Gerunds and infinitives are often taught as lists of verbs followed by -ing or to, but real mastery requires more than memorising which pattern follows enjoy, decide or avoid. English verb patterns encode relationships between actions, intentions, experiences, possibilities and viewpoints. In some cases, changing from a gerund to an infinitive changes the meaning of the sentence. In others, only one form is standard. Some verbs allow both with little difference, and some allow different complements depending on structure.
This SETC guide explains gerunds, to-infinitives, bare infinitives, participles, verb complements, meaning changes, prepositions, adjective patterns, noun patterns, passive forms, perfect forms and the high-frequency errors that affect school and academic writing. It is designed for Primary, PSLE, Secondary, SEC and advanced learners.
The central strategy is to learn patterns as meaning-bearing chunks. Do not learn avoid = avoiding as an isolated pair. Learn avoid doing something, decide to do something, look forward to doing something, make someone do something and allow someone to do something inside complete sentences.
What is a gerund?
A gerund is an -ing form functioning in a noun-like role. Swimming is useful exercise places swimming in subject position. Maren enjoys reading places reading as the complement of enjoys. Iona is interested in learning languages places learning after a preposition.
The -ing form can also be a present participle in progressive verb phrases or participial clauses: Leonie is reading; Walking home, Leonie noticed the rain. The form looks the same, but its grammatical job differs.
What is an infinitive?
An infinitive is the base form of a verb used in a non-finite construction. The to-infinitive includes to: to read, to write, to learn. The bare infinitive omits to: read, write, learn. English chooses between them according to the surrounding structure.
Non-finite means the infinitive itself does not show tense agreement like a finite verb. In She wants to leave, wants carries tense and agreement; to leave does not.
Gerunds as subjects
A gerund phrase can function as the subject: Reading widely builds vocabulary. Checking the evidence prevents careless claims. Revising regularly is more effective than cramming once.
To-infinitives can also function as subjects: To question evidence is important. However, formal and everyday English often prefers an extraposed structure with dummy it: It is important to question evidence.
Gerunds after certain verbs
Many common verbs are followed by an -ing complement: enjoy, avoid, consider, suggest, finish, keep, mind, practise, admit, deny, imagine, risk and postpone. Examples: Maren enjoys reading. Iona avoided guessing. Leonie considered changing the introduction.
The pattern belongs to the verb’s grammar. Using to after these verbs can produce non-standard combinations such as avoid to guess or suggest to change in ordinary English.
Infinitives after certain verbs
Many verbs are followed by a to-infinitive: decide, hope, plan, want, need, promise, agree, refuse, learn, manage, attempt, expect and choose. Examples: Maren decided to revise. Iona hopes to improve. Leonie managed to finish.
Again, the pattern is lexical grammar. A learner should store decide to do, not simply decide as a bare vocabulary item.
Verb + object + to-infinitive
Some verbs commonly take an object before the infinitive: ask someone to do, tell someone to do, want someone to do, advise someone to do, allow someone to do, encourage someone to do, remind someone to do. Example: The tutor encouraged Maren to explain her reasoning.
Omitting the object can change meaning or produce an incomplete pattern. Compare I advised leaving early with I advised them to leave early. Both are possible, but the structures differ.
Bare infinitives after modal verbs
Modal verbs such as can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will and would are normally followed by the bare infinitive: can read, should revise, might change, must finish. Do not write should to revise or can reads.
The modal carries much of the grammatical meaning, while the following lexical verb remains in base form.
Bare infinitives after make and let
Make and let commonly take object + bare infinitive in active constructions: The teacher made us rewrite the paragraph. The tutor let Iona try again. The verb after the object does not take to.
In passive constructions, make changes: We were made to rewrite the paragraph. English verb patterns can therefore depend on voice.
Help with or without to
Help can be followed by a bare infinitive or a to-infinitive in many contexts: This guide helps students understand the pattern. This guide helps students to understand the pattern. Both are standard.
