🔥 EXPLAINED! When to use the Infinitive and Gerund After Verbs

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► CHAPTERS:
00:00 How to know when to use the gerund or infinitive in English?
01:29 When to use the GERUND in English
2:25 Which verbs are followed by the gerund in English?
4:58 Full list of verbs followed by the gerund or infinitive
5:42 When to use the INFINITIVE in English
7:07 Which verbs are followed by the infinitive in English?
9:15 Golden rule for knowing gerund v infinitive in English
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► TRANSCRIPTION
Suggest to go or suggest going? Decide to go or decide going? These are the questions that drive my students crazy. Do we use the infinitive, like to go after verbs, or the gerund, like going after verbs? Well, I've got some bad news and good news for you. Let's start with the bad news.
Now, the bad news is it all depends on the verb. And there's no real rule to help us know which verb is followed by the infinitive and which verb is followed by the gerund. And that's why it's so important that when you learn a new verb in English, you learn it in context, so that you learn exactly. For example, the word dare. Don't just learn the word dare, learn it in context, like, I didn't dare to touch the spider. Dare to touch. Okay? Dare is followed by the infinitive.
Now, that being said, in this video, I do have some little tricks that are going to help you identify which verbs need to be followed by the infinitive and which verbs are going to be followed by the gerund. A lot of students have requested this video. I think you're going to find it really useful and that it's going to help you stop making so many mistakes in English grammar. So let's start with when to use the gerund.
Again, the gerund is the -ing form of verbs going, eating, taking. And before I tell you how to know which verbs are followed by the gerund, I want to tell you a couple of other very common places where we use the gerund. First is after prepositions of time and place. For example, I always have breakfast before leaving the house. I always have a cup of tea after eating lunch. I got wet after walking in the rain.
And the other commonplace we use it is when we're replacing the subject or object of a verb, and we're basically using it as a noun. For example, Dave loves jumping in the swimming pool, but jumping in the pool is forbidden. But swimming is a great exercise. In that situation, we're using jumping and swimming as the subject, as a noun, and as the subject of the sentence.
Okay? So as you saw in that example, Dave loves jumping into swimming pools. Who doesn't? And this is my first guideline for knowing when to use the gerund. So basically, when we're using verbs that tell us what we like and what we don't like, we use the gerund. I've got lots of examples of this, so let's have a look.
Alright. Things I like doing I like watching football. I love going on holiday. I enjoy playing the ukulele. I fancy going to the cinema this weekend. I adore travelling to foreign countries. I don't mind driving long distances. I feel like eating out tonight. Okay, all these verbs tell you more or less what I like, and they are all followed by the gerund.
I said I like watching football. Yeah, I prefer watching football to playing football. So prefer is also followed by the gerund. And now things that we don't like.
Let's have a look at some examples of things that we don't like, which are all followed by the gerund. I don't like being ill. I hate people smoking near me. Hate smoking. Hate people smoking near me. Some people detest going to the dentist.
[... Due to character limit, the rest of this transcription is unavailable]
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[@rstrelba]

I've found a rule, wich covers 90% percents combination of verbs. When the second verb is about to happen in nearest future (even for past shifting) - use infinitive. I want to eat. I decided to eat. If second verb is already acting or does not have a chance to happen - use gerund. I pause eating, I like eating, I finish eating, I prefer eating to working ))

[@brikenkanapari]

Thank you

[@stephanestephane4291]

didn't happen ? 🤔 are you sure ? 🤔

[@rstrelba]

@@stephanestephane4291 I meant in context. If you say "I like running" it means I'm not gonna run right now .

[@egbront1506]

The "rule" about liking, preferring etc requiring a gerund is just plain wrong and Greg shouldn't have posited it as one to rely on at all. I like eating = I like to eat. I prefer eating to working = I prefer to eat than to work. Both convey the same information and are equally common in writing and speech. It's just a style difference and it is impossible to come up with any useful rule as to what someone is going to use. It might be context bound or regional preferences.

