Gerund vs infinitive — the full system
When you string two verbs together in English, the second one comes in one of two forms: gerund (V-ing — reading, swimming) or infinitive (to V — to read, to swim). Sometimes a bare infinitive (just V — read, swim).
I enjoy reading. (gerund) I want to read. (infinitive) He made me read. (bare infinitive)
The first verb decides which form follows. There are patterns, and there are pure lists you have to memorize. This lesson lays out the full system — verb-by-verb categories, plus the rules for what comes after prepositions, adjectives, and the special “verb + object + infinitive” structure.
This is one of the highest-frequency error zones for Russian speakers, because Russian uses one infinitive form for almost everything. English forces you to choose.
The big picture
Five main contexts to handle:
- Verb + verb — categorized into four groups (gerund only, infinitive only, both same meaning, both different meaning).
- Preposition + verb — always gerund.
- Adjective + verb — usually infinitive.
- Verb + object + verb — usually infinitive.
- make / let / help + object + verb — bare infinitive.
Get these five right and you’ve handled 95 percent of cases.
1. Verb + verb: the four groups
Group A — gerund only (V-ing)
These verbs always take V-ing. Memorize them.
| Verb | Example |
|---|---|
| enjoy | I enjoy swimming. |
| finish | She finished eating. |
| suggest | He suggested going out. |
| mind | Do you mind waiting? |
| avoid | Avoid making noise. |
| deny | She denied stealing the money. |
| imagine | Imagine living there. |
| recommend | I recommend trying the soup. |
| miss | I miss seeing my family. |
| can’t help | I can’t help laughing. |
| can’t stand | I can’t stand waiting. |
| keep / keep on | She kept calling me. |
| practice | He practices playing piano. |
| postpone / put off | We postponed leaving. |
| give up | I gave up smoking. |
| admit | He admitted lying. |
| consider | We’re considering moving. |
| dislike | I dislike arguing. |
A useful memory grouping: starting / stopping / liking / saying verbs often take gerund (enjoy, finish, suggest, deny, avoid, give up, keep). The activity is treated as a thing you do.
Group B — infinitive only (to V)
| Verb | Example |
|---|---|
| want | I want to leave. |
| need | I need to sleep. |
| plan | We plan to travel. |
| decide | She decided to quit. |
| hope | I hope to see you. |
| expect | We expect to arrive late. |
| refuse | He refused to help. |
| agree | They agreed to meet. |
| manage | I managed to fix it. |
| learn | She learned to drive. |
| offer | He offered to pay. |
| promise | I promise to call. |
| choose | We chose to stay. |
| fail | He failed to deliver. |
| pretend | She pretended to sleep. |
| seem | You seem to know him. |
| appear | They appeared to agree. |
| afford | I can’t afford to lose. |
Memory grouping: future-oriented / decision-making verbs (want, plan, decide, hope, expect, agree) take infinitive. The infinitive points forward toward an unrealized action.
Group C — both, same meaning
These verbs take either gerund or infinitive with essentially no difference in meaning.
| Verb | Both work |
|---|---|
| like | I like swimming / I like to swim. |
| love | I love dancing / I love to dance. |
| hate | I hate waiting / I hate to wait. |
| prefer | I prefer walking / I prefer to walk. |
| start | It started raining / It started to rain. |
| begin | She began crying / She began to cry. |
| continue | He continued talking / He continued to talk. |
| bother | Don’t bother calling / Don’t bother to call. |
Tiny nuance with like / love / hate / prefer in AmE: gerund slightly emphasizes the activity itself; infinitive slightly emphasizes preference/habit. I like cooking (the activity) vs I like to cook on weekends (the habit). Most speakers don’t even feel the difference.
