GERUND or INFINITIVE? Choose the right one with 50 common verbs!

0:00 Is it, I forgot calling her, or, I forgot to call her?

0:05 And is it, I regret saying that, or, I regret to say that?

0:11 How do you know whether to use the 'ing' form or the infinitive in English?

0:17 Well, it all depends on the verb that it follows.

0:22 In this lesson, you're going to learn whether to use the gerund, like calling,

0:28 or the infinitive, like to call, after 50 common verbs in English.

0:35 I'm also going to teach you a simple trick so you know which one

0:40 to use every single time.

0:43 Are you ready?

0:47 Okay, so we're going to start with the rule, then look at some verbs

0:52 that take the gerund, then verbs that take the infinitive,

0:56 and then verbs that take both, but the meaning changes.

1:01 Okay, so here's a quick reminder of the rule.

1:05 We use the verb plus the gerund if we are looking backwards.

1:12 If we're talking about a general activity or an experience.

1:19 We use the infinitive when we're looking forward or talking about a goal,

1:26 a plan, an intention, or a decision.

1:29 Now, listen, a lot of verbs follow this logic, but not all of them.

1:34 But in a part of grammar which causes so much pain and confusion,

1:40 it's a great idea to just use this little

1:43 bit of logic to try to help you make

1:47 sense from this very messy situation.

1:49 Okay, now I'm going to keep this video fairly concise and quick.

1:54 I'm going to explain 30 of these verbs in this video,

1:58 and I've included the extra

2:00 20 in this worksheet, which you can download absolutely free

2:05 by clicking the link up there, or you can also scan the QR code or

2:10 click the link in the description.

2:12 Just enter your email address and I will send you that.

2:15 And that also comes with a test so you can make sure that you have

2:20 completely learnt this grammar.

2:22 Okay, so let's have a look at some verbs which are followed by the gerund.

2:27 And as you will see, the verb in the gerund is being treated

2:33 like a general activity or an experience, and we're looking backwards at it.

2:40 Let's go.

2:41 Enjoy.

2:42 I enjoy reading in bed.

2:46 Reading is the activity.

2:48 Avoid.

2:48 She avoids driving in the city.

2:53 Again, driving is the activity.

2:55 Consider.

2:56 They're considering moving to London.

2:59 Okay, maybe they're not looking back in this one, but it still talks about

3:04 an experience, moving to London.

3:07 Discuss.

3:08 We discussed hiring someone new.

3:11 Again, we're talking about the general activity of hiring someone.

3:16 Miss.

3:16 What do I miss?

3:17 I miss England.

3:19 I miss my friends.

3:20 I miss seeing my old friends.

3:25 Finish.

3:26 He finished.

3:27 What activity did he finish?

3:29 He finished cleaning the kitchen.

3:32 Practise.

3:33 What activity do you need to practise?

3:36 You need to practise speaking English more.

3:40 Speaking in the gerund.

3:43 Admit.

3:44 She admitted.

3:46 What experience did she admit?

3:48 She admitted taking the money.

3:51 Suggest.

3:52 I suggest starting earlier.

3:55 Now, yes, actually, we can also say, I suggest we start earlier.

4:02 Watch that video to learn how to use that structure.

4:06 It's the English subjunctive, and there are lots of other ways

4:10 to use the subjunctive in that video.

4:13 But in this case, we can also use the gerund.

4:16 I suggest starting earlier.

4:19 And the last one, keep.

4:20 What activity does he keep doing?

4:23 He keeps interrupting me.

4:26 Okay, so you can see in those situations, they follow the logic.

4:30 We're talking about a general activity or experience, and we're

4:35 normally looking backwards.

4:38 Now, let's have a look at some verbs that take the infinitive.

4:43 So remember, these are usually verbs that don't look backwards,

4:47 but they look forwards, and they describe a goal,

4:51 an intention, a decision, or a plan.

4:56 So let's have a look at some of these verbs now, and remember,

5:00 if you want the full list of 50, you can download that worksheet

5:04 by clicking the link in the description.

