When two verbs appear together in English, the second verb must take a specific form — either the -ing form (gerund) or the to + base form (infinitive). The choice is not random. Most verbs have a fixed preference, and learning these preferences is one of the most practical and immediately useful areas of English grammar. This lesson introduces the two forms and the most common verbs that take each one.
Before you start — think honestly about your own teaching and experience.
Look at the examples. Answer each question before reading the explanation — this is how your students will learn too.
Read these sentences. A verb appears in each gap. In some sentences it ends in -ing. In others it uses 'to + base form'. Can you find a pattern — which verbs seem to prefer which form?
There is a rough meaning pattern — though not a perfect rule. Verbs followed by the -ing form (gerund) often describe activities that are already happening, already completed, or experienced as real: enjoy, finish, avoid, admit, practise. The -ing form gives the activity a sense of substance and reality. Verbs followed by 'to + infinitive' often describe plans, hopes, decisions, or intentions about future actions: want, hope, decide, plan, promise, refuse. The infinitive gives the action a sense of being forward-looking, imagined, or intended. This is a useful generalisation for students — not a perfect rule, but a helpful orientation when meeting a new verb. In practice, the most efficient approach is to learn the most common verbs in each group as whole phrases.
Now read these pairs. One sentence in each pair is correct. One is wrong. Can you identify the error in each pair?
Enjoy, keep, and many other verbs can ONLY be followed by -ing (gerund). Using 'to + infinitive' after them is always wrong. Decide and promise can ONLY be followed by 'to + infinitive'. Using -ing after them is always wrong. This is not a choice — most verbs have a fixed preference and do not accept the other form. The error is not just stylistic — it sounds unnatural and wrong to a native speaker. Learning the fixed preferences of the most frequent verbs is more useful than any abstract rule, because there is no single rule that determines every verb's preference.'
Now look at these sentences. Both use the verb 'like'. Both are correct. Does 'like' take a gerund or an infinitive?
Some verbs — like, love, hate, prefer, begin, start, continue — accept BOTH the gerund and the infinitive with very little or no change in meaning. Students can use either form after these verbs and both will be correct. But other verbs — want, decide, hope, plan — accept ONLY the infinitive. And still others — enjoy, avoid, finish, keep — accept ONLY the gerund. So English has three groups: gerund only, infinitive only, and both. This lesson focuses on the most common verbs in the first two groups. The 'both' group and the cases where the choice changes the meaning are covered in a later lesson.'
THE MOST IMPORTANT GERUND-ONLY VERBS TO LEARN FIRST:
Enjoy / Avoid / Finish / Mind / Keep / Practise / Consider / Suggest / Miss / Give up / Admit / Deny
THE MOST IMPORTANT INFINITIVE-ONLY VERBS TO LEARN FIRST:
Want / Need / Hope / Plan / Decide / Manage / Fail / Refuse / Promise / Agree / Offer / Expect
A USEFUL BUT ROUGH GUIDE:
-ing (gerund) = the activity as a real, experienced thing — often about the present or past
to + infinitive = the activity as a plan, intention, or future goal — often looking forward
This guide does not work for every verb — but it helps students when they meet a new verb and are unsure which form to use.
FORMING THE GERUND — spelling rules:
Most verbs: add -ing (play → playing, teach → teaching)
Verb ending in silent -e: drop the e and add -ing (write → writing, make → making)
Short verbs ending in consonant-vowel-consonant: double the final consonant (swim → swimming, run → running, sit → sitting)
Does the first verb mean enjoying, avoiding, finishing, or experiencing something? → likely gerund. Does the first verb mean wanting, planning, hoping, or deciding something future? → likely infinitive. Is the verb one of the gerund-only group? → only -ing. Is it one of the infinitive-only group? → only to + base. Is -ing used after want, decide, hope, or plan? → always wrong.
Choose the correct form — gerund (-ing) or infinitive (to + base verb) — to complete each sentence.
Each sentence contains an error. Write the correct version and explain why — then reveal the answer.
Use this sequence directly in class — guided discovery, no textbook needed. Tap each step to mark it done.
STEP 1 — THE TWO FORMS (5 minutes): Write these two sentences on the board:
STEP 2 — DISCOVER THE GROUPS (8 minutes): Write ten verb phrases on the board — five with gerunds, five with infinitives. Students work in pairs to sort them into two columns: GERUND group and INFINITIVE group.
EXAMPLE gerund: enjoy playing, keep talking, finish working, avoid eating, practise writing
EXAMPLE infinitive: want to go, hope to see, decide to stay, plan to build, manage to finish
Ask: what do the gerund verbs have in common? What about the infinitive verbs? Elicit the rough generalisation: -ing for real/experienced activities; to for plans, hopes, decisions.
STEP 3 — BUILD THE REFERENCE LIST (5 minutes): Ask students to contribute verbs they know — which group does each belong to? Build a class reference list on the board. This produces collaborative, student-generated content that students remember better than a teacher-given list. Correct errors as they arise.
STEP 4 — PERSONALISED SENTENCES (5 minutes): Ask students to complete these sentence starters — using the gerund or infinitive correctly:
STEP 5 — ERROR HUNT (5 minutes): Write five sentences — some correct, some wrong. Students work in pairs to find and correct errors. Share and discuss the rule behind each one. Focus especially on enjoy + -ing (most common error) and want + to (most common correct pattern that students sometimes wrongly replace with -ing).
Use directly in class — copy, adapt, or read aloud. No printing needed.
For each strategy, choose the option that best describes where you are now.
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