Verbs + gerund, full infinitive or bare infinitive

A gerund is the –ing form of a verb that functions the same as a noun. For example,
“Running is fun.” In this sentence, “running” is the gerund. It acts just like a noun.

The infinitive form of a verb appears either as the basic form (with no marking) or with the
word “to.” For example, you can say “I might run to the store” or “I like to run.” In this
sentence, “to run” is the infinitive.

In English, if you want to follow a verb with another action, you must use a gerund or
infinitive.

 Verb + Gerund
1. Admit – He admitted lying to me.
2. Appreciate – I appreciate your making the effort to come.
3. Avoid – He always avoids doing his duty.
4. Can’t help – I can’t help listening to your voice.
5. Delay – I think we should delay deciding about this until next morning.
6. Deny – Tom denied walking home with me.
7. Detest – I detest having to get up when it's dark outside.
8. Discuss – We briefly discussed buying a second car.
9. Dislike – He dislikes brushing teeth after meals.
10. Enjoy – I enjoy having dinner with my friends.
11. Escape – He escaped being killed.
12. Face – They face losing the family farm.
13. Fancy (feel a desire or liking for) – I didn't fancy swimming in that water.
14. Feel like (to seem likely to do something) - I feel like watching TV.
15. Finish – I haven't finished writing this letter.
16. Give up – She gave up expressing all her emotions.
17. Involve – This operation involves putting a tube in your heart.
18. Keep (on) – I warned him to stop, but he kept walking out onto the thin ice.
19. Mention – My sister mentioned seeing you the other day.
20. Mind – Would you mind helping me?
21. Miss – We really miss having a dog in the house.
22. Postpone (put off) – We've had to postpone going to France. I can't put off going to
the dentist any longer.
23. Practice – He practiced playing the guitar.
24. Resist – She cannot resist eating chocolate.
25. Risk – We risk losing all our money.
26. Suggest – She suggested going to the basketball game.
27. Understand – I understand his quitting this job.

 Verb + Full Infinitive (with “to)

1. Able – I've always been able to learn languages easily; it's a gift.
2. Afford – I can't afford to spend any more money this week.
3. Agree – Kiera would never agree to marry someone in so short of a time.
4. Appear – The charity says the journalists appear to have obtained confidential
documents.
5. Arrange – We arrange to meet again after the concert to share another taxi back to
the hotel.
6. Ask – Did you ask to use the car?
7. Attempt – They made no attempt to escape.
8. Choose – Why did you choose to live in London?
9. Decide – We hope that more women will decide to join the course.
10. Encourage – you encouraged me to do my best.
11. Expect – They expect to arrive early.
12. Fail – He failed to get enough money to pay the bills.
13. Happen – What else has happened to make you feel like that?
14. Help – Increasing your walking speed will help to exercise your heart.
15. Hope – I hope to have a life like yours.
16. Manage – How do you manage to work in this heat without air conditioning?
17. Offer – They didn't even offer to pay.
18. Plan – Where did you plan to sleep tonight?
19. Pleased – I'm pleased to hear about your news.
20. Prepare – After dinner, I clean the kitchen and prepare to do my homework.
21. Pretend – I don't pretend to know as much as he does about it.
22. Promise - I promise to stop yelling.
23. Seem – All salespeople seem to have the same phony smile.
24. Tend (have a particular characteristic) – Tom tends to be a little shy.
25. Want – I don't want to get involved.
26. Wish – I wish to express my thanks to you.
27. Would like - I would like to ask about your future plans.
  Verb + Bare Infinitive (without “to”)
The infinitive is used without to after certain verbs like: Feel; Hear; Let; Make; Notice;
See; Watch

1. Feel (to experience something physical or emotional) - I feel good! I am happy and
well.
Some men feel emasculated if they work for a woman.
2. Hear (+object+bare infinitive) - Hear me out before you say anything.
I could hear him mumbling to himself.
I can hear people talking.
3. Let (+object+bare infinitive) - Don't let it end like this.
He decided to let his hair grow long. (NOT let to grow).
4. Make (to cause something) (+object+bare infinitive) - You make me feel good.
(NOT make me to feel good).
You cannot make him drink. (NOT make him to drink).
5. Notice (+object+bare infinitive) - I noticed the burglar climb over the fence.
6. See (+object+bare infinitive) – I saw her stealing my purse. (NOT saw to stealing).
She saw him break the window. (NOT to break).
7. Watch (+object+bare infinitive) - I watched him walk towards the door.

Verbs that take a gerund or an infinitive with no difference in meaning

1) Can't bear - I can't bear being alone. / I can't bear to be alone.
2) Can't stand - Anne can't stand working the late shift / Anne can't stand to work the
late shift.
3) Continue - Sarah continued talking. / Sarah continued to talk.
4) Hate - He hates cleaning dishes. / He hates to clean dishes.
5) Like - Chris likes reading. / Chris likes to read.
6) Love - We love diving. / We love to dive.
7) Prefer - He prefers eating at 7 PM. / He prefers to eat at 7 PM.
NOTE: sometimes there are difference between “prefer+ing” and “prefer+to”.
“prefer+ing” is used for general statements and “prefer+to” for specific situations. But
keep in mind that mostly they are interchangeable.
E.g. I would prefer to eat at this restaurant;
I prefer reading detective stories.
8) Intend - I intend to spend the night there / I intend spending the night there.
NOTE: “intend to” is more common.
9) Begin - She began singing. / She began to sing.
10) Start - Marc started talking really fast. / Marc started to talk really fast.
Note: “Start” is normally used with a gerund. With an infinitive 'start' can mean the
action was not completed. However, mostly they are interchangeable.