5:07 Some common verbs that take the infinitive.

5:11 Want.

5:11 I want to leave now.

5:14 This is something that I want in the future.

5:17 We're looking forward here.

5:18 It's my intention.

5:20 I want to leave now.

5:22 And a similar verb, need.

5:24 You need...

5:25 Again, we're looking forward.

5:26 What do you need to do?

5:28 What's your goal here?

5:29 You need to study more.

5:32 Decide.

5:33 We decided to stay at home.

5:36 And yes, this verb is in the past tense, so aren't we looking backwards?

5:41 No.

5:42 Yes, I'm talking in the past, but when that action happens in the past,

5:47 we deciding to do something, the decision at that time was looking forward.

5:53 At 6pm last night, we made the decision to

5:57 stay at home for the rest of the evening.

6:01 Hope.

6:01 Again, you hope something for the future.

6:04 They hope to win the prize.

6:06 Plan.

6:07 She's planning to travel soon.

6:10 As I mentioned, we use the infinitive when we're talking about plans, decisions,

6:14 like decide, intentions, goals.

6:18 Agree.

6:18 He agreed to help us.

6:22 Again, we're looking forward.

6:23 It's that plan that he agreed to do.

6:26 Learn.

6:27 I'm learning to play the guitar.

6:31 And offer.

6:32 They offered to drive us.

6:35 Again, they're looking forward.

6:36 It's an intention.

6:38 As is refuse.

6:40 He refused to go.

6:43 Promise.

6:43 There's another one.

6:45 She promised to call.

6:47 Do you see how these work?

6:49 Again, it is a good idea to learn these and learn them in the sentence,

6:53 but also learn the logic and try to apply the logic.

6:57 You might make some mistakes sometimes, but you won't have to guess.

7:02 You will have a good idea always of whether to use the gerund or infinitive.

7:09 Now, good news and bad news, there are some verbs that take

7:14 the infinitive or the gerund, and the meaning changes a little

7:20 bit depending on which you use.

7:23 Sorry about that.

7:24 Let's have a look at a few.

7:26 Again, I've put more in the PDF that you can download, but these

7:31 verbs can take both.

7:33 In fact, the two that I mentioned at the beginning of this video

7:37 are in this little section.

7:39 The thing is with this, these little differences are the

7:44 kind of thing you need to know if you want an internationally recognised

7:49 B2 level of English.

7:51 Lots and lots of jobs require this level.

7:54 My course, Brilliant B2, will help you reach that level in 12 weeks.

8:00 So if you're working towards that level, I'll put a link in the

8:03 description for you.

8:05 I would love to have you inside that course.

8:08 Okay, let's have a look then at some of these verbs.

8:11 Remember.

8:12 I remember locking the door.

8:16 And Remember to lock the door.

8:19 Let's just have a look at these two sentences for a minute.

8:23 They follow the same logic as I mentioned earlier in the video.

8:27 So I remember plus the gerund.

8:30 I remember locking the door.

8:32 I remember that general activity.

8:34 I'm looking backwards.

8:36 It happened.

8:37 I'm talking about the experience or the activity, and it's in my memory.

8:43 However.

8:44 Remember to lock the door.

8:47 If I say that to you, I'm talking to you about a goal, an intention, a plan.

8:54 So I want you to remember to do something in the future.

9:00 Which is to lock the door.

9:02 Do you see the difference?

9:03 They both follow the logic from earlier in the video, but if you mix them up,

9:08 you could be saying something completely different.

9:11 I mean, not completely different, you're still talking about the door,

9:15 but it would be very confusing and unclear

9:18 if you chose one instead of the other.

9:20 The opposite of remember is forget, and this is also in this category.

9:26 Look at these two sentences.

9:30 I'll never forget meeting you.

9:32 And I'll never forget to meet you.

9:36 So again, when we use the gerund, we're looking backwards

9:39 and talking about an activity.

9:41 I'll never forget...

9:43 What experience am I talking about here?

9:47 Meeting you.

9:48 Wow.

9:49 When I met you, it was an unforgettable experience.