Group D — both, DIFFERENT meaning
This is the trap. Same verb, different meaning depending on form.
| Verb | + V-ing | + to V |
|---|---|---|
| stop | quit / no longer do it: I stopped smoking last year. | pause in order to do something: I stopped to smoke. (paused walking, lit a cigarette) |
| remember | recall a past event: I remember meeting her. (the meeting happened, I recall it) | not forget to do (in the future): Remember to lock the door. (do it; don’t forget) |
| forget | fail to recall a past event: I’ll never forget meeting her. | not remember to do (action wasn’t done): I forgot to call him. |
| try | experiment with: Try adding salt. (test it as a method) | attempt with effort: Try to lift this box. (effort to succeed) |
| regret | feel sorry about a past action: I regret telling her. (I told her, now sorry) | sorry to inform someone (formal): I regret to inform you… |
| mean | involve / require: Quitting means starting over. | intend: I meant to call you. |
| need (rare) | need to be done (passive sense): The car needs washing. (= needs to be washed) | active: I need to wash the car. |
| go on | continue same activity: She went on talking. | move to a new activity: She went on to talk about politics. |
These pairs are some of the most-tested constructions on grammar exams. Notice the pattern: gerund usually points backward (past or general activity); infinitive usually points forward (intention, purpose, future action).
2. Preposition + verb — ALWAYS gerund
Any verb that comes after a preposition takes V-ing. No exceptions in standard English.
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| good at + V-ing | She’s good at swimming. |
| interested in + V-ing | I’m interested in learning Spanish. |
| afraid of + V-ing | He’s afraid of flying. |
| think about + V-ing | I’m thinking about moving. |
| insist on + V-ing | She insisted on paying. |
| look forward to + V-ing | I look forward to seeing you. |
| instead of + V-ing | Instead of complaining, fix it. |
| before / after + V-ing | Wash your hands before eating. |
| without + V-ing | He left without saying goodbye. |
| by + V-ing | I learned English by reading. |
| used to + V-ing (be / get) | I’m used to driving on the right. |
The trap: to is sometimes a preposition and sometimes the infinitive marker. After look forward to / be used to / get used to / object to / admit to, the to is a preposition — gerund follows. After want to / need to / plan to, the to is the infinitive marker — base verb follows.
| Preposition to (V-ing) | Infinitive to (V) |
|---|---|
| I’m looking forward to seeing you. | I want to see you. |
| She’s used to driving at night. | She has to drive at night. |
| He admitted to stealing. | He decided to steal. |
A test: try replacing the verb after to with a noun. If it works (looking forward to the meeting, used to the noise), then to is a preposition → use V-ing.
3. Adjective + verb — usually infinitive
| Adjective + to V | Example |
|---|---|
| happy / glad / pleased | I’m happy to help. |
| sorry | I’m sorry to bother you. |
| ready | I’m ready to leave. |
| willing | She’s willing to try. |
| eager / keen | He’s eager to start. |
| difficult / hard | It’s hard to learn. |
| easy | This is easy to use. |
| important | It’s important to listen. |
| dangerous | It’s dangerous to swim here. |
| nice / lovely / wonderful | It’s nice to see you. |
| afraid (with infinitive too) | I’m afraid to ask. (also: afraid of asking) |
Note: afraid is the rare adjective that takes both — afraid to V (hesitating to act) vs afraid of V-ing (fear of the activity). I’m afraid to fly (I hesitate to fly) vs I’m afraid of flying (I have a fear of flying). Subtle.
4. Verb + object + infinitive
A common pattern: a verb takes a person/thing as object, then to V.
| Verb | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ask | ask sb to V | I asked her to wait. |
| want | want sb to V | I want you to leave. |
| tell | tell sb to V | She told me to stop. |
| allow | allow sb to V | They allowed us to enter. |
| expect | expect sb to V | I expect him to apologize. |
| invite | invite sb to V | We invited them to dinner. |
| encourage | encourage sb to V | She encouraged me to apply. |
| persuade | persuade sb to V | I persuaded him to come. |
| remind | remind sb to V | Remind me to call Mom. |
| teach | teach sb to V | She taught me to drive. |
| force | force sb to V | They forced him to leave. |
| warn | warn sb (not) to V | I warned her not to go. |
Note: want here behaves differently from Russian хотеть, чтобы… — English uses want sb to V, never want that sb V. I want that you come is wrong; I want you to come is right.
5. Bare infinitive — make / let / help
After make, let, and (in AmE) help, the infinitive comes WITHOUT to. This is the bare infinitive.
| Verb | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| make | make sb V | She made me cry. |
| let | let sb V | They let him go. |
| help (AmE) | help sb V or help sb to V | She helped me (to) move. |
❌ She made me to cry. ✅ She made me cry.
❌ They let him to go. ✅ They let him go.
In AmE, help can take both — She helped me move (more common) or She helped me to move (also fine).