[@stephanestephane4291]

@@egbront1506 there's still this little nuance in our mind gerund/past infinitive/future 😏 even though the OP didn't explain it clearly enough hahaha

[@IanEvans]

I am an English teacher and this is an excellent video. Well done Greg.

[@misterspikex]

I second this!

[@nastyamastereng1893]

Thank you, Greg! The effort you put into the video is priceless! Keep it up!

[@andrespadron992]

So valuable lesson, quite well organized. You have given me a bit of light on this question that has been around my head for a long time. Thank you.

[@MrQuietrob]

The best video about English grammar I've seen in a long time. Congratulations and a big thank you! 🙏

[@joseernestosabatercalvet1810]

Thank you Greg for such a practical guide.

[@user-ge1ru7px4g]

Greg, you are an awesome teacher and I look forward to learning from you. Thank you ever so much. A special thanks for your WORKSHEETS )))

[@katerynavolkova-shapovalen995]

Mr. Greg, thank you so much!!! This very material is just exactly what I need!!! I’ve been working with this material for years with so many books but still I haven’t found more or less clear explanations on the topic! And this video of yours is really of great help!!! I’m thankful so much! Wonderful day to everyone ❤

[@user-nd3qg8dp3v]

Attaboy, Greg. Your explanation of the gerund-infinitive practical application is the clearest one on The KZbin.

[@VitorSilva-uo4gl]

I've been studying English about one year, and I'm lerning with your videos, thank you Greg , I wish sucess for you!!

[@berenice-6003]

Thank you so much Greg for this lesson!!!

[@anaramos2802]

I don't mind watching your videos every single day. In fact, I recommend to watch them to all my friends!

[@michapoom6609]

Recommend watching/subjunctive mood :)

[@rayherbrecht954]

Hi Mr. Greg, thank you so much for all your videos, I loved all of them. I've been studying English by myself for 2 years and I live in Belgium. I've found all your videos so amazing, transparent, and self-explanatory. Thank you so much

[@homeirakashanchi6704]

You are really a kind and generous teacher. Thank you, you work very hard to teach your students the keys to grammar.

[@chrisk5651]

Wow what a transformation in your look!! I like it!!

[@ezequielchabay57]

Thanks Greg! This video has been my salvation!

[@pascalguerandel8181]

Where were you..when I was growing up!😀😀 I've never come across someone who explains it the way you do.. simplistically brilliant...your explanations are helping me speak and comprehend...better! Thank you ❤

[@zx_vlogs2]

Fantastic explanation. Thank you. Keep it up

[@TheAkkb]

Perfect job, dear Greg!

[@RobinEgret]

The most useful video on gerund I’ve seen so far. Thank you

[@ileanaolivera3564]

Love your examples and explanations

[@rebeccadelagarza3615]

I really like the way you explain when to use gerund and infinity verbs.

[@luisremelli]

thank you for the super helpful worksheet, really thank you for your time :)

[@salutvictor4772]

Awesome content GREG!!! Watching, enjoying and learning from Guatemala!!!

[@bangkitkasuryanan2366]

Thank you sir for the material you created, quite helpful and informative

[@nordlead]

Always amazing, thanks Greg.

[@Olga03Love]

Thank you for the lesson my English is getting better and better now thank to you. Many blessings to you and your family

[@Syamsurrijal-kc4qr]

This lesson is awesome. Thank you.

[@luka66luka]

So nice and easy to follow your lesson.thank you.

[@cristobalromerorodriguez2496]

So useful, so nice that way to teach. I really appreciate it

[@macarenacabello1412]

Hi Greg! Can you explain the difference between the future perfect simple and continuous? I love your videos♡

[@elenipanos3882]

How amazingly helpful. I am an English Teacher in Greece. Thanks hun

[@kwongdamon1047]

im really appreciated what you done on this topic!! Million thanks!!!

[@myon6278]

Thank you very much Mr Greg

[@user-ro2ck1p7]

The best guideline ❤Thanks

[@audiolivroscomdoen6883]

Thanks. I love your videos!!!

[@apometun]

You are brilliant! I love learning English throw your video.

[@agutinusmure4769]

A nice topic to explain, thank you.

