Infinitive vs Gerund in English: Rules, Examples and Key Vocabulary

The Infinitive with To

The infinitive with to is used:

Express purpose

I went out to get some fresh air.

After some adjectives

It's not easy to find work...

After the verb to be, to give orders or to express obligation

You're to stay here until I get back. / The president is to visit...

After would hate / would like / would love / would prefer, with or without an object

Would you like me to do it now?

After the following verbs

agree, appear, arrange, ask, attempt, choose, decide, demand, deserve, expect, help, hesitate, hope, learn, manage, offer, prepare, pretend, refuse, seem, threaten

After verb + object

advise, allow, ask, challenge, enable, encourage, expect, force, get, help, intend, invite, order, persuade, recommend, remind, teach, tell, urge, warn

After nouns

ability, attempt, capacity, chance, decision, desire, determination, effort, failure, intention, need, opportunity, permission, plan, proposal, refusal, right, tendency, way, willingness

The Bare Infinitive (without to)

After modal verbs

I shouldn't eat this, really, but I can't resist it.

After the following verbs

had better, help, let, make, would rather / would sooner

In the passive

In the passive, make is followed by to.

The Gerund

The gerund is used:

As the subject, object or complement of a clause or sentence

Playing golf..., but I find watching it on...

After prepositions

We thought about going to...

After the following expressions

have difficulty / problems, there's no / little point, it's no good / no use, it's (not) worth

After the following verbs

admit, adore, advise, anticipate, appreciate, avoid, can't help, can't stand, consider, delay, deny, detest, dislike, dread, enjoy, feel like, give up, imagine, involve, keep, (don't) mind, miss, postpone, practise, prevent, propose, put off, recommend, resent, resist, risk, suggest

After verbs + prepositions

adapt / adjust to, admit to, confess to, get round to, get used to, look forward to, object to: She confessed to being surprised...

When the subjects of the main verb and the gerund are different

An object pronoun or a possessive is used: I couldn't imagine him eating...

Gerund and infinitive with to (no change in meaning)

begin, can't bear, continue, hate, intend, like, love, prefer, start: She suddenly started singing / to sing.

Gerund and Infinitive: Change in Meaning

Forget / Remember

Infinitive (future): Don't forget to take your keys.
Gerund (past): I'll never forget meeting you.

Mean

Infinitive (intend to): I mean to help you.
Gerund (imply): The exam is... this means hurrying up with your studying.

Try

Infinitive (make an effort): I tried to contact him.
Gerund (experiment): Have you tried working out more?

Stop

Infinitive (momentary action): She was reading and stopped to have a snack.
Gerund (quitting): I stopped smoking three years ago.

Regret

Gerund (past): I regret having / hurting...
Infinitive (formal situations): I regret to tell you your husband has passed away.

Need

Gerund (passive): These brakes need repairing (to be repaired).
Infinitive (active, modal sense): I need to talk...

Ellipsis

After but and and

Ellipsis occurs after these conjunctions.

Main verb omitted after an auxiliary verb

She said she would phone, but she hasn't.

Avoiding repetition of a full infinitive with to

I don't eat much cheese now, but I used to.

Vocabulary: Body Idioms

• Being given the cold shoulder (ignored)
• Keep their ear to the ground (be well informed)
• Turn a blind eye to (pretend not to see)
• Pointing the finger (accuse)
• Getting out of hand (become uncontrolled)
• Talking about someone behind their back (without their knowledge)

Vocabulary: Time

• In the time available
• Take time off work
• Time is against you
• Pressed for time
• Make time for ourselves
• Free up time for
• Set aside enough time

Punctuation Marks

• ! Exclamation mark
• ? Question mark
• . Full stop
• , Comma
• ; Semicolon
• : Colon
• ' Apostrophe
• - Dash
• [ ] Square brackets
• ( ) Brackets
• @ Underscore