In the passive, make gets to back: I was made to wait. Strange but standard.
Modal verbs (will, can, must, should, may, might, would, could) also take bare infinitive — but you’ve known that since A1: I can swim, I should leave. Same pattern.
After verbs of perception (see, hear, watch, feel), bare infinitive emphasizes the whole action; gerund emphasizes the action in progress:
- I saw her leave. (the whole event — she left, I saw it)
- I saw her leaving. (in the middle of leaving — saw a moment of it)
Both are correct.
Quick decision tree
When you have first verb + second verb, ask:
- Is there a preposition between them? → gerund. I’m interested in learning.
- Is the first verb in Group A (enjoy, finish, suggest…)? → gerund.
- Is the first verb in Group B (want, plan, decide…)? → infinitive.
- Is the first verb in Group C (like, love, start…)? → either, same meaning.
- Is the first verb in Group D (stop, remember, forget, try)? → either, but DIFFERENT meaning — pick by what you mean.
- Is the first verb make / let / (AmE) help? → bare infinitive.
- Adjective + verb? → usually infinitive.
AmE notes
- Help + bare infinitive is standard AmE. She helped me move is more natural than She helped me to move in everyday speech.
- Gerund after like / love / hate is fully natural in AmE: I love cooking. BrE slightly favors infinitive (I love to cook); both work everywhere.
- Subjunctive-triggering verbs (suggest, recommend, insist, demand) take gerund OR that-clause + base verb: I suggest going now / I suggest that we go now (subjunctive). They do NOT take infinitive: I suggest to go — wrong.
- Want + that-clause is wrong: I want that you come → I want you to come. Russian хочу, чтобы… doesn’t translate directly.
- Quotative go + infinitive: He went to tell her (purpose). Don’t confuse with go on (continue / progress).
Pronunciation notes
- to in infinitives reduces to /tə/ when unstressed: I want to go → /aɪ wɑnə goʊ/ (further reduces to wanna).
- going to → /ɡənə/ → gonna: I’m gonna leave.
- got to → /ɡɑɾə/ → gotta.
- The -ing ending: standard /ɪŋ/, casual /ɪn/ (g-dropping): swimmin’, cookin’. Recognize both.
Common Russian-speaker mistakes
- Infinitive after Group A verbs. I enjoy to read → I enjoy reading. Same trap with finish, suggest, mind, avoid, deny, imagine, recommend, miss, can’t help, can’t stand, keep, practice, postpone, give up. Pure memorization — these are gerund-only.
- Infinitive after prepositions. I’m good at to swim → I’m good at swimming. I’m interested in to learn → I’m interested in learning. After every preposition, V-ing.
- Want that-construction. I want that you come → I want you to come. Russian Я хочу, чтобы ты пришёл uses a что-clause; English uses object + infinitive. Same with expect, ask, tell, prefer.
- Adding to after make / let / help. She made me to cry → She made me cry. They let him to go → They let him go. Bare infinitive only.
- Confusing the to in look forward to / be used to. I look forward to see you → I look forward to seeing you. The to here is a preposition, not the infinitive marker. Test: can you put a noun there? Look forward to the meeting — yes → preposition → V-ing.
- Wrong choice in stop/remember/forget/try. Remember to lock the door (don’t forget to do it) vs Remember locking the door (recall doing it). Pick by meaning, not by feel.
Summary
- After a verb, the next verb is gerund (V-ing), infinitive (to V), or bare infinitive (V) — the first verb decides.
- Gerund only: enjoy, finish, suggest, mind, avoid, deny, imagine, recommend, miss, keep, practice, give up.
- Infinitive only: want, need, plan, decide, hope, expect, refuse, agree, manage, learn, offer, promise.
- Both, same meaning: like, love, hate, prefer, start, begin, continue.
- Both, different meaning: stop, remember, forget, try, regret, mean — pick by what you mean.
- After prepositions: ALWAYS gerund. After adjectives: usually infinitive.
- Verb + object + infinitive: ask sb to V, want sb to V, tell sb to V (no that-clause).
- Bare infinitive after make / let / help (AmE: help both ways) and after modals.
Next lesson: used to / would / be used to / get used to — four patterns that look alike and mean very different things.
A2: Verb patterns — gerund vs infinitive C1: Gerund vs infinitive — fine points