Gerunds and infinitives: which verbs take -ing, which take to.
Whether a verb is followed by the -ing form or by to do is not a rule you can reason out, it is pattern memory. The errors are small and basic (“I enjoy to read”), they recur, and they quietly hold a band back. This is the most drillable grammar there is.
Why this matters. A verb-pattern slip rarely blocks meaning, which is exactly why it is dangerous: it slides past unnoticed while it marks your accuracy down. “I want learning”, “good at to cook”, “I avoid to leave it late”, each is a small, frequent error that keeps a 6.5 at 6.5. The patterns are finite and the meaning-change pairs (stop doing vs stop to do) are a clear Band 7+ signal. Learn the lists, drill them, and a whole category of error closes.
A gerund is a verb as a noun; an infinitive is to + verb.
The gerund is the -ing form used as a noun (Reading helps; I enjoy reading). The infinitive is to + the base verb (I want to read). Which one follows a given verb is fixed, so the work is knowing the patterns.
Verb + gerund
enjoy · avoid · consider · finish + -ing
Some verbs are always followed by the -ing form: enjoy, avoid, consider, suggest, mind, finish, keep, practise, recommend, deny, imagine.
I enjoy reading, and I avoid leaving revision to the last minute.
Verb + infinitive
want · decide · hope · plan + to do
Others are always followed by to + verb: want, decide, hope, plan, agree, refuse, manage, offer, promise, afford, learn, expect.
I decided to retake the test, and I managed to raise my score.
After a preposition + gerund
at · in · of · about · for + -ing
Any verb after a preposition takes the -ing form. No exceptions, and this is the single most reliable rule on the page.
She is good at solving problems and interested in learning more.
Verb + object + infinitive
ask · advise · encourage + sb + to do
Many verbs put a person between the verb and the infinitive: ask, advise, encourage, allow, tell, want, remind, expect.
My teacher encouraged me to apply, and advised me to read more widely.
The pairs that change meaning
A few verbs take both forms, but the meaning shifts, and using them correctly is a clear Band 7+ marker. Stop doing = quit it; stop to do = pause in order to do something else. Remember doing = recall a past act; remember to do = not forget a duty. Forget doing = a memory; forget to do = fail to do. Try doing = experiment with; try to do = attempt something hard. So “I stopped smoking” (I quit) and “I stopped to smoke” (I paused for a cigarette) are opposites.
What verb-pattern control reads like at each band.
At Band 5
Verb patterns are unstable: I enjoy to read, I want going, want that he comes. The gerund-after-preposition rule is often missed (good in cooking becomes good in cook). The choice between -ing and to is largely guesswork, and the meaning-change pairs are not yet in play.
At Band 6
Verb patterns are a frequent slip: “I enjoy to read”, “I want learning”, “good at to cook”. The meaning is clear, but the errors are basic and recur across the answer, and they are exactly the kind of repeated, low-level mistake that holds accuracy at Band 6.
At Band 7
Verb + gerund and verb + infinitive are mostly correct, and gerunds after prepositions are reliable. The odd slip survives, usually with a less common verb, but it does not block meaning and is often self-corrected.
At Band 8+
Full control, including the meaning-change pairs (stop doing vs stop to do, remember doing vs remember to do) used accurately and on purpose. Verb patterns are simply not a source of error.
The patterns, on one page.
There is no logic to reason out, only the pattern to recognise. Read down the table until the common verbs are automatic; the meaning-change pairs above are the only ones that need real thought.
| After this… | Use… | For example |
|---|---|---|
| enjoy, avoid, consider, suggest, mind, finish, keep, practise, recommend, deny, imagine | gerund (-ing) | I keep forgetting to check my linkers. |
| want, decide, hope, plan, agree, refuse, manage, offer, promise, afford, learn, expect | infinitive (to do) | I hope to reach Band 7 by spring. |
| any preposition (at, in, of, about, on, for, without, to*) | gerund (-ing) | She is committed to improving her writing. |
| advise, allow, encourage, ask, tell, remind, want, expect + a person | object + infinitive | The tutor encouraged me to read more widely. |
| make, let, help + a person | bare infinitive (no to) | That made me rethink my approach. |
The to trap. In look forward to, be committed to, be used to and object to, the to is a preposition, not part of an infinitive, so it takes -ing: “I look forward to hearing from you”, not “to hear”. It is the gerund-after-preposition rule in disguise, and it catches strong candidates.
Twenty to drill.
Choose the correct form for each gap. Press Check answers for your score and the pattern behind each one. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Verb patterns, as people actually get it wrong.
18 real corrections on this point sit in the marking archive, across 8 first languages. Three of them, and the rule they produced.
you can try to not get eaten alive
you can try not to get eaten alive
The negative goes in front of the infinitive marker: not to get, not to be, not to worry. So: try not to get eaten alive, I decided not to reply, he promised not to tell.
do sports can bring their health, they can keep healthy
doing sports can improve their health; it keeps them healthy
When an action is the subject of a sentence, English uses the -ing form: Doing sports..., not Do sports...
they are interested not to tell about it
they have an interest in not mentioning it (or: they're reluctant to talk about it)
Tell needs a person as its object; a negative intention reads better as an interest in not doing something.
English puts the negative before the infinitive marker, not after it: not to get, not to be, not to worry.
All 22 entries on verb patterns are in the marking archive, filtered to this point, with the first language and the reason beside each.
You can memorise the lists in an afternoon. Reaching for the right form mid-sentence is the work.
Verb-pattern slips are small, frequent, and exactly the kind that quietly hold a 6.5 at 6.5, because they never block meaning.
In a lesson I catch the pattern the moment it slips and we drill it until the correct form is automatic, in speech as well as writing. Lessons are £20 for fifty minutes, one to one, in proper British English; the first step is a discounted trial lesson. This page is adapted from the grammar chapter of the forthcoming PEG Guide to IELTS Speaking.