Verbs followed both by Gerund and Infinitive

‘Gerund vs. Infinitive’, or to be precise ‘Verbs followed by Gerund or Infinitive', has always been a challenging topic for English learners. Either because there are no strict rules and one has just to learn them by heart, or maybe because the list of these verbs is pretty vast. Moreover, there are some verbs which can be followed both by Gerund and Infinitive and this fact makes learning them even more confusing. To avoid possible misunderstandings in future and to refresh our knowledge, we are going to discuss the above-mentioned verbs followed both by Gerund and Infinitive in this article.

To begin with, there are two types of such verbs: a) followed by both Gerund and Infinitive WITH NO difference in meaning; b) followed by both Gerund and Infinitive WITH difference in meaning. Let’s look through both types of verbs in the next tables:

Verbs followed by gerund and infinitive with NO difference in meaning:

Pay attention that some of the verbs above don’t change their meaning while being followed by Gerund or Infinitive, but they require the usage or non-usage of some grammar notions well (object, passive form, etc.)

Verbs followed by gerund and infinitive with difference in meaning:

To be honest, there could be only one piece of advice concerning learning verbs followed by Gerund or Infinitive – LEARN THEM BY HEART. The same hint works with learning the difference in meaning while using Gerund or Infinitive. If you have any questions or doubts you can refer to the tables above or the list of the verbs followed only by Gerund or Infinitive. And also, in any case, practice makes perfect, so follow the links and you will find lists of the verbs and some exercises to practice:

• http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/verblist.htm
• http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/gerund_list.htm
• http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/gerunds-and-infinitives-verbs-1.html
• http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-lesson-gerund-infinitive.php
• http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-exercises/verbs-followed-ing-or-infinitive-1