The Infinitive or the ing-Form

Verb + Infinitive or  Verb + ing-Form

1. The following is a list of verbs which can take either the to-infinitive or the gerund with little or no difference in mean­ing.

advise	dislike	leave	plan
allow	dread	like	prefer
begin	forbid	love	propose
bother	hate	neglect	start
continue	intend	permit	study
can 't bear			etc.
(cease)

It began to rain just as we went out. Or It began raining just as we went out.

Note: a)   We do not usually have two ing-forms to­gether.

It was starting to get dark. not It was starting getting dark.

b)    Verbs are followed by the to-infinitive after an object:

They allow students to smoke in the bar. But They allow smoking in the bar.

c)    The to-infinitive describes immediate or spe­cific actions / occasions, gerunds describe general actions / activities»

/ hate to tell you this, but you are too late. I hate doing exercise in the morning.

d)    Compare these two meanings of the verb like:

Like to do Like takes a to-infinitive when it means that we prefer to do something even though we may not enjoy it. / like to check my work carefully before I hand it in.

Like doing Like usually takes an ing-form when we use it to talk about hobbies and interests. Jim likes skiing. I don 't like swimming much.

e)   After would like, would love, would prefer and would hate we use a to-infinitive but not usually an ing-form. I'd like to do a parachute jump one day. I'm glad I live here. I'd hate to live in a big city.

2. After the verbs below we can use the infinitive or the ing-form with a different meaning.

Remember and forget
Remember to phone your	/ can remember phoning
doctor.	him on Friday morning.
I have to go to the bank.	I'll never forget flying over
I forgot to sign my check.	the Grand Canyon. It was
We use remember / forget	wonderful.
to do to say what one has	We use remember / forget
to do. The remembering is	doing to say what one has
before the action.	done, what has happened.
Regret
/ regret to say that you	/ regret spending so much
have failed your exam.	money. I've got none left.
Regret to do something	Regret doing something
means to be sorry for	means to be sorry because
something you are doing,	of something that happened
e.g. giving bad news.	in the past.

Try

/ tried to help but it was no

use.

Try to do something

means to attempt some­thing, to do your best.

Try taking this medicine. Try doing something

means to do something which might solve a prob­lem.

Stop

An old man walking along

the road stopped to ask the

way.

Stop to do something

means to stop so that you can do it.

There's too much noise. Can you all stop talking, please? Stop doing something

means to end an action, to finish doing it.

Mean

I mean to get to the top by

sunrise.

Mean to do something is

the same as to intend to do it.

I'm applying for a visa. It means filling in this form. Means doing something

expresses the idea of one thing resulting in another.

Goon

He began by showing us

where the island was and

went on to tell us about its

climate.

Go on to do something

means to do something

else, to do the next thing.

The teacher told everyone to be quiet, but they just went on talking. Go on doing something

means to continue doing it.

Need

/ need to clean my shoes. This means that I must clean my shoes, I have to clean them.

My shoes need cleaning This means that my shoes need to be cleaned.

See it happen       or

We saw Trevor plant the tree. (He planted the tree. We saw him do the whole job.) We noticed a young man sit down and order a meal. We can use this structure with these verbs: feel, hear, listen to, notice, see, watch.

See it happening

We saw Trevor planting

the tree.

(He was planting the tree.

We saw him in the middle

of the job.)

We can use this structure

with these verbs: feel, hear,

listen to, notice, see,

watch, find, smell.

When we talk about a short action, it often does not matter which structure we use.

They heard a car turn I turning the corner. I didn 't see any­one leave I leaving any litter.

Adjective + to-Infinitive or Adjective + ing -Form?

Afraid

David is afraid to climb the

ladder.

(=He doesn't want to climb

the ladder because he is

afraid.)

David is afraid of falling. (=He is afraid because he might fall.)