-Ing Form or
Infinitive
For
Bachillerato Students
According to Practical English Usage by Michael Swan
Non-personal Verb Forms
INFINITIVE
-ING FORM
PARTICIPLE
PRESENT
TO DO
DOING
DONE
PERFECT
TO HAVE
DONE
TO BE DONE
HAVING
DONE
BEING
DONE
____
PASSIVE
____
-Ing Form: subject, object or
complement of a preposition
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The -ing form often acts as a verb and a noun at
the same time. It can be followed by an object
(eg writing letters), but it can also itself be the
subject, object or complement of a sentence:
Writing letters takes a long time
I hate writing letters
I’m not used to writing letters
I learn vocabulary by writing it several times
-Ing Form after Verb
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When one verb is followed by another, the second verb is
sometimes in the –ing form. The most common are:
admit
appreciate
avoid
consider
contemplate
delay
deny
detest
dislike
endure
enjoy
escape
excuse
face
feel like
finish
forgive
give up
can’t help
imagine
involve
mention
mind
miss
postpone
practise
put off
resent
resist
risk
can’t stand
suggest
understand
-Ing Form after Verb
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Some examples of this are:
You could avoid sitting in traffic jams by leaving home
earlier.
I can’t help falling in love with you.
Please, take your time; I don’t mind waiting.
I need to do some studying. I won’t risk failing any
exams again.
I can’t stand queueing. It just gets on my nerves.
My friends suggested travelling to London for the
Easter holiday.
Infinitive
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An infinitive can also be the subject of a sentence,
especially in older English (eg “To err is human, to
forgive divine”).
In modern English, it is more common to begin the
sentence with “it” as preparatory subject and to put later,
after an adjective.( “It’s easy to make mistakes” rather
than “To make mistakes is easy”)
The combination adjective + infinitive can express
various meanings, depending on which adjective is used:
I was very pleased to see you yesterday
Relativity theory isn’t easy to understand.
Infinitive of purpose
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Infinitives can also be combined with nouns to
express what will be done with something (eg
Have you got a key to unlock the door?)
The infinitive with to is used to talk about
people’s purposes, the reason why they do
things.
I went to Brighton to learn English
In negative sentences, in order not to or so as
not to are used; the infinitive alone is usually
incorrect: I’m going now so as not to miss the
train.
Infinitive after Verb
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The most common verbs followed by an infinitive are:
afford
agree
appear
arrange
ask
attempt
bear
beg
begin
care
choose
consent
dare
decide
determine
expect
fail
forget
happen
hate
help
hesitate
hope
intend
learn
like
love
manage
mean
neglect
offer
prefer
prepare
pretend
promise
propose
refuse
regret
remember
seem
start
swear
trouble
try
want
wish
Infinitive after Verb
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Some examples of this are:
I can’t afford to buy that BMW.
Shall we arrange to meet at eight?
I chose to come to this school because I didn’t dare to
apply for the bilingual one.
I failed to ring him. I meant to do it yesterday but I
seem to have lost his phone number.
He promised to look after the dog but now he refuses
to take him for walks.
My mum started to learn to drive only last month, but
she doesn’t want to continue.
Verb + Object + Infinitive
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Some verbs are used with an object before and an infinitive (eg
She wants me to go shopping with her; not *…that I go…)
The most common verbs using this construction are:
advise
allow
ask
bear
beg
cause
command
encourage
expect
forbid
force
get
hate
help
instruct
intend
invite
leave
like
mean
need
oblige
order
permit
persuade
prefer
press
recommend
request
remind
teach
tell
tempt
trouble
urge
want
warn
wish
Verb + Object + Bare Infinitive
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Certain verbs are followed by an object and the infinitive without to
(bare infinitive). The most common are:
let
make
see
hear
help
feel
notice
watch
She lets her children stay up very late.
I made them give me the money back.
I did’t see you come in.
Can you help me finish my homework?
The verbs have and know can also form this construction on certain
occasions.
Have Mrs Hansen come in, please.
-Ing Form or Infinitive?
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Some verbs can be followed by either –ing or infinitive, usually with
a difference in meaning. The most important cases are:
advise
allow
attempt
can’t bear
begin
continue
forbid
forget
go on
hate
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hear
intend
like
love
permit
prefer
propose
regret
remember
see
Let us study a few of these differences
start
stop
try
watch
Remember, forget and regret
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The difference is connected with time.
When they are followed by the –ing form, they
refer to things that happened before the verb.
When they are followed by the infinitive they
refer to things that happen after the verb.
I will always remember meeting you for the first
time
I will always remember to buy you a birthday
present.
Stop and go on
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When they are followed by the –ing form, they refer to
things that are in progress.
When they are followed by the infinitive they refer to
things that will be started.
I must really stop smoking soon.
I must really stop to smoke a cigarette or else I’ll fall
asleep.
How long do you intend to go on watching TV?
He said hello and then went on to start work.
Like, love, hate and prefer
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They are mainly used followed by the –ing form,
especially in British English. However, they can
also be followed by the infinitive when they refer
to a specific occasion, in which case the action
seems like a good idea:
I like walking in the rain.
I like to walk after dinner so that I can get tired
before I go to sleep.
Allow, advise, forbid and permit
They don’t change their meaning. They
need to change the structure according to
whether they are followed by an object or
not.
 We don’t allow smoking in our house.
 We don’t allow people to smoke in our
house.
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Try
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It is followed by the infinitive when its meaning is
attempting to do something or to making an
effort:
I tried to learn Japanese but the pronunciation
was too difficult for me.
It is followed by the –ing form when the
meaning is making an experiment:
If you find Japanese difficult, you should try
using this speech trainer; you’ll be impressed!
Do you want some more?
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I could easily add more for you, but first,
you must learn all the information in these
interesting slides