Gerunds vs Infinitives: Verb Patterns and Meaning

Reviewed by the Grammarlyzer Editorial Team · Our Review Standards · Published January 29, 2026 · Updated July 16, 2026

Choose -ing or to + verb from the controlling verb and intended meaning

📌 Quick Answer
This guide uses gerund for the -ing form in patterns such as enjoy swimming, and to-infinitive for to + base verb in patterns such as want to swim. Some verbs normally select -ing, some select a to-infinitive, and some change meaning depending on which form follows (stop, remember, forget).

First check: Identify the controlling verb. Learn enjoy + -ing and decide + to-infinitive as whole patterns. For verbs such as stop, remember, and try, compare the intended meanings before choosing.

💡 Key Difference

When a verb changes meaning depending on gerund or infinitive (like stop or remember), the choice changes what the sentence means.

Quick Comparison

Form Use It For Quick Check
Gerund (-ing) -ing form selected by a preceding verb or preposition Follows verbs such as enjoy, avoid, finish, mind.
To-infinitive (to + base verb) form selected by a preceding verb; it can express an aim or intention Follows verbs such as want, decide, hope, agree.

Which Verbs Take Which? A Working Reference

There is no single shortcut for every verb. Use these as sourced working groups, then check the meaning-change verbs separately.

Group Common verbs Example
Normally followed by -ing enjoy, avoid, finish, mind, consider, suggest, miss, deny, practice She avoided answering.
Normally followed by a to-infinitive want, decide, hope, plan, agree, refuse, promise, manage, learn They agreed to wait.
Either, often a small emphasis difference like, love, hate, prefer She likes reading / to read before bed.
Either, meaning changes stop, remember, forget, try, regret, mean remember to lock vs remember locking

The Meaning-Change Verbs in Detail

For this group, both forms can be grammatical, but the pattern changes the meaning. Learn each contrast as a pair.

Remember / forget

Remember to call = don't forget to do it (the task is still ahead). Remember calling = you have a memory of having done it (it's in the past). "Forget" works the same way: "I forgot to lock it" (didn't do it) vs "I'll never forget meeting her" (the memory).

Stop

Stop smoking = quit the habit. Stop to smoke = pause another activity in order to smoke. The gerund is the thing you end; the infinitive is the purpose of stopping.

Try

Try restarting the router = experiment with that as a possible solution. Try to restart the router = make the effort, which may be difficult.

Regret

We regret to inform you introduces information the speaker is about to give. I regret telling him expresses regret about the earlier act of telling.

Common Mistakes

Using an Infinitive After "Enjoy"

❌ Incorrect:

"I enjoy to swim in the morning."

✓ Correct:

"I enjoy swimming in the morning."

When enjoy is followed immediately by another verb, use the -ing form. Cambridge gives the same pattern for verbs including avoid, finish, miss, and consider.

Using a Gerund After "Decide"

❌ Incorrect:

"She decided going to Paris for the conference."

✓ Correct:

"She decided to go to Paris for the conference."

When decide is followed immediately by another verb, use a to-infinitive. Other verbs in this group include want, plan, hope, refuse, manage, and agree.

Confusing "Stop + Gerund" vs "Stop + Infinitive"

❌ Ambiguous / Wrong context:

"He stopped to smoke, so he is healthier now." (Incorrect logic)

✓ Correct:

"He stopped smoking, so he is healthier now."

"Stop smoking" means he quit. "Stop to smoke" means he paused something to have a cigarette — the opposite meaning entirely.

🎯 Test Your Knowledge

1. "She enjoys ____ in the lake every summer."

2. "He managed ____ the report before the deadline."

3. "We stopped ____ coffee on the way to the office." (We made a stop for coffee)

4. "Please remember ____ the client back tomorrow." (it's a future task)

5. "Try ____ the app if it freezes." (test it as a fix)

Try It Now: Gerund or Infinitive?

The seed follows enjoy with a to-infinitive where the sourced pattern requires swimming. Test it, then compare the manual revision.

Manual revision: "I enjoy swimming in the morning."

Tested July 16, 2026: both the exact enjoy to swim seed and the enjoy swimming revision returned no issues. Use the controlling verb and intended meaning to review this pattern manually.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a gerund and a to-infinitive in this guide?

This guide uses gerund for the -ing form in patterns such as enjoy swimming and uses to-infinitive for to plus a base verb, as in want to swim. The first verb often determines which pattern follows.