The bare form is common in modern usage, but style and rhythm can influence choice.
Gerunds after prepositions
After an ordinary preposition, English normally uses an -ing form rather than a to-infinitive: after finishing, before leaving, by practising, without checking, interested in learning, good at explaining. This is one of the most reliable patterns in the system.
The difficulty is that to can be either an infinitive marker or a preposition. The grammar depends on which to is present.
To as a preposition
In look forward to, be used to, object to, contribute to and be committed to, to is a preposition. Therefore an -ing form can follow: I look forward to meeting you. She is used to working late. They objected to changing the rule.
Learners who assume every to must introduce an infinitive often write look forward to meet. Learn the whole expression and ask whether to belongs to the preceding phrase.
Used to do versus be used to doing
Used to + bare infinitive describes a past habit or state that is no longer current: I used to walk to school. Be used to + noun or -ing means be accustomed to: I am used to walking long distances.
Get used to has the same prepositional to pattern: Leonie is getting used to working under time pressure.
Stop doing versus stop to do
Stop doing means cease the activity: Maren stopped talking. Stop to do means pause one activity in order to perform another: Maren stopped to answer the question.
The form changes the relationship between the two actions, so this is a meaning distinction, not arbitrary grammar.
Remember doing versus remember to do
Remember doing refers to memory of an earlier event: I remember meeting the teacher. Remember to do refers to not forgetting a future or intended action: Remember to submit the form.
Forget works similarly in many contexts: I will never forget meeting them; do not forget to submit the form.
Try doing versus try to do
Try doing suggests experimenting with a method to see what happens: If you cannot focus, try working in shorter blocks. Try to do emphasises effort or attempt: I tried to finish before six.
Both can be correct, but they answer different questions: What method should I experiment with? versus What action did I attempt?
Regret doing versus regret to do
Regret doing expresses sadness about an action or event: I regret speaking too quickly. Regret to do appears in formal announcements when the regrettable act is the communication itself: We regret to inform you that the event has been cancelled.
The infinitive pattern is narrower and often formal.
Mean doing versus mean to do
Mean doing means involve or entail: Improving quickly means practising regularly. Mean to do means intend: I meant to call you yesterday.
The surface verb is identical, but the complement pattern selects a different sense.
Go on doing versus go on to do
Go on doing means continue the same activity: She went on explaining. Go on to do means proceed to a new activity: She explained the first concept and went on to discuss the second.
This distinction is useful in narrative and academic sequencing.
Need doing
In British English and related varieties, need + -ing can have a passive meaning: The report needs editing means the report needs to be edited. The car needs washing means the car needs to be washed.
Learners should recognise this pattern even if they prefer the full passive infinitive in their own writing.
Like, love, hate and prefer
Verbs such as like, love, hate and prefer can often take both gerunds and to-infinitives. Differences can be subtle and vary by context. I like reading emphasises the activity generally. I like to read before bed can sound more like a habit or chosen practice.
Do not exaggerate tiny distinctions into absolute rules. Corpus examples and context are useful.
Begin, start and continue
Begin, start and continue can usually take either form with little difference: It started raining / It started to rain. She continued working / She continued to work.
Specific stylistic and structural preferences can appear, but learners can safely recognise both as common.
Prefer doing to doing
A common comparative pattern is prefer doing X to doing Y: I prefer reading to watching television. Here to is a preposition in the comparison structure, so the second activity takes -ing.
Another pattern is prefer to do X rather than do Y: I prefer to read rather than watch television. The structures should not be mixed carelessly.
Would like, would love and would prefer
Would like, would love and would prefer commonly take a to-infinitive: I would like to ask a question. Leonie would prefer to revise alone. This differs from ordinary like + -ing for general enjoyment.
The modal-like would changes the construction.
Adjective + to-infinitive
Many adjectives are followed by a to-infinitive: happy to help, ready to begin, difficult to explain, eager to learn, likely to change. Example: The final question was difficult to interpret.
