GERUND/ INFINITIVE/ BARE INFINITIVE 1. Leila stopped to say hello to her friends.

/ Leila stopped saying hello to her friends. (Leila was walking around or riding a bike when she saw her friends and stopped to greet them. Leila used to say "Hello!" to her friends, but now she stopped doing that. She no longer greets them because of something. It could be a quarrel or whatever. That's none our business) 2. He remembered telling her the news. 3. He remembered to tell her the news. 4. I tried to tell her the news, but she refused to listen. 5. I tried telling her but in vain. When you come to the crossroads - stop there. Remember to stop at the crossroads. Remember crossroads. stopping at the

I was talking to Marc. But when my boyfriend came in, I could not talk to Marc anymore. I stopped to talk to him. I stopped talking to him.

I wanted to write a letter, but I didn't know what to write. (So in the end, I didn't write one.) I tried to write a letter. I tried writing a letter.

I am sorry now for something I said earlier on. I regret to say this. I regret saying this.

She read the text. Then she stopped. Now I want her to continue with the text. Go on to read. Go on reading.

You think your computer does not work, but you just haven't switched on the monitor yet. Your computer does not work? Try to switch on the monitor. Your computer does not work? Try switching on the monitor.

The joke was so funny, that he burst out in laughter. He started to laugh. He started laughing.

Yesterday I remembered that last year I got sick on your carpet. I remembered to get sick on your carpet. I remembered getting sick on your carpet.

Gerund or Infinitive?
Verbs where there is a clear difference in meaning: Verbs marked with an asterisk* can also be followed by a that-clause. forget* go on Forget, regret and remember regret* remember* stop try

When these verbs are followed by a gerund, the gerund refers to an action that happened earlier: I remember locking the door (= I remember now, I locked the door earlier)

He regretted speaking so rudely. (= he regretted at some time in the past, he had spoken rudely at some earlier time in the past.) Forget is frequently used with 'never' in the simple future form: I'll never forget meeting the Queen. When these verbs are followed by a to-infinitive, the infinitive refers to an action happening at the same time, or later: I remembered to lock the door (= I thought about it, then I did it.)
Don't forget to buy some eggs! (= Please think about it and then do it.) We regret to announce the late arrival of the 12.45 from Paddington. (= We feel sorry before we tell you this bad news.)

Go on: Go on + gerund means to continue with an action: He went on speaking for two hours. I can't go on working like this - I'm exhausted. Go on + to-infinitive means to do the next action, which is often the next stage in a process: After introducing her proposal, she went on to explain the benefits for the company. John Smith worked in local government for five years, then went on to become a Member of Parliament.

Stop: Stop + gerund means to finish an action in progress: I stopped working for them because the wages were so low. Stop tickling me! Stop + to-infinitive means to interrupt an activity in order to do something else, so the infinitive is used to express a purpose: I stopped to have lunch. (= I was working, or travelling, and I interrupted what I was doing in order to eat.)

It's difficult to concentrate on what you are doing if you have to stop to answer the phone every five minutes.

Try: Try + gerund means to experiment with an action that might be a solution to your problem. If you have problems sleeping, you could try doing some yoga before you go to bed, or you could try drinking some warm milk.

'I can't get in touch with Carl.' 'Have you tried e-mailing him?' Try + to-infinitive means to make an effort to do something. It may be something very difficult or even impossible: The surgeons tried to save his life but he died on the operating table.
We'll try to phone at 6 o'clock, but it might be hard to find a public telephone. Elephants and mice have to try to live together in harmony.

Both Gerund and Infinitive without any difference in meaning after: begin, bother, continue, intend, start + gerund/ infintive The agency continued promoting the product. = The agency continued to promote the product.

GERUND:
Bear in mind that: Only the gerund is used after these expressions:

It's no use.... | "It's no use crying over spilt milk" proverb Look forward to ... | I'm looking forward to seeing you soon. Get/be used to ... | I'm used to drinking a cup of coffee after lunch. Be keen on ... | She's keen on singing pop songs Couldn't help ... | When I met her, I couldn't help hugging her tightly. Feel like ... | I feel like having a cold drink now. Be busy ... | She is busy doing her homework right now. Would you mind ... | Would you mind mailing this letter for me, please? How / what about ... | How about inviting your grandmother for the party. Worth ... | The film is actually worth viewing. Have difficulty with Its no good Theres no point

As well as after these verbs:

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

admit avoid consider deny enjoy finish forget imagine include involve justify keep need postpone quit reconsider affairs. regret remember stop suggest

| | | | | | | | | | |

He admitted breaking the window pane. She always avoid talking to him about the problem. The manager considered phoning the police He denied breaking into the office. She enjoys making fun of everybody. They finished doing their work very early. Sorry, I forgot sending you the catalogue. He imagined being able to impress them. The treaty includes not interfering with the others' inner problems. The contract involves building a fence. He can't justify being late for school everyday. | The clerk kept shouting at everybody like a madman. | Her car needed repainting. We postponed organising the party. | It was hard for her to quit smoking. | She finally reconsidered involving the authorities in her own He eventually regretted damaging the window. | I remembered sweeping the floor before I came here. | He stopped teasing his sister after her mother shouted at him. They suggested travelling by bus.

