Gerund and Infinitive

Choosing between the gerund and infinitive when they are the object of the sentence can cause a lot of difficulties for students of English.

If they are the object of the sentence, that means they come after the verb.

Make sure you look at the previous lessons on gerunds and infinitives to see which one to use after which verb.

As you will remember from those lessons, some verbs can only be followed by the gerund (not the infinitive) and some verbs can only be followed by the infinitive (not the gerund).

Here are some examples but go to the gerund and infinitive lessons for more examples:

Examples of verbs that are followed by a gerund

Examples of verbs that are followed by an infinitive

~~I kept to phone the office~~.

I kept phoning the office.

~~We appriate to hear from you~~.

We appreciate hearing from you.

~~He denies to take the phone~~.

He denies taking the phone.

~~They avoid to debate the subect~~.

They avoid debating the subject.

~~They agreed signing it~~.

They agreed to sign it.

~~He expected losing~~.

He expected to lose.

~~She managed getting a promotion~~.

She managed to get a promotion.

~~We pretended laughing~~.

We pretended to laugh.

Verbs followed by either infinitives or gerunds

However, in some cases you can use either the gerund or the infinitive. Here are some common verbs that can be followed by either:

VERB	EXAMPLE SENTENCE
attempt	I attempted to wake up early.
attempt	I attempted waking up early.
begin	I usually begin to feel tired at 10pm
begin	I usually begin feeling tired at 10pm
cease	The government ceased to talk about the war.
cease	The government ceased talking about the war.
continue	The police continued to harrass him.
continue	The police continued harrassing him.
hate	I hate to go to work.
hate	I hate going to work.
like	Most people like to travel abroad.
like	Most people like traveling abroad.
love	They love to eat at nice restaurants.
love	They love eating at nice restaurants.
prefer	The electorate prefers to vote in September.
prefer	The electorate prefers voting in September.
propose	I propose to delay the company merger until next year.
propose	I propose delaying the company merger until next year.
start	I will start to study next week.
start	I will start studying next week.
try	The children tried to reduce their intake of sugar.
try	The children tried reducing their intake of sugar.