9:52 I will never forget it.

9:54 I will never forget meeting you.

9:58 However, I'll never forget...

10:00 What's my intention here?

10:02 What's my plan?

10:03 What's my goal for the future?

10:06 To meet you.

10:07 I'll never forget to meet you.

10:09 Every time you say, Hey, Greg, let's meet.

10:13 Okay, I promise.

10:15 I will not forget to meet you.

10:17 Here's another one which doesn't exactly fit in with what I'm saying,

10:23 but it's an example that every English teacher uses, so I want

10:27 to include it here.

10:28 I'm talking about this.

10:30 She stopped smoking.

10:31 Or.

10:32 She stopped to smoke.

10:34 The first one, yeah, she used to smoke 20

10:38 cigarettes a day, and then she stopped.

10:42 She stopped that horrible activity.

10:44 Good for her.

10:45 She's now living a healthier life because she stopped that activity.

10:50 She stopped smoking.

10:51 She quit smoking.

10:53 However, she stopped to smoke.

10:57 This is more like she stopped in the middle of the street.

11:01 Why?

11:02 With what intention?

11:03 With what plan?

11:06 To smoke.

11:07 She's walking along the street, she stops, she gets her cigarettes out

11:11 of her pocket, and she smokes.

11:14 She stopped Why?

11:15 To smoke.

11:17 This, for me, actually falls more into the category of,

11:21 should we use 'to' or should we use 'for'?

11:25 Many students make mistakes and aren't sure whether to use 'to' or 'for'.

11:31 I explain all those rules in that video there.

11:35 You're going to love it.

11:36 It's really simple when you follow those rules, so I'll put a link

11:39 in the description for you, too.

11:41 The next one in this little section is try.

11:45 Try pressing this button or try to press harder.

11:50 Again, try this activity, pressing the button.

11:53 Try plan, intention, goal, to press it harder.

11:57 And regret.

11:59 I regret saying that, or we regret to inform you that.

12:04 Again, both are correct.

12:05 But if you use the gerund, then we're looking back on an experience

12:10 or an activity that you regret.

12:13 But at the beginning of a letter that is giving you bad news,

12:19 you would see normally from a company,

12:21 it would say, We regret to inform you that...

12:25 Okay, because it's introducing the plan, the goal, the intention that is

12:30 going to be mentioned in that letter.

12:34 Like you get a letter from the bank.

12:36 We regret to inform you that all your money has been stolen.

12:41 I have one bonus section for you which you're going to love.

12:46 It's verbs that take both the gerund or infinitive,

12:52 and it makes no difference at all.

12:54 Why aren't all verbs like that?

12:56 Here we go.

12:58 Here are five.

12:59 Again, I'll more in that worksheet for you.

13:01 Begin.

13:02 She began to cry.

13:04 She began crying.

13:07 No difference.

13:08 Start.

13:09 I started to read.

13:10 I started reading.

13:12 You'll hear both interchangeably.

13:15 It really makes no difference.

13:17 Continue.

13:18 He continued to work.

13:19 He continued working.

13:21 Yeah, tomato, tomato.

13:23 Love.

13:24 They love to travel or they love travelling.

13:27 Again, pretty much the same thing.

13:30 And like.

13:31 I like swimming or I like to swim.

13:34 Again, normally there's not much difference in those two sentences.

13:40 Sometimes there is.

13:41 I'll put a link to an old video I did about the difference in the comments if

13:46 you want to learn the small difference between those two sentences.

13:50 Okay, I've got another great video coming for you on Friday,

13:54 so subscribe so you don't miss that.

13:56 For now, leave a comment using one of the verbs from this lesson,

14:01 and remember to download the worksheet to get the full list of 50 everyday verbs

14:07 that are followed by either the gerund or the infinitive.

14:11 Now, earlier in this video, I explained the importance of knowing

14:14 the difference between 'for' and 'to'.

14:18 So watch that video to learn the rules so you never make a mistake with that.

14:24 There's the worksheet.

14:25 Thanks for watching.

14:26 And bye for now.