[@Kariakatur]

Dear teacher Mr Greg. I am from Afghanistan and have learnt many things about English from your lessons I really like the way you teach and speak. it makes us to listen to it Wish you the best🌹🌹

[@caryzara5132]

Thanks Greg, I appreciate it.

[@alexandrearaujodecarvalho]

Thank you so much.

[@joelmasamba6762]

Oh my gosh!!! I like reading Evey single day

[@diassmaker]

Happy 40th birthday, mate! Thanks for the lesson!

[@eugeneua7785]

I love watching your videos!!! I wish I could go to England to learn English as soon as the war finished.

[@user-gy9gb3bg3w]

Thank U so much! Wish U the best!

[@elisabettabubola4927]

Thank you so Much! ❤🎉

[@samuelguerrero4114]

This topic use to trick me into using the wrong form, but I got to grab them by reading a lot of books.Now I use them automatically when I am stricking up a conversation with someone.

[@slowlearner4341]

Hello Greg. I share almost all superlatives and exclamations about your knowledge, way of teaching, etc. The subject of this video is rather "it's easier said than done". I am not a smart cookie and I have a very average ability to languages. Obviously, I tried several times to leave this headache behind me. Well, well, well, not yet...Hopefully, your method will help me to overcome this barrier. Long and very pleasant Holidays is just around the corner...I would like to take this opportunity to wish your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

[@languagefreeassangeteacher5338]

Cool teaching - thanks!

[@boriscerda8814]

Thank you for your downloud list. It s really good ...... 👍👍👍😃😃 greetings from Chile

[@user-ck9mz4si3n]

You are an amazing teacher!

[@vitomanoeli]

Saved my back. Thank you, lad.

[@LinoVern]

Thank you Greg!

[@tazkiasa]

to me gerund is kinda tricky, yet the explanation is helpfull and easy to understand ^^. Thankyou sm!

[@user-zx8xt3di4s]

Greg, thnx a lot, I love hearing your perfect speech, I'm also a teacher and I tell my students about the difference between -to ang -ing in this way: if two actions go at the same moment use gerund after verb cause it's impossible first to enjoy and then to swim or first to hate then to smoke but we use inf if the second action goes after the first one e.g. I decide to go meaning first we decide smth and then we do it. And don't forget to use like+inf speaking about people's habits e.g. I like to go to the gym 3 times a week...anyway, I love your videos and I often use them during my lessons, greetings, Den

[@lydiafife8716]

Ah well I hate to smoke after dinner I hated smoking after dinner I always hated to smoke after dinner I hate to go to the movies I hated going to the movies Not incorrect But there are times one way sounds more “correct” Yes context is everything Yes it sounds fine

[@panszarlotka]

The best grammar lesson ever created on the internet!!! Request to continue such short stories. It is well memorable. ( as long as they are not too long) Thank you Greg and now I'm off to read the PDF. Unfortunately on Gmail your letter went to the offers tab. Sometime ask your listeners to move it to the main folder so gmail's algorithms will deliver your material correctly.

[@ericlinden6498]

Grande aula! 🔥

[@nevelleeroberth6522]

Thank you Greg

[@giulianapaulett3553]

Thanks a lot Greg

[@jorgedangelo3331]

Hola! excelente! thank you!

[@vsecenglishcollege3430]

Very educative. 👍

[@robertdunn6064]

excellent - posted in my Quora writing space

[@samishafizad2436]

i would be gratfull for this . your vidoes are really usefull

[@jexpiperUK]

You could say 'I like to play football' though. Though you couldn't say 'I detest to play football' - you definitely have to use the gerund for that one. So the rule is a bit more nuanced than that. I don't know what it is myself though 😂.

[@max77ekb]

Great video, thanks a lot! One point is still unclear to me: suggest *doing* OR suggest *to do* OR suggest *that* *do(es)* ?

[@advance600]

Options two and three are correct.

[@thelazyowl7084]

Bob told Fred to do homework. Fred does homework. Fred IS DOING homework. ‘Is doing’ is used for something in progress but you wouldn’t just write ‘Fred doing homework’ or ‘Fred to do homework’, as that doesn’t work. I’m not a teacher but I am a native speaker. Hope that kind of helps?