Which verbs are normally followed by an -ing form?

When followed immediately by another verb, enjoy, avoid, admit, consider, deny, finish, keep, mind, miss, practise, and suggest normally take the -ing form.

How does "stop" change meaning?

Stop doing means end that activity: "He stopped smoking." Stop to do means pause another activity for a purpose: "He stopped to smoke."

Can like, love, and hate take both forms?

Yes. Cambridge notes that the meaning difference is often small: the -ing form emphasizes the action or experience, while the to-infinitive can emphasize a preference, habit, or result.

Did the checker flag the tested enjoy + infinitive error?

No. On July 16, 2026, both the exact "enjoy to swim" seed and the "enjoy swimming" revision returned no issues, so this verb-pattern choice requires manual review.

Verbs Normally Followed by -ing

When these verbs are followed immediately by another verb, the next verb normally uses the -ing form.

Examples

  • "She enjoys hiking in the mountains on weekends." (Casual)
  • "The committee considered postponing the meeting." (Professional)
  • "He admitted making the error in the report." (Professional)
  • "You should avoid using jargon in client emails." (Professional)
  • "The researchers suggested replicating the experiment." (Academic)
  • "I miss living near the coast." (Casual)

Verbs Normally Followed by a To-Infinitive

When these verbs are followed immediately by another verb, the next verb normally uses to + base verb.

Examples

  • "The team decided to postpone the launch." (Professional)
  • "She wants to study computational linguistics." (Academic)
  • "He refused to sign the contract without legal review." (Professional)
  • "They managed to complete the project under budget." (Professional)
  • "I hope to hear from you soon." (Casual)
  • "The study failed to demonstrate a significant correlation." (Academic)

Source-Backed Verb Patterns

Cambridge Grammar's verb-pattern guide lists verbs followed by a to-infinitive, verbs normally followed by -ing, verbs that allow both, and verbs whose meaning changes with the pattern.

The British Council's introductory guide directly contrasts enjoy learning with want to learn and provides sourced working groups for each form.

Its meaning-change guide distinguishes stop doing from stop to do, experiment from effort after try, and past memory from a task after remember or forget.

🔗 The Connection

In the immediate verb-complement patterns documented above, enjoy normally takes an -ing form, want takes a to-infinitive, and stop allows both patterns with different meanings.

Real-World Examples

📏 Enjoy + -ing:

I enjoy swimming in the ocean.

When another verb follows enjoy, use the -ing pattern.
📏 Want + to-infinitive:

She wants to travel to Japan next year.

When another verb follows want, use the to-infinitive pattern.
⚠️ Both (different meaning):

He stopped smoking. (quit) vs He stopped to smoke. (paused in order to smoke)

Same verb, different meaning based on gerund vs infinitive
⚠️ Both (small emphasis difference):

I like swimming. / I like to swim.

Both are grammatical; the -ing form can emphasize the experience, while the to-infinitive can emphasize a preference or habit.
💡 Common Gerund Verbs:

enjoy, avoid, finish, consider, suggest, mind + gerund

These verbs normally take -ing when another verb follows immediately.
💡 Common Infinitive Verbs:

want, decide, plan, hope, agree + to-infinitive

These verbs normally take a to-infinitive when another verb follows immediately.

Why Do People Confuse Them?

The controlling verb selects a pattern, and some verbs allow both forms with a meaning change. Treat the combination as a whole: enjoy doing, decide to do, stop doing, or stop to do. A current learner's dictionary or the source tables above can confirm an unfamiliar pattern.

Practice with Related Guides

Use the action and state verbs hub for the wider verb-form cluster, and the parallel structure guide when -ing forms and infinitives must match across a list.

Gerund and Infinitive Decision Map

Use this guide when the verb after another verb sounds wrong: enjoy doing, decide to do, avoid doing, hope to do. The issue is usually the controlling verb, not the meaning of the second verb by itself.

It helps English learners, editors, and workplace writers fix sentences where grammar is correct only with one verb pattern.

Verb pattern memory

Group verbs by the form they require: enjoy/avoid/consider + -ing, decide/hope/plan + to + verb.

Meaning change

Watch pairs such as stop doing and stop to do, where both are grammatical but the meaning changes.

Tense connection

Use action and state verbs when the sentence also has a tense or aspect problem.

Related Articles

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Both exact tested sentences returned no issues. Verify the controlling verb and intended meaning manually, then use the checker for the rest of the sentence.

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