Grammar

Gerunds and infinitives

450 fill-in-the-gap exercises in 1 form

When one verb follows another, the second one changes shape. Which shape depends on the first verb, and the lists have to be learned.

Pick a form to practice

The problem in one sentence

English has no rule that tells you whether to write enjoy swimming or enjoy to swim. The first verb decides, and the lists have to be learned. The good news is that they are short and the patterns behind them are real.

Verbs followed by -ing

Roughly: things you are already doing, or have stopped, or feel about.

enjoy, avoid, finish, mind, suggest, practice, imagine, consider, admit, deny, miss, postpone, delay, keep, give up, put off, dislike, can’t stand, risk

She admitted taking the money. They kept walking.

Verbs followed by to

Roughly: things that are still ahead — plans, hopes, decisions, promises.

decide, hope, want, plan, agree, promise, refuse, manage, offer, learn, choose, expect, arrange, intend, prepare, afford, pretend, seem, fail, deserve

He promised to call. We managed to finish.

After a preposition, always -ing

This rule has no exceptions, and it is the most reliable thing on the page:

good at cooking, interested in learning, instead of waiting, before leaving, without saying a word, thank you for helping

The trap is to, which is sometimes a preposition rather than part of an infinitive:

I look forward to hearing from you. — to here is a preposition, so -ing is correct.

Same with be used to: I’m used to getting up early.

Verbs that take both, with the same meaning

begin, start, continue, like, love, hate, prefer — either form works and nobody will notice:

It started raining / It started to rain.

Verbs that take both, with different meanings

These matter, because choosing wrong changes what you said:

• remember to post it — do not forget. / remember posting it — you have a memory of it.
• stop to smoke — pause in order to smoke. / stop smoking — give it up.
• try to open it — attempt something difficult. / try opening it — experiment with a method.
• forget to lock it — you did not lock it. / forget locking it — you locked it but do not recall.
• go on to explain — move to a new point. / go on explaining — carry on with the same one.

make, let and help

These take the plain verb, with no to:

He made me wait. She let him go. They helped us carry it.

Help also allows to: helped us to carry it is equally correct.

Note that in the passive, make takes to back: I was made to wait.

All forms

Mistakes to avoid