Gerund or Infinitive - Gerund And Present Participles | English Grammar - English Free Test

allow
attempt
begin
bother
cease
continue

deserve
fear*
hate*
intend*
like
love

neglect
omit
permit
prefer*
recommend*
start

come
forget *
go on

mean *
regret *
remember *

stop
try

Come + gerund is like other verbs of movement followed by the gerund, and means that the subject is doing something as they move:

• She came running across the field.

Come + to-infinitive means that something happens or develops, perhaps outside the subject's control:

• At first I thought he was crazy, but I've come to appreciate his sense of humour.
• How did you come to be outside the skipped house?
• This word has come to mean something quite different.

When these verbs are followed by a gerund , the gerund refers to an action that happened earlier:

• I remember locking the door ( = I remember now, I locked the door earlier)
• He regretted speaking so rudely. (= he regretted at some time in the past, he had spoken rudely at some earlier time in the past.)

Forget is frequently used with 'never' in the simple future form:

• I'll never forget meeting my boss for the first time.

When these verbs are followed by a to-infinitive , the infinitive refers to an action happening at the same time, or later:

• I remembered to lock the door (= I thought about it, then I did it.)
• Don't forget to buy some eggs! (= Please think about it and then do it.)
• We regret to announce the late arrival of the 12.45 from Paddington. (= We feel sorry before we tell you this bad news.)

Go on + gerund means to continue with an action:

• He went on speaking for two hours.
• I can't go on working like this - I'm exhausted.

Go on + to-infinitive means to do the next action, which is often the next stage in a process:

• After introducing her proposal, she went on to explain the benefits for the company.
• John Smith worked in local government for five years, then went on to become a Member of Parliament.

Mean + gerund expresses what the result of an action will be, or what will be necessary:

• If you take that job in London it will mean travelling for two hours every day.
• We could take the ferry to France, but that will mean spending a night in a hotel.

Mean + to-infinitive expresses an intention or a plan:

• Did you mean to dial this number?
• I mean to finish this job by the end of the week!
• Sorry - I didn't mean to hurt you.

Stop + gerund means to finish an action in progress:

• I stopped working for them because the wages were so low.
  Stop tickling me!

Stop + to-infinitive means to interrupt an activity in order to do something else, so the infinitive is used to express a purpose:

• I stopped to have lunch. (= I was working, or travelling, and I interrupted what I was doing in order to eat.)
• It's difficult to concentrate on what you are doing if you have to stop to answerOption the phone every five minutes.

Try + gerund means to experiment with an action that might be a solution to your problem.

• If you have problems sleeping, you could try doing some yoga before you go to bed, or you could try drinking some warm milk.
• 'I can't get in touch with Carl.' 'Have you tried e-mailing him?'

Try + to-infinitive means to make an effort to do something. It may be something very difficult or even impossible:

• The surgeons tried to save his life but he died on the operating table.
• We'll try to phone at 6 o'clock, but it might be hard to find a public telephone.
• People have to try to live together in harmony.