Some adjective patterns also require prepositions before -ing: interested in learning, responsible for checking, capable of explaining.
Noun + to-infinitive
Nouns can be followed by to-infinitives that express purpose, opportunity or action: a chance to improve, a decision to leave, an attempt to explain, the ability to adapt, a plan to revise.
Learning these noun patterns supports formal writing because nominal vocabulary often controls the same complement system as related verbs.
Purpose infinitives
The to-infinitive commonly expresses purpose: I went to the library to study. Leonie paused to check the question. Maren opened the file to verify the data.
To make purpose explicit, writers can use in order to or so as to in formal contexts, though ordinary to is usually sufficient.
Too and enough
English uses to-infinitives after too + adjective and adjective + enough: too tired to continue, clear enough to understand, strong enough to support the claim.
These patterns express a relationship between degree and possibility.
Question word + infinitive
Question words can introduce infinitive clauses: what to do, how to begin, where to look, when to stop, which option to choose. Example: Iona was unsure how to structure the answer.
Why is different in common use: Why wait? uses a bare infinitive.
Passive infinitives
The infinitive can be passive: to be completed, to be checked, to be revised. The report needs to be checked. The students expect the results to be announced tomorrow.
The passive shifts attention from the doer to the receiver of the action.
Perfect infinitives
Perfect infinitives use to have + past participle: She seems to have finished. He is believed to have left earlier. The form places the non-finite event before the time of the finite verb.
Advanced writing uses these structures for reporting, inference and time relationships.
Perfect gerunds
Gerunds can also have perfect forms: having completed the task, having seen the evidence. Example: Leonie admitted having overlooked the final instruction.
The ordinary gerund often works where the time relationship is clear, but the perfect form can make sequence explicit.
Passive gerunds
Gerunds can be passive: being watched, being corrected, being interrupted. Maren disliked being interrupted. Iona appreciated being given more time.
These structures are common in natural English and should be recognised as part of the wider non-finite system.
Possessives before gerunds
Formal grammar may distinguish I appreciate your helping me from I appreciate you helping me. The possessive your treats helping more noun-like; the object form you is also common in modern English.
Style and formality affect preference. Learners should recognise both rather than treating one as universally wrong.
Verb pattern and meaning
Verb patterns are not decorative syntax. They can identify which sense of a verb is active. Remember, stop, try, mean and regret demonstrate this clearly. Vocabulary knowledge should therefore include grammar.
A learner who knows the dictionary definition of mean but not mean doing versus mean to do does not yet control the word fully.
Common learner errors
- enjoy to read → enjoy reading
- decide going → decide to go
- avoid to guess → avoid guessing
- look forward to meet → look forward to meeting
- should to revise → should revise
- made me to rewrite → made me rewrite
- allowed me rewrite → allowed me to rewrite
- interested to learn, where interested in learning is normally intended
- remember doing the form tomorrow, when remember to do is intended
- stopped to talk, when ceased talking is intended
A pattern-learning method
Record a new verb with its complement pattern and one meaningful sentence. Instead of write avoid — prevent, record avoid doing something: Avoid guessing when the passage provides evidence. Instead of decide — choose, record decide to do something: I decided to check the source.
Then add contrasts where meaning changes: stop doing / stop to do; remember doing / remember to do. Phrase-level memory is more useful than bare-word memory.
Worked example: stop
Leonie stopped revising means she ceased revision. Leonie stopped to revise means she interrupted another activity in order to revise. The same verb plus different complement creates different event structure.
Worked example: try
Try restarting the device suggests a possible solution. Try to restart the device suggests an attempt that may be difficult. Context determines which meaning is intended.
Worked example: remember
I remember locking the door reports a memory of a completed action. Remember to lock the door is an instruction not to forget a future action.
