English Verbs: Infinitive vs. Gerund Usage Rules

English Verb Forms: Infinitive vs. Gerund

A) Verbs Followed by TO + Infinitive

Verbs followed by the infinitive form (to + verb): Afford, agree, ask, decide, expect, hesitate, hope, intend, learn, manage, need, offer, pretend, promise, refuse, seem, swear, want.

Verbs Followed by Object + TO + Infinitive

Verbs that take an object before the infinitive: Advise, allow, ask, encourage, expect, forbid, help, invite, order, permit, prefer, remind, teach, tell, warn, want.

D) Infinitive of Purpose

Used to express the reason for an action: "They went to Amsterdam to buy diamonds."

E) Show/Teach/Tell + How

Used when demonstrating a method.

G) Something etc + TO + Infinitive

Certain phrases or adjectives require the infinitive form.

Infinitives Without TO (Bare Infinitive)

The bare infinitive is used after:

• Modal auxiliary verbs: Will, shall, can, could, do, did, must, may, might, should, ought to.
• Expressions: Would rather/sooner.
• Causative verbs: Let and make.

Special cases for bare infinitive:

• Need and dare, except when conjugated with do/did or will/would.
• Expression: Had better.

The Gerund (Verb + -ing)

Verbs Followed by the Gerund

Verbs followed by the gerund form: Admit, avoid, consider, delay, deny, detest, enjoy, fancy (=imagine), finish, forgive, help (I can't help....), imagine, involve, keep (=continue), mind, miss, postpone, resist, risk, stop, stand (I can't stand).

Also used after the expression "it's no use/good" and after the adjective "worth".

D) Verbs + Possessive Adjective/Pronoun Object + Gerund

Structure: Verb + possessive + gerund (e.g., I appreciate your helping me).

Infinitive OR Gerund (Interchangeable or Context-Dependent)

Begin, Start, Continue, Cease

These verbs can generally be followed by either the infinitive or the gerund with little change in meaning.

Advise, Recommend, Allow, Permit

• If the person concerned is mentioned, we use the infinitive: "We allowed him to leave."
• But if the person is not mentioned, the gerund is used: "We allowed leaving the room."

Regret, Remember, Forget

• Used with a gerund when the action expressed by the gerund is an earlier action: "I regret meeting him (I met him before I regretted it)."
• When regret, remember, forget themselves express the earlier action, they are followed by the infinitive: "I regret to inform you (The informing is the present action causing regret)."

Care (Negative/Interrogative), Love, Like (=enjoy), Hate, Prefer

• When used in the conditional, they are usually followed by the infinitive: "I would like to go."
• When used in the present or past, they are usually followed by the gerund: "I like swimming."

Stop

• Stop with the gerund means "not continue": "She stopped smoking."
• Stop with the infinitive means "pause in order to do something": "He stopped to answer the phone."

Try

• Try usually means "attempt" and is followed by the Infinitive: "They tried to put wire netting all around the garden (They attempted to do this)." This sentence doesn't tell us whether they succeeded or not.
• Try can also mean "make an experiment" and is then followed by the gerund: "Try adding more salt."

Used To vs. Be Used To

• Subject + used + Infinitive expresses a past habit or routine: "I used to live in London."
• But Subject + be/become/get + used + to is followed by a noun, pronoun, or gerund and means "be/become/get accustomed to": "I am used to waking up early."

Be Afraid

• Be afraid + gerund merely expresses a fear: "He is afraid of flying."
• Be afraid + infinitive means that the subject was too frightened to perform the action: "She was afraid to tell him the truth."