Other verbs that are followed by a gerund are:

adore, anticipate, appreciate, contemplate (, ), delay, describe, detest (), discuss, dislike, escape, fancy, feel, give, hate, hear, include, justify, like, listen to, mention, mind, miss, notice, object, to, observe, perceive, practise, propose, recall, recommend, refer, report, resent, resume (), risk, see, sense, tolerate and watch.

And after some "phrasal verbs" and after verbs + prepositions like: Carry on Go on Give up Cope with Apologize for Complain about Keep on Put off Insist on Blame for Succeed in time. Think of Worry about etc | She didn't even look at me. She just carried on typing the letter. | They went on playing tennis despite the rain. | She wanted him to give up nagging at her. | They tried to cope with working in cold weather. | She apologizes for making noise. | She continues to complain about keeping the door wide open. | She kept on complaining... | She puts off meeting us until next week. | She insisted on doing the task herself. | She blames me for damaging her CD player. | She succeeds in keeping the children busy for a longer | We are thinking of moving to a bigger city. | They worry about losing their jobs.

What about adjectives + prepositions then? We also use the gerund after the following:

Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be Be

proud of tired of afraid of fond of sick of worried about happy about glad about angry about crazy about excited about sorry about interested in

=> => => => => => => => => => => =>

Theyre proud of participating in that humanitarian project. Im tired of repeating the same thing all the time. Shes afraid of being wrong. Her children are fond of eating dates in the morning. Im sick of eating burgers everyday. Hes worried about letting her go abroad alone. We were all happy about celebrating the new year in Paris. => Shes glad about receiving the award. They are angry about staying under the rain for hours. Shes crazy about singing in the bathroom. They are excited about attending the scientists lecture. Shes sorry about breaking the vase unintentionally. The students seem interested in doing quizzes.

Before, after, without, No: The gerund is mostly applicable after before and after Examples - She ran away without looking behind. - You have to train before doing any sport. - Take this medicine after warming it. - No smoking!

Infinitive:
The infinitive is known in terms of "to + verb" and this is the base verb. Yet the verb without its particle (to) is also a verb but it is bare. This information, I guess, is not witty at all because the verb without "to" is also imposing in some circumstances. Language is sometimes too much demanding, isn't it?

Whole Infinitive {to + verb}

This is compulsory after conjugated verbs

I wanted to buy that car but unfortunately it was very expensive for me. She advises me to see a doctor as soon as possible. They'd prefer to take a taxi. Id like to stay at home this afternoon. At last, they decided to rent the apartment. They agreed to pay the bills cash. etc

As you notice, when two verbs are successive the second is forced into the infinitive with "to" of course. Apart from the cases in which both gerund and infinitive are usable, there are cases in which only the use of the whole infinitive (to + verb) is accurate such as the case above.

After some adjectives like: Important Easy Difficult | It is important to surf the net for more lessons. | It is not easy to learn a language without practising it regularly. | It seems difficult to know everything about the topic in one session.

Etc (able, amazed, bound, disappointed, due, liable, likely, prepared, surprised, unable, unlikely, willing, unwilling) After certain verbs: (They have decided not to come) Afford, agree, aim, arrange, attempt, choose, decide, demand, expect, fail, forget, hate (, ), hope, learn, like, manage, need, offer, plan, prepare, promise, refuse, seem, tend, threaten, train, volunteer, want After certain verbs + object: (I urge you to think carefully) Advise, allow, ask, cause, enable, expect, help, invite, lead, permit, persuade, remind, teach, tell, train, trust, urge, use, warn After certain nouns: Ability, attempt, chance, effort, failure, need, opportunity, reason, refusal, way

Bare Infinitive = [without "to"]:

Now let me insist on the fact that some verbs require to be followed by the bare infinitive (verb without to). These verbs are:

to help, to let and to make:

My mother helped me do my homework. She didn't let me go out at night. Her jokes were so funny that they made me laugh all day long. As well as after

"would rather" and "had better"

I'd rather read the book than watch the film. She'd better get married before it is too late.

And, of course, after Modal verbs like:

can, could, must, may, might, should, ought to, etc

You can do it easily. She could do all the work alone. You must respect the elderly. It may rain this evening. She might arrive at any time. People should take care of the environment. You ought to be punctual. They will build a new hospital in town. He would come if you invited him.

Gerund and Infinitive (no difference in meaning)

We use the Gerund or the Infinitive after the following verbs: He began talking. He began to talk. They continue smoking. They continue to smoke. Do you hate working on Saturdays? Do you hate to work on Saturdays? I like swimming. I like to swim. She loves painting. She loves to paint. Pat prefers walking home. Pat prefers to walk home. They start singing. They start to sing.

begin

continue

hate

like

love

prefer

start

We use the Gerund or the Infinitive after the following verbs. There are two possible structures after these verbs. Gerund: verb + -ing Infinitive: verb + person + to-infinitive They advise walking to town. They advise us to walk to town. They do not allow smoking here. They do not allow us to smoke here. They encourage doing the test. They encourage us to do the test. They do not permit smoking here. They do not permit us to smoke here.

advise

allow

encourage

permit

We use the following structures with the word recommend:

recommend They recommend walking to town. They recommend that we walk to town.