Worked example: used to
I used to study at night describes a former habit. I am used to studying at night means night study is familiar. I am getting used to studying at night means the adaptation is still happening.
Primary and PSLE application
Primary learners should first meet high-frequency patterns inside meaningful sentences: like reading, want to play, can swim, good at drawing. Avoid overwhelming them with terminology before the patterns are secure.
PSLE grammar and composition benefit from accurate complement patterns. Students can build verb-pattern notebooks around the words they actually use in writing.
Secondary and SEC application
Secondary writing uses a wider range of reporting, stance and academic verbs: suggest doing, recommend doing, decide to, attempt to, encourage someone to, prevent someone from doing. These patterns are frequent sources of editing errors.
Teach related forms together: suggestion to improve / suggest improving; decision to change / decide to change; ability to analyse / able to analyse.
Advanced academic writing
Academic verbs carry colligation: contribute to understanding, result in changing, lead to increased participation, aim to examine, avoid assuming, suggest revising. Correct grammar depends on knowing what structures a word permits.
Corpora and learner dictionaries are valuable because they show authentic complement patterns and frequency.
Editing by complement trigger
During revision, circle verbs that often control complements: enjoy, avoid, decide, want, suggest, recommend, allow, make, let, remember, try, stop, mean, regret. Check the form immediately after each trigger.
Then scan prepositions. If a verb follows a preposition, an -ing form is usually required.
A diagnostic practice set
- Maren enjoys to read before class.
- Iona decided revising the paragraph.
- Leonie is interested in learning linguistics.
- We look forward to hear from you.
- The tutor made us to explain our answers.
- The tutor allowed us explain our answers.
- Remember submitting the form tomorrow.
- I remember meeting her last year.
- Try working in shorter intervals.
- I tried to finish before the deadline.
Suggested repairs: enjoys reading; decided to revise; no change; look forward to hearing; made us explain; allowed us to explain; remember to submit; no change; no change for experimenting with a method; no change for attempted completion.
A paragraph editing challenge
Draft: Maren decided revising earlier because she wanted improving her accuracy. She looked forward to see whether the new routine worked and asked Iona helping her. Iona suggested to use shorter practice blocks and reminded Maren checking her mistakes.
Revision: Maren decided to revise earlier because she wanted to improve her accuracy. She looked forward to seeing whether the new routine worked and asked Iona to help her. Iona suggested using shorter practice blocks and reminded Maren to check her mistakes.
How to practise for durable control
Group verbs by pattern, but then mix the groups so the learner must select rather than merely repeat. Use retrieval after delay. Ask for original sentences. Include meaning-change pairs. Finally, test the patterns in paragraph writing.
Interleaving is important because real writing does not announce which verb pattern is coming next.
Teacher diagnosis
If a learner chooses the wrong form, check whether they know the governing word’s pattern, recognise to as preposition versus infinitive marker, understand the intended meaning, or simply lose control under writing load.
Different errors need different practice. A long list will not solve a meaning distinction problem.
Frequently asked questions
Is every -ing form a gerund?
No. -ing forms can function as gerunds, participles in progressive verb phrases and participial clauses.
Is every to followed by an infinitive?
No. To can be a preposition, as in look forward to meeting and be used to working.
Can the same verb take both forms?
Yes. Some verbs allow both with little difference; others change meaning depending on the complement.
Why do I need to memorise patterns?
Because complement choice is partly lexical. Meaning principles help, but many verbs conventionally select particular constructions.
What is the fastest way to learn them?
Learn complete chunks with examples, contrast meaning-change pairs, retrieve after delay and use the patterns in original writing.
Does formal English prefer infinitives?
Not generally. Both gerunds and infinitives are essential. The correct choice depends on the construction.
Research and reference points
The treatment here aligns with standard descriptions from Cambridge Grammar and British Council LearnEnglish, which organise gerunds and infinitives around verb patterns, prepositions and meaning. SETC extends that material into a colligation, diagnosis and transfer framework.
