Understanding the difference between gerunds and infinitives is one of the most practical grammar skills you can develop in English. Knowing which form follows a verb determines whether your sentence sounds natural or not, and in some cases, it even changes the meaning entirely.
How do gerunds and infinitives work after verbs?
A gerund is the -ing form of a verb used as a noun, while an infinitive is the base form of a verb preceded by to. The key challenge is that certain verbs in English are always followed by one or the other.
For example, the verb decided is always followed by an infinitive [1:42]:
- They decided to try the new Japanese restaurant.
- They asked a friend to accompany them.
On the other hand, verbs like recommend and enjoy are always followed by gerunds [2:12]:
- They recommend visiting Mighty Joes and eating there with friends or family.
- They enjoyed tasting the ramen of the day.
There is no shortcut here. Memorization and practice are essential to learning which verbs take gerunds and which take infinitives.
Can you use either a gerund or an infinitive after the same verb?
In some cases, yes. Certain verbs accept both forms without changing the meaning of the sentence [2:48]:
- They like to watch movies at the cinema.
- They like watching movies at the cinema.
Both sentences communicate exactly the same idea. The same applies to continue:
- We continue seeing an increase in students.
- We continue to see an increase in students.
What happens when the meaning changes?
In a few specific cases, choosing a gerund or an infinitive does change the meaning [3:20]. Two important verbs to watch for are remember and stop.
With remember:
- They remembered to go to the party — they remembered that they needed to go (a task ahead).
- They remembered going to the party — they recalled it as a past experience (a memory).
With stop [3:52]:
- We stopped seeing the statues in the park — the action of seeing no longer occurs.
- We stopped to see the statues in the park — we interrupted what we were doing in order to look at the statues.
Notice how the infinitive after stop indicates purpose (we stopped in order to do something), while the gerund indicates that the activity itself ceased.
How can you practice choosing the correct form?
Putting this knowledge into action is straightforward once you try a few examples [4:20]:
- They stopped to review the report before answering the client. (They interrupted an activity to review.)
- We decided to travel in the summer. (Decided is always followed by an infinitive.)
- They plan to buy a new car. (Plan is always followed by an infinitive.)
Here are some quick tips to reinforce your learning:
- Group verbs by category: keep a personal list of verbs that take gerunds (enjoy, recommend, suggest, avoid) and verbs that take infinitives (decide, plan, want, ask).
- Pay attention to context: with verbs like remember and stop, ask yourself whether you mean a purpose or a past experience.
- Practice with real sentences: write your own examples using each verb to build muscle memory.
The more you expose yourself to these patterns through reading, listening, and writing, the more natural the correct choice will feel. Try creating sentences with verbs from both lists and share them to test your understanding.
