Verb Patterns -ing and to-infinitives

Verb Patterns -ing and to-infinitives

• Verb + -ing form: This pattern often expresses general actions, habitual actions, or actions in progress.

  • Example: I enjoy listening to music. (general action)
  • Example: He is working on a project. (action in progress)

• Different meanings expressed with -ing form:

  • Action following the main verb: I saw him leaving the house.
  • Feelings or emotions: I felt like going to the beach.
  • A desire or intention: She stopped working to look after her children.
  • Purpose or reason: I went to the library to study.

• Verb + to-infinitive: This pattern often expresses purpose, intention, obligation, or suggestion.

  • Example: She decided to go to the party. (intention)
  • Example: It was important to respond quickly. (obligation)
  • Example: They need to fix the roof. (necessity/obligation)

• Differences in meaning:

  • Purpose/reason: Using to-infinitive often explains the reason or purpose for an action. Example: He went to the bank to withdraw some money.
  • Result/consequence: To-infinitive can describe the result or consequence of an action. Example: She's too tired to work tonight.
  • Obligation/necessity: Expressing an obligation, a to-infinitive construction might be used. Example: It's necessary for you to study hard to pass the exam.

• Verbs followed by -ing:

  • Verbs expressing enjoyment, liking, disliking, loving, etc.: I adore hiking in the mountains.
  • Verbs expressing experience, perception, observation: They heard him singing. I saw her entering the building.
  • Verbs expressing an activity in progress: I'm still waiting to hear from them.
  • Verbs expressing the result of some phenomenon: I find it hard to focus when I am hungry.

• Verbs followed by to-infinitive:

  • Verbs expressing intention/decision: I intend to study abroad.
  • Verbs expressing obligation/necessity: We need to finish this project by Friday.
  • Verbs expressing feeling/perception: I felt like going to the cinema.

• Verbs taking both -ing and to-infinitive with different meanings:

  • Example: I started playing the piano. (began the action) I started to play the piano. (taking up the instrument – the purpose).
  • Example: I stopped writing a letter. (ceased the action) I stopped to write a letter. (paused from an activity to do the next one)

• Verbs followed by both -ing and to-infinitive with the same meaning:

  • Example: remember. I remember playing tennis as a child. I remember to call my mother.
  • Example: regret. I regret paying so much for the dress. or I regret to inform you.

• Verbs requiring a particular structure dependent on the context

  • Remember/Forget + to-infinitive (to specify an action that was planned) & Remember/forget+ -ing (to specify an action that happened):
    • I remember to post the letters. (I had planned to do this)
    • I remember posting the letters. (I was reminded by the action itself)

• Verbs followed by an object + -ing:

  • Example: They encourage her working hard.
  • Example: It requires a lot of patience preparing for this marathon.

• Key considerations:

  • The specific context often determines whether -ing or to-infinitive is used after a verb.
  • Pay close attention to the nuance and meaning conveyed by each verb pattern.
  • Practice identifying and using these patterns correctly to improve your fluency and accuracy.

Specific Verbs and Patterns

• Note: This is not an exhaustive list.

• Verbs often followed by -ing:

  • continue, enjoy, hate, like, love, prefer, start, stop, suggest, risk, avoid, keep, postpone, finish, understand, admit, mind, appreciate, consider, postpone, imagine, and others

• Verbs often followed by to-infinitive:

  • agree, decide, expect, hope, learn, manage, offer, plan, pretend, promise, seem, want, need, want, and others

• Verbs that can be followed by either -ing or to-infinitive with different meanings:

  • begin, continue, forget, go on, intend, like, love, need, prefer, remember, regret, start, stop, try, and others.