Continue through SETC
Continue with English as Art: Infinitives, Gerunds and Participles, How to Learn Advanced Vocabulary: Colligation and Verb Patterns, English Grammar and Sentence Control and How English Works.
The mastery target is flexible pattern control: know what construction a word selects, understand when the choice changes meaning, and carry that knowledge into spontaneous reading, speaking and writing.
Verb patterns after reporting verbs
Reporting verbs are a rich source of gerund and infinitive patterns. Admit, deny and mention commonly take -ing or a that-clause: She admitted copying the figure; he denied changing the data. Promise and agree commonly take to-infinitives: She promised to revise the draft; they agreed to meet again. Warn, advise and remind can take object + to-infinitive: The tutor reminded Leonie to cite the source. Accuse uses a prepositional pattern: They accused him of copying.
These patterns matter in narrative, situational writing and academic summaries because students often paraphrase speech. Learning the reporting verb and its grammar together prevents forms such as suggested him to revise or accused him to copy.
Suggest, recommend and advise
Suggest commonly takes an -ing form or a that-clause: I suggest revising the introduction. I suggest that you revise the introduction. It does not normally take object + to-infinitive in standard English, so I suggest you to revise is non-standard. Recommend behaves similarly in many uses: We recommend checking the instructions; we recommend that students check the instructions.
Advise can take an -ing form when no person is named, or object + to-infinitive when a person is named: We advise checking the details. We advised the students to check the details. These contrasts are worth teaching together because their meanings overlap while their grammar differs.
Prevent, stop and discourage
Prevent and stop often use object + from + -ing: Clear instructions prevent students from misunderstanding the task. The rain stopped us from leaving. Discourage can also use from + -ing: The tutor discouraged Leonie from memorising model answers blindly. The preposition from requires the -ing form.
Compare stop someone from doing with stop doing and stop to do. One lexical item participates in several constructions, and each construction carries a different relationship among participants and actions.
Perception verbs and the bare infinitive
After perception verbs such as see, hear, watch, notice and feel, English can use object + bare infinitive or object + -ing with a difference in viewpoint. I saw Leonie cross the road presents the event as a complete whole. I saw Leonie crossing the road presents the action in progress or as an observed scene.
Both structures can be grammatical. The choice reflects how the event is viewed, which makes this an excellent example of grammar shaping meaning.
Have and get in causative patterns
Causative constructions add another layer. Have someone do something uses a bare infinitive: The teacher had the students rewrite the conclusion. Get someone to do something uses a to-infinitive: The teacher got the students to rewrite the conclusion. Have something done uses a past participle when arranging for an action to be performed: She had the report printed.
Students should learn the entire construction because changing one verb changes the complement pattern.
Infinitives after passive reporting structures
Formal English often uses passive reporting verbs with infinitives: The method is believed to improve retention. The students are expected to arrive early. The policy is reported to have reduced delays. These structures compress a source or belief into an impersonal form.
The perfect infinitive marks an earlier event: The policy is believed to have changed behaviour means the change happened before the current belief is being reported.
Gerunds after phrasal and prepositional verbs
Many multi-word verbs end in a preposition and therefore take -ing when followed by an action: succeed in solving, insist on checking, apologise for arriving, think about changing, give up trying, carry on working, end up choosing. The grammar follows the preposition even when the whole expression behaves like one lexical unit.
This is why vocabulary notebooks should record the whole phrase. Learn insist on doing, not insist alone; succeed in doing, not succeed alone.
Non-finite clauses and hidden subjects
Non-finite clauses often have an understood subject. In Walking home, Maren called Iona, the understood subject of walking is Maren because Maren is the subject of the main clause. In To improve, students need feedback, the understood subject of to improve is students. Good writers keep those relationships logical.
Problems arise with dangling structures: Walking home, the rain started. Grammatically, the sentence appears to make the rain the walker. Repair by naming the actor: Walking home, Maren noticed that the rain had started.
