyed putting on my hiking shoes and going outside for a walk. The act itself brought him pleasure.)
Did these examples help clarify the difference? I hope so. If not, don't worry. As I mentioned, almost no one will ever question you if you say "I like to dance" instead of "I like dancing." Both are used and accepted in English. Just know that if you want to talk about something that you did or have done regularly, you should use a gerund.
But are there verbs which have a big difference in meaning when you follow them with a gerund or to-infinitive?
The short answer to this question is "Yes." This list is also relatively short. Here it is with all of the differences:
Forget (This follows the same principle as "remember" later on this list.)
Forget to do means you do not or did not do something because you forgot about it. For example, "I forgot to turn off the light in the bathroom. It was on all night."
Forget doing means you do not have a memory of something in the past. For example, "I forgot having that conversation with you." This means you do not remember the conversation you had with someone.
Go on
Go on to do means continuing from a period in your life to another period--to have a particular result. For example, "After university, he went on to become a psychotherapist."
Go on doing means to continue doing something. For example, "They went on playing video games until the morning."
Quit (This is similar to "stop," which is included later on this list.)
Quit to do means you quit one act or period so that you could start another. For example, "She didn't like her job, so she quit to improve her mental health." You can think of "quit to" as "quit in order to" or "quit so that" in this case.
Quit doing means you do not do something anymore. For example, "He quit drinking soda over five years ago. He never touches it anymore."
Regret
Regret to do means you feel bad about an action. For example, "I regret to leave after so many years with this company." A common business English usage of this is "I regret to inform you," as in "I regret to inform you that we no longer require your services."
Regret doing means you feel bad about an action, usually one which happened in the past. For example, "I regret telling you that" or "I regret breaking up with him."
Remember
Remember to do means to actually do the action. For example, "Remember to do your homework" means "Do your homework."
Remember doing refers to a memory you have of something in the past. For example, "I remember visiting my grandma every summer when I was a child."
Stop
Stop to do means to interrupt one action so that you can begin another. For example, "We have to stop to get gas." This means we have to stop the car soon because it needs gas.
Stop doing means to quit something and not do it anymore. For example, "You should stop smoking. You're always coughing."
Try
Try to do means that you attempt an action, but probably don't succeed. For example, "I tried to leave a message, but they didn't have a voicemail option."
Try doing means you attempted one of multiple options. "It's so hot in this room. I tried leaving the door open, but it didn't help." "Have you tried opening a window?"
As you can see, there are nuances with gerunds and infinitives. The important thing is to keep the context of your sentences in mind. The best way to learn gerunds and to-infinitives? Read a lot and listen to a lot of English. Eventually, you'll just start noticing that hope is always followed by a to-infinitive, or that keep is always followed by a gerund. Of course, you can study lists, but just make sure that you make your own example sentences.
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