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Dear friends, I have been asked more than once to write a blog about the gerund and the infinitive. You know there are some verbs and adjectives followed by the gerund as well as the verbs and adjectives followed by the infinitive only. But the problem is that the lists from different sources are not exactly the same. So, I decided to choose the lists from the TOEFL Preparation Guide.

Some verbs can be followed either by the gerund or by the infinitive with no change in meaning:

to begin

can’t stand

to continue

to dread

to hate

to like

to love

to prefer

to start

However, in some cases the gerund or the infinitive after the verb changes meaning of the sentence. I have told you about TO TRY, TO BE SORRY followed by the gerund and the infinitive. Sure, it is impossible to tell about all such cases. But let me tell you the following and it is very important thing to realize. The gerund defines a progressive action while the infinitive defines a purpose.

Let’s consider a few examples.

1.I forgot calling her yesterday. It means that I called her yesterday but I have forgotten about it later.

I forgot to call her yesterday. It means that I didn’t call her yesterday.

2. He stopped looking around. It means the man was looking around all the time and at last stopped doing it.

He stopped to look around. It means he stopped walking (or doing something) in order to look around.

3. Remember to lock the door before leaving. This sentence sounds like a reminder. I am still at home only going to leave.

I don’t remember locking the door. It means I have already left and now I am not sure of having locked it.

Now, if you attentively read the lists of the verbs/adjectives followed by the gerund, you will see that most of them relate to either some past events (recall, forgive, confess, admit and many others) or to the events taking place at the moment or in the past (enjoy, avoid, etc.) But if you attentively read the list of the verbs followed by the infinitive, you will easily see that most of them mean the future or present events.

I'd also like to add that the verbs followed by the gerund can be also followed by the noun or a pronoun, but they are not followed by the clause. For example, we can say

I enjoyed traveling over the Europe (gerund).

I enjoyed my trip (noun).

But we can't say

I enjoyed that I traveled (clause).

So, here are the lists.

These verbs are directly followed by the gerund.

to admit

to appreciate

to avoid

can't help

to consider (in the active voice)

to deny        

to delay

to detest

to finish

to enjoy         

to mind

to need (thing as a subject)

to miss

to postpone   

to practice

to quit

to resent

to regret

to risk

to recall

to resume

to resist

to suggest

to want (thing as a subject)

The next list is the verbs followed by the preposition and the gerund.

to apologize for

to accuse of

to approve of

to count on

to complain of

to confess to  

to congratulate on

to dream of

to depend on 

to decide against

to excuse ( for)

to feel like     

to forgive (for)

to give up

to go on

to insist on

to keep on

to look forward to

to look like    

to object to

to put off

to prevent from

to rely on

to refrain from

to save from

to succeed in

to stop from

to suspect of

to thank for

to think about

to think of     

to warn against

to worry about

Here is one more list, the adjectives followed by the preposition and the gerund.

to be fond of

to be proud of

to be sure of  

to be experienced in 

to be tired of 

to be ashamed of      

to be afraid of           

to be good at 

to be bad at   

to be famous for

to be (get)  accustomed to

to be (get) used to

to be better off

to be intent on

to be capable of

to be successful in

Here are also some nouns followed by the preposition and the gerund.

choice of

excuse for

intention of

method for/of

possibility of

reason for

Now, here are the verbs followed only by the infinitive.

         to agree

         to appear

         to attempt

         to claim

         to decide

         to desire

         to demand

         to fail

         to intend

         to hesitate

         to hope         

         to learn (how)

         to need (with a living subject)

         to offer

         to plan

         to prepare

         to pretend

         to refuse

         to seem

         to strive

         to tend

         to want (with a living subject)

         to wish

        These adjectives are also followed by the infinitive.

           to be anxious

           to be eager

           to be pleased

           to be unusual

           to be boring

           to be easy

           to be prepared

           to be common

           to be dangerous

           to be ready

           to be difficult

           to be hard

           to be strange

           to be able

I know my explanations are not enough for you to feel the difference between the gerund and the infinitive. So, I propose you to write your sentences or some short stories using the verbs from all the lists. Of course, you can ask me your questions.

I hope this blog to be useful for all learners.

Thanks for your attention!