Verb patterns during paraphrase
Paraphrasing can break complement grammar. A source may say The author recommends checking the evidence. A student changes recommends to advises but leaves the structure as The author advises checking the evidence, which can be acceptable, or changes to reminds and writes The author reminds checking, which is incomplete because remind usually needs an object before the infinitive: The author reminds readers to check the evidence.
Every vocabulary substitution should therefore trigger a pattern check. Synonyms often differ in colligation even when their meanings overlap.
A verb-pattern contrast bank
- avoid doing / decide to do
- suggest doing / advise someone to do
- make someone do / allow someone to do
- prevent someone from doing / encourage someone to do
- remember doing / remember to do
- stop doing / stop to do
- try doing / try to do
- mean doing / mean to do
- go on doing / go on to do
- be used to doing / used to do
- look forward to doing / hope to do
- see someone do / see someone doing
Practise by explaining the meaning difference before producing a sentence. If the learner cannot explain the contrast, memorising the forms alone will not guarantee correct use.
Editing an extended paragraph
Draft: Iona suggested to check the source before to use it. Maren agreed checking the publication date and Leonie reminded them reading the methodology. They decided comparing the claim with another study and looked forward to find whether the results matched. The tutor made them to explain why each source was reliable.
Revision: Iona suggested checking the source before using it. Maren agreed to check the publication date, and Leonie reminded them to read the methodology. They decided to compare the claim with another study and looked forward to finding out whether the results matched. The tutor made them explain why each source was reliable. Each correction follows a different governing pattern.
A second diagnostic set
- She admitted to copy the answer.
- She admitted copying the answer.
- The tutor suggested us to revise earlier.
- The tutor suggested revising earlier.
- The tutor advised us to revise earlier.
- They prevented us to enter.
- They prevented us from entering.
- I saw Leonie cross the road.
- I saw Leonie crossing the road.
- The method is believed to have improved accuracy.
Items 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are standard patterns. Item 1 should normally use admitted copying or admitted that she had copied. Item 3 mixes suggest with an object-infinitive pattern; item 6 needs from + -ing. Items 8 and 9 are both correct but differ in viewpoint.
The transfer target
Mastery means the learner can encounter an unfamiliar verb, check its complement pattern, recognise whether to is infinitival or prepositional, distinguish meaning-change pairs, preserve grammar while paraphrasing, use non-finite clauses without dangling subjects and select accurate patterns during spontaneous writing. The aim is not a giant memorised list. It is a working system of lexical grammar.
Final self-check before submission
Before submitting a piece of writing, scan every high-risk complement trigger. After modals, check for a bare infinitive. After ordinary prepositions, check for an -ing form when a verb follows. After make and let, check the bare infinitive in active voice. After allow, encourage, remind and tell, check object + to-infinitive. After suggest and recommend, check whether the sentence uses an -ing form or an appropriate that-clause. Finally, inspect remember, stop, try, regret, mean and go on for possible meaning changes.
This focused scan is efficient because it targets predictable decision points rather than rereading every verb equally. Over time, repeated checking turns the patterns into automatic production. The strongest evidence of mastery is not perfect performance on a labelled worksheet but accurate verb-pattern choices while the writer’s attention is primarily on ideas, organisation and meaning.
Verb-pattern dictionary workflow
When a new verb appears, do not record only its definition. Check a reliable learner dictionary for the complement pattern and save one full example: admit doing, agree to do, remind someone to do, prevent someone from doing, succeed in doing. Then write a second sentence on a different topic. This two-sentence method separates recognition from productive control and makes later paraphrasing safer because the learner remembers the grammar attached to the word.
In formal emails and situational writing, these patterns also determine tone and accuracy: We look forward to hearing from you; We would like to request an extension; We recommend checking the attached document; Please remember to submit the form. Treating each expression as a complete grammatical unit helps the writer produce natural English under time pressure.