Verb + Full infinitive (with To) or –ing form with a change in meaning:
1) Consider – with TO it means OPINION;
with –GERUND means THINK ABOUT
a) Everybody considers him to be the best person for the job. (Everybody thinks that
he is the best person for the job – This sentence expresses People’s Opinion).
b) I consider working abroad. (I think of working abroad. – This sentence means that
I want to go abroad and I am going to work abroad).

2) Forget – When “forget” is used with an infinitive (to), it means "to forget that you
need to do something." (Obligation)
When 'forget' is used with a gerund, it means 'forget you have done
something'; (Past Event)
a) She forgot to pay the rent this month. (This sentence means that she forgot that
she needed to pay the rent.)
b) She forgot reading the book when she was a kid. (This sentence means that she
read the book when she was a kid, and that she has forgotten that fact).

3) Remember - When "remember" is used with an infinitive (to), it means "to remember
that you need to do something." (Obligation)
When "remember" is used with a gerund, it means "to remember that you have done
something." (Past Event).
a) He remembered to turn off the lights before he left. (This sentence means that he
remembered that he needed to turn the lights off.)
b) I remember mentioning the meeting yesterday. (The sentence above means that I
mentioned the meeting, and that I remember the fact that I did that.)

4) Go on – We use “go on doing” when we continue doing something.

We use “go on to do” when we move on to do something.
 a) After a cup of tea she went on reading a book. (She did the same thing- It means
that she had been reading a book, then she took a break and after this she
continued reading a book). გააგრძელა წიგნის კითხვა.
b) After a cup of tea she went on to read a book. (She did something else-It means
that she had been doing something else (not reading a book) then she took a break
and after this she started reading a book). შესვენების მერე დაიწყო წიგნის
კითხვა (მანამდე არ კითხულობდა).

5) Like – Like with TO refers to a habit or preference,

With GERUND emphasis on the experience/action
a) We have a lot of fruit in the garden. I like to make jam every year. (Habit)
b) I like making jam.

6) Mean – we use Mean+TO to express the intension.

we use Mean+Gerund (ing) when one thing involves another.
a) I meant to phone you but I forgot. (Intension-I wanted to phone you).
b) This means leaving at 6 o’clock. OR this means putting a tube in your heart
(involves).

7) Regret – we use Regret+TO when we are giving a bad news-The speakers regret about
what is going to be said.
We use Regret+Gerung(ing) when we are sorry about something that
happened in the past.
a) I regret to tell you that you have failed. (In this case the speaker is giving a bad
news.) ვწუხვარ, რომ ამას ვამბობ, მაგრამ ჩაიჭერი.
b) I regret saying that to him. (In this case the speaker is sorry about the past event).
ვწუხვარ, რომ ეს ვუთხარი. ვნანობ მისთვის ამის თქმას (წარსულში
ვუთხარი).

8) Stop – with To it refers to an intension.

With –ing it refers to the ending of an activity.
a) He stopped to smoke. (intension-გაჩერდა რომ მოეწია).
b) He stopped smoking. (ending of en activity-შეწყვიტა, თავი დაანება მოწევას).
c) I stopped going to evening classes. (ending of en activity -I gave up going-
შევწყვიტე სიარული)
d) I stopped to buy some coffee. (intension -in order to buy-გავჩერდი იმისთის,
რომ მეყიდა)
9) Try – with To refers to attempt, which might fail or succeed. In other words we use
Try To when we make an effort to do something but don’t necessarily succeed.
E.g. I tried to get up early, but I couldn’t.
With –ing refers to making an experiment. We use Try+ing when we do
something to see what happens.
a) I tried to get up early, but I couldn’t. (Attempt-I tried and failed). ვცადე ადრე
ადგომა, მაგრამ არ გამომივიდა.
b) Why don’t you try getting up early? (Suggesting an action). (იქნებ გეცადა ადრე
ადგომა, ვნახოთ, იქნებ გამოგივიდეს).
c) Try taking an aspirin. (Suggesting an action). (იქნებ გეცადა ასპირინის მიღება,
ვნახოთ რა იქნება).

 Advise, allow, permit, encourage, recommend, require- იხმარება ინფინიტივი, თუ

ამ ზმნებს მოჰყვება პირდაპირი დამატება:
E.g. He advised me to apply at once;
They don’t allow us to park here;
თუ ჩამოთვლილი ზმნების შემდეგ არ არის დამატება, იხმარება გერუნდი:
E.g. He advised applying at once.
They don’t allow parking here.