INFINITIVE VS. –ING FORMS
INFINITIVE
 To
express purpose:
She went to the bank to get money.
INFINITIVE
 After
certain verbs: advise, agree, decide,
hope, promise, refuse, seem, want etc.
She decided to wait for a better offer.
INFINITIVE
 After
verbs like know, decide, ask, learn,
remember followed by WH- words:
I can’t decide where to go on holiday.
INFINITIVE
 After
adjectives like: sorry, happy, glad,
afraid, ashamed etc.
She was glad to be back.
INFINITIVE
 After
too and enough:
She is too sad to talk right now.
She was frightened enough to keep silent.
-ING FORM
 As
a noun:
Swimming is a pleasant activity.
-ING FORM
 After
certain prepositions: with, without,
of
She left without saying a word.
-ING FORM
 After
certain verbs: consider, avoid, deny,
look forward to, involve, mention, risk,
mind, regret, admit, suggest, imagine etc.
They avoided speaking to each other all
day long.
-ING FORM
 After
go for activities:
They went camping.
-ING FORM
 After:
it’s no use, it’s (not) worth, it’s no
good, be busy, there’s no point in, can’t
help, can’t stand, be/get used to, have
difficulty in
I can’t stand waiting in a queue.
-ING FORM
 After:
like, love, enjoy, hate, dislike, prefer
etc
She likes going for long walks.
INFINITIVE OR -ING FORM?
a)
NO change in meaning
begin, start, continue, allow, permit,
recommend, need, require
They began to speak / speaking in a
lower voice.
They don’t allow parking / us to park
here.
INFINITIVE OR -ING FORM?
b) With a change in meaning


like + infinitive = preference
like+ -ing = enjoy
I like to keep my room clean.
I like swimming.
INFINITIVE OR -ING FORM?
stop + infinitive = cease an activity in
order to do something else
 stop + -ing = cease / interrupt an activity

They stopped to greet each other.
They stopped laughing because they were
too loud.
INFINITIVE OR -ING FORM?


try + infinitive =make an attempt
try + -ing = try as a solution
I tried to speak louder, but I failed.
I tried speaking English to him because
he didn’t understand my language.
INFINITIVE OR -ING FORM?
remember + infinitive = remember to do
an activity
 remember + -ing form = remember
already performing an activity

I must remember to water the plants.
Ok, I now remember watering the plants.
INFINITIVE OR -ING FORM?
forget + infinitive = not doing an activity
 forget + -ing = activity is done and
forgotten about

I forgot to tell her to water the plants.
I forgot telling her to water the plants, so
I did it again.
INFINITIVE OR -ING FORM?

hear / see / watch / listen + -ing =
witnessing a performing action
I heard him talking on the phone.

hear / see / watch / listen + infinitive=
witnessing the whole process
I heard him talk on the phone.