Verbs followed by '-ing' or infinitive to change meaning

Do you know the difference between stop doing something and stop to do something? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

Look at these examples to see how these verb patterns work.

The bus stopped picking up the children.
The bus stopped to pick up the children.

I want to try studying with a friend to see if it helps us stay more motivated.
I'm trying to study but it's impossible with all this noise.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar test 1: Verbs followed by '-ing' or by 'to' + infinitive 2: Grammar test 1

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

Some verbs have a different meaning depending on whether they are followed by an -ing form or to + infinitive.

stop

Stop + -ing means the action is not happening any more.

I've stopped buying the newspaper because now I read the news online.

Stop + to + infinitive means that someone or something stops an activity so that they can do something else.

He stopped the video to ask the students some questions.

try

Try + -ing means that you are trying something as an experiment, especially as a possible solution to a problem, to see if it works or not.

Have you tried turning the computer off and on again?

Try + to + infinitive means that something is difficult but you are making an effort to do it.

I'm trying to learn Japanese but it's very difficult.

remember/forget

Remember + -ing and forget + -ing refer to having (or not having) a memory of something in the past.

I remember watching this film before.
I'll never forget meeting you for the first time in this café.

Remember + to + infinitive and forget + to + infinitive refer to recalling (or not recalling) that there is something we need to do before we do it.

Please remember to buy some milk on the way home.
He forgot to lock the door when he went out.

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar test 2: Verbs followed by '-ing' or by 'to' + infinitive 2: Grammar test 2

Try another grammar lesson

Language level

B1 - Intermediate

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Hello, I don't understand the last question of the grammar test n°2. My answer is "stop + To + infinitive" because he stops an activity so that he can do something else (spanish class). But the right answer is "stop + ing". Can you explain me the answer? Thank you

Hello PAMARTIN,

We use the form [stop + to infinitive] when the second action is the cause of the first action. For example, I can say:

I stopped French classes to take Spanish lessons.

However, this would require a very specific situation. We would need to know that it was necessary for me to stop French in order to take Spanish - in other words, that it was impossible for me to take Spanish unless I first stopped French.

There is no indication of a causal connection in the sentence in the task. Rather, the sentence simply describes two actions without any direct causal connection. In other words, we have no reason to think that the person in question could not have continued both if he or she had wished. Thus, we should use [stop + verbing], which does not say whether or not the two actions are causally connected.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, In the example "He was told about John doing the work"Here "doing"is used as gerund or participle? Secondly, What follows verb waste/spend(Gerund or participle) Example-He spends/wastes his time thinking about something. Thanks

Hello, May i seek the clarification sought on the above use of gerund/participle Thanks

Hello Bharati

I would call them gerunds.

Please remember that we are here to help people learn to use English, not for specialist grammatical analysis. In other words, questions like this one are more appropriate on another website -- for example, the English Language and Usage StackExchange -- though even there you might find that not everyone wants to entertain this sort of question. This is because the difference between gerunds and participles comes from Latin grammar; in more recent grammars based on linguistics, the distinction is not made. If you read the Wikipedia Gerund article, you can find out more about this.

All the best

Kirk