Welcome to Daily Tips on learning English. Today’s tip is on verbs which are followed by infinitives or gerunds.
Some verbs are followed by infinitives, such as “I plan to go”. “to go” is an infinitive. Some verbs are followed by gerunds, such as “I enjoy teaching English”. “teaching” is a gerund. You cannot say, “I plan going” or “I enjoy to teach English”. Most verbs are followed by either the infinitive or the gerund, and when you learn the verb, you must make sure to memorize which one is used since there is no rule to tell you.
There are only nine verbs which can be followed by either the gerund or the infinitive with no difference in meaning. These verbs are “begin”, “start”, “continue”, “like”, “love”, “hate”, “prefer”, “can’t stand” and “can’t bear”. These verbs can be followed by either the infinitive or the gerund with no difference in meaning. So “I like listening to the radio” and “I like to listen to the radio” both mean the same thing. There are also five verbs which can be followed by either an infinitive or a gerent but which have different meanings depending on whether you use the infinitive or the gerund. These verbs are “remember”, “forget”, “regret”, “try” and “stop”. Pay special attention when using these verbs, as the meaning of the sentence will change depending on which you choose.
This has been today’s daily tip on learning English. Tune in tomorrow for another tip.
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