Gerunds & Infinitives Advanced: Meaning Changes

B2 Grammar

1. Simple explanation

A gerund is a verb ending in -ing that works like a noun ('Swimming is fun'). An infinitive is to + the base verb ('I want to leave'). In the basics lesson you learned which verbs take each form. This lesson is about harder verbs that can take BOTH forms — but the meaning changes: 'I stopped smoking' means I quit; 'I stopped to smoke' means I paused in order to smoke. You will also learn verb + person + to ('I asked him to help'), to after adjectives ('happy to see you'), and -ing after prepositions — including the trap in 'look forward to seeing you,' where to is a preposition (a small connecting word like for or without), so the -ing form follows it.

2. Detailed explanation

First, the two forms. A gerund is verb + -ing used as a thing: in 'I enjoy reading,' the word 'reading' names an activity. An infinitive is to + the simple verb: 'I hope to read it.' Many verbs allow only one form, but a special group allows both — and then the two forms point in opposite time directions. The key is time direction: the -ing form usually looks BACK at an action that is real or finished, while to looks FORWARD to an action that is a duty, a purpose, or something not yet done.

This explains remember and forget. 'I remember locking the door' — the locking really happened; now I have the memory. 'Remember to lock the door' — the locking is still in the future, a duty. Stop works by the same logic: 'He stopped smoking' — the smoking was real and happening, and he ended it. 'He stopped to smoke' — he paused his walk with a purpose: the smoking comes after the pause. Try is similar: 'Try restarting the computer' means use restarting as an experiment; 'I tried to call you' means I made an attempt, and the attempt may have failed.

Now, three pairs, word by word. 'She remembered sending the email': remembered (past feeling) + sending (the email really went — action finished before the memory). 'She remembered to send the email': remembered (she did not forget) + to send (the duty was ahead of her; then she did it). 'We stopped to buy milk': stopped (we paused our journey) + to buy (purpose — the reason for pausing). Compare 'We stopped buying milk there': stopped (ended) + buying (the repeated action that finished).

Three more patterns matter. First, verb + person + to: 'The manager asked us to stay' — ask, tell, want, expect and persuade need the person before to; English never says 'I want that you stay.' Second, adjectives + to: feelings and difficulty take to — 'I'm glad to meet you,' 'This text is hard to follow.' In 'English is easy to learn,' English is the thing being learned — the full meaning is 'It is easy to learn English.' Third, after a preposition (by, without, for, after, instead of) only -ing is possible: 'He left without saying goodbye.' The famous 'look forward to' belongs here: its 'to' is a preposition, not part of an infinitive. Finally, the perfect gerund 'having done' shows an earlier, finished action: 'He denied having taken the money.'

3. Formula / structure

remember / forget + -ing (memory — action already done):

remember / forget + to (duty — action not yet done):

stop + -ing / stop + to:

try + -ing / try + to:

verb + person + to:

adjective + to:

preposition + -ing (incl. look forward to):

Step by step — how to build a sentence:

4. When to use it

• Talking about memories of finished events: remember / forget + -ing ('I remember meeting him in 2019.')
• Reminders and duties that are still ahead: remember / forget + to ('Remember to sign the form.')
• Quitting a habit or activity (stop + -ing) versus pausing for a purpose (stop + to).
• Experiments and methods (try + -ing) versus difficult attempts (try + to).
• Requests and instructions aimed at a person: ask / tell / want + person + to.
• Feelings and difficulty: glad to, ready to, easy to, hard to.
• After every preposition — by, without, after, instead of, for — and in 'look forward to.'

5. When NOT to use it

• Don't use to + verb after a preposition: ✗ 'without to say' → ✓ 'without saying.' The 'to' in 'look forward to' is a preposition too, so use -ing.
• Don't say 'I want that you…': ✗ 'I want that you come' → ✓ 'I want you to come.'
• Don't use stop + to for quitting a habit: ✗ 'He stopped to smoke last year' (this means he paused in order to smoke) → ✓ 'He stopped smoking.'
• Don't use regret + to for sadness about the past: regret + to appears in formal announcements ('We regret to inform you…'); for past actions use regret + -ing ('I regret selling it.')

6. Positive examples

• I remember visiting this town as a child.
• Remember to water the plants while I'm away.
• He stopped biting his nails last year.
• We stopped to ask a local man for directions.
• Try adding a little lemon — it makes the soup taste better.
• She tried to call you three times yesterday.
• The teacher told us to open our books to page forty.
• Finding a taxi at midnight was almost impossible, but this map is easy to read.
• I'm looking forward to starting my new job in June.
• He apologized for having arrived so late to the ceremony.
• After winning the semifinal, they went on to win the championship.
• She persuaded her brother to lend her his car.

7. Negative examples

• Don't forget to lock the door tonight.
• She didn't stop talking during the whole movie.
• He never tried to apologize for the mistake.
• I'm not looking forward to the long flight home.
• The manager didn't ask me to stay late yesterday.
• We won't regret selling the house — it was the right decision.

8. Questions

• Do you remember meeting me at the conference?
• Did you remember to buy the tickets?
• Why did he stop coming to the evening class?
• Have you tried restarting the router?
• What exactly did she ask you to bring?
• Are you looking forward to the holidays this year?

9. Short answers

• Yes — I remember locking it.
• No, I completely forgot to set it.
• Yes, he stopped to help us.
• No, she just went on working.
• Yes, I'm really looking forward to it.

10. Common mistakes

11. American English notes

12. Similar grammar — comparison

13. Natural spoken English

• 'I'll never forget meeting you at that little café.'
• 'Oops — I totally forgot to tell him about the change!'
• 'Hang on, let me stop to tie my shoe.'
• 'Try turning it off and on again — that usually works.'
• 'Looking forward to it! See you Friday.'
• 'He asked me to give him a ride to the airport.'

14. Real-life examples

• Email closing at work: 'I look forward to hearing from you.'
• In the office: 'My boss asked me to finish the slides by Friday.'
• At the phone repair shop: 'Try charging it with a different cable first.'
• On a café door: 'Thank you for not smoking inside.'
• Health news: 'He stopped drinking coffee completely after the diagnosis.'
• Travel reminder from an airline app: 'Don't forget to check in online.'

15. Mini dialogue

16. Summary

17. Practice exercises

Warm up with the first questions, then take the full quiz — every answer has a detailed explanation (parts 19–20 of this lesson: answer key + explanations live inside the quiz feedback).

18. The full quiz

50 questions, mixed formats, in difficulty order: easy → medium → intermediate → challenging → advanced.

Mark lesson completed