Gerund vs Infinitive Choices | English Grammar Guide for French Students

• 1 Gerunds end in -ing and function as nouns
• 2 Infinitives start with "to" followed by base verb
• 3 Some verbs take only gerunds
• 4 Some verbs take only infinitives
• 5 Some verbs can take both with different meanings

1 Enjoy: "I enjoy reading novels"
2 Love: "She loves dancing"
3 Hate: "He hates waiting in lines"
4 Like: "They like playing football"
5 Adore: "We adore traveling"

1 Avoid: "Try to avoid making mistakes"
2 Finish: "Have you finished writing the report?"
3 Consider: "I'm considering moving to London"
4 Suggest: "She suggested going to the museum"
5 Mind: "Do you mind helping me?"

1 Decide: "I decided to go to the cinema"
2 Plan: "They planned to visit Paris"
3 Want: "She wants to learn French"
4 Hope: "I hope to succeed"
5 Promise: "He promised to help us"

1 Refuse: "She refused to answer the question"
2 Offer: "They offered to pay for the meal"
3 Agree: "We agreed to meet tomorrow"
4 Attempt: "He attempted to solve the puzzle"
5 Fail: "They failed to complete the project"

1 Start: "I started to read" OR "I started reading"
2 Begin: "She began to cry" OR "She began crying"
3 Continue: "He continued to work" OR "He continued working"
4 Like: "I like to swim" OR "I like swimming"
5 Love: "She loves to dance" OR "She loves dancing"

1 Remember: "I remember to do it" (remember to do in future) vs "I remember doing it" (remember past action)
2 Forget: "I forgot to do it" (forgot to do) vs "I forgot doing it" (forgot past action)
3 Stop: "I stopped to smoke" (stopped in order to smoke) vs "I stopped smoking" (quit smoking)
4 Try: "I tried to open it" (attempted) vs "I tried opening it" (experimented)
5 Mean: "I mean to help" (intend) vs "That means accepting responsibility" (implies)

Pattern Type	Verbs	Example	Meaning
Gerund only	enjoy, avoid, finish, suggest, mind	"I enjoy reading"	Present/habitual action
Infinitive only	decide, plan, promise, refuse, attempt	"I decided to go"	Future intention
Both (similar meaning)	start, begin, continue, like, love	"I started to read/reading"	Beginning of action
Both (different meaning)	remember, forget, stop, try, mean	"Remember to do" vs "Remember doing"	Different timing/aspect

1 Look forward to: Always takes gerund: "I look forward to seeing you"
2 Put off: Takes gerund: "I put off calling him"
3 Give up: Takes gerund: "She gave up smoking"
4 Carry on: Takes gerund: "He carried on working"
5 Go on: Can take both: "He went on to win" (continued to win) or "He went on talking" (continued talking)

1 Perfect infinitive: "I expected to have finished"
2 Perfect gerund: "I regret having said that"
3 Passive infinitive: "I want to be invited"
4 Passive gerund: "I don't mind being criticized"
5 Progressive infinitive: "I seem to be learning quickly"

• 1 Using gerund after verbs that require infinitive: "I decided going" (incorrect)
• 2 Using infinitive after verbs that require gerund: "I enjoy to swim" (incorrect)
• 3 Not recognizing when meaning changes: "I stopped to smoke" vs "I stopped smoking"
• 4 Confusing similar verbs with different patterns
• 5 Forgetting that some verbs can take both forms with different meanings

1 ✓ Correct: "I decided to go"
2 ✗ Incorrect: "I decided going"
3 ✓ Correct: "I enjoy swimming"
4 ✗ Incorrect: "I enjoy to swim"
5 ✓ Correct: "I remember to call her" (remember to do in future)
6 ✓ Correct: "I remember calling her" (remember past action)

1. I enjoy _______ (to read/read/reading) novels.

2. She avoids _______ (to eat/eating/eat) spicy food.

3. We finished _______ (to clean/cleaning/clean) the house.

4. He suggested _______ (to go/going/go) to the park.

5. Do you mind _______ (to help/helping/help) me?

6. They decided _______ (to leave/leaving/leave) early.

7. She promised _______ (to help/helping/help) with the project.

8. I want _______ (to learn/learning/learn) French.

9. He refused _______ (to answer/answering/answer) the question.

10. We plan _______ (to visit/visiting/visit) London.

11. I remember _______ (to lock/locking) the door before I left.

12. Don't forget _______ (to turn/turning) off the lights.

13. He stopped _______ (to smoke/smoking) for health reasons.

14. I tried _______ (to open/opening) the door with a key.

15. She remembered _______ (to call/calling) her grandmother.

1 English: Uses specific patterns for gerund vs infinitive after verbs
2 French: Generally uses infinitive after most verbs (je veux partir, j'aime partir)
3 English: Distinction between "remember to do" and "remember doing"
4 French: Uses "se souvenir de" + infinitive for both concepts
5 English: Some verbs require memorization of pattern
6 French: More predictable verb + infinitive patterns

• 1 English has more complex patterns than French for verb + verb combinations
• 2 Pay attention to meaning changes with different forms
• 3 Some French verbs that use infinitive require gerund in English
• 4 Practice memorizing patterns for each specific English verb
• 5 Note that "aimer" can take both in French but requires gerund in English

1 Group by meaning: Experience verbs (gerund), decision verbs (infinitive)
2 Remember patterns: "Enjoy doing" but "Decide to do"
3 Think of time: Gerunds for past/habitual, infinitives for future intentions
4 Practice with real examples: Use verbs in actual sentences daily
5 Create flashcards: Verb + pattern + example sentences

• 1 Practice with real conversation scenarios
• 2 Read English texts to see natural usage patterns
• 3 Focus on verbs that change meaning with different forms
• 4 Use spaced repetition for memorization
• 5 Practice with both positive and negative sentences

• Some verbs take only gerunds (enjoy, avoid, finish)
• Some verbs take only infinitives (decide, plan, promise)
• Some verbs take both with similar meanings (start, begin)
• Some verbs take both with different meanings (remember, stop, try)
• Patterns must be memorized for each specific verb
• Context and meaning often determine the choice

Remember: Experience verbs take gerunds, decision verbs take infinitives!

• Start with the most common verbs in each category
• Focus on meaning differences first
• Practice with real-life examples
• Pay special attention to verbs that change meaning