[@davideduardos4621]

Superb!!

[@edcine5521]

Good job !!! .

[@gianpierocostamagna9934]

Thank you.

[@HubertK28]

Hi Greg. This is super useful, thanks a bunch. It would, however, be great if you could also cover the nasty "to + gerund" thing. For example: "She adjusted to living on her own" or "He devoted his life to helping the poor". I got that, in these cases, it's all about the fact that "to" is part of a phrasal verb or verb + preposition combination. It can, on the other hand, be really tricky, for example, inb the case of "used to + infinitve" vs. "used to + gerund". Anyway, I am already looking forward to watching this video 😉.

[@Btissam.20]

Thank you

[@mrsso9582]

Thank you greg

[@oleksandrrozum3461]

Thanks GREG

[@tarielkurbanov855]

Good lesson

[@mrsabraattiaselim5334]

thanks a million

[@alexandrearaujodecarvalho]

That's just what I need.

[@carlosmontenegro1]

thanks bro

[@cmtwei9605]

What you describe as guidelines is in fact pattern recognition from a collection of examples as a convenient way to group together a common pattern. It's convention rather than rules. 'Dare' is a little more complicated than you explained, it's often used in the negative with infinitive. Also the older, more formal pattern would leave out 'to', for example, I didn't dare do this. Sometimes you see the 'dare not' form.😊

[@andreagiraldomdphd.8376]

Good evening Professor, I was wondering if you might know a trick or a rule for figuring out whether to start a sentence with an infinitive or a gerund that carries out the action of noun. For example: Smoking is dangerous To smoke is dangerous Traveling is great To travel is great Shall there be a rule about whether to use one or the other or both? I did not find anything in the books! Thank you kindly and please accept my deepest apologies for disturbing you. I pay my respects to you. Andrea

[@elviarivera3805]

Thanks a lot

[@lbegazo]

Gerund: After Prepositions of time and place Before and After, I always have breakfast before leaving the house. When we are using it as a noun. Swimming is a great exercise. Using verbs to tell us what we like and what we don't like. I love watching football. I adore traveling to foreign countries. I don't mind driving long distances. Start and finish I started driving when I was 17. I finished reading the book last week Suggest and Recommend I suggest leaving early if you want to arrive on time. I recommend taking an umbrella as it's going to rain.

[@theescapeist758]

Greg, I'd like knowing when to use as or when.

[@alexandrearaujodecarvalho]

Is perfect.

[@sahajgunde145]

Please can u make a video on compunds

[@sadib.2502]

Thanks

[@AklesiyaBaye-vx7rl]

I love that

[@user-wl8jc5mp8n]

This video is very good

[@voxveritas333]

As a native English speaker I was taught that the gerund was a verb used as a noun. That was it. The rest of this we must have had to pick it all up along the way as we grew up and learned how to speak, as any native would. So, don't stress out, English learners. It will come. Many native speakers never get all the rules correct, either.

[@pininos2000]

Could you explain me please i have deficulties to understand this topic ,i have an exam

[@user-pp5pi7lu2c]

thanks

[@yungyunting4053]

thank you Mr. Gregg. I was asked by my grandchild to give her a rule. We r Chinese n I know how to use cos I have been studying for 7 decades yet I don't know how to explain.

[@FerozKhan-ss9nn]

This is suffice to say that this teacher/instructor is the one ☝️ who is an expert in teaching English… Islamabad

[@Chrisjude100]

My suspicion, after having been a TEFL teacher for 20+ years, is that the verb followed by to + verb is a throwback to the future participle; i.e. I hope to go to the USA next year. "Hope" is today, while "go" is next year. There's a type of motion (interior/time motion, not physical motion) in verbs like hope, expect, choose, etc. that requires a preposition of motion (to) before the second verb in the base form (the "infinitive" is a term borrowed from other languages).

[@user-sq1fe3ku5m]

Hello Mr. Greg, but are these words: start/begin/continue can be followed by either a to-infinitive or a gerund with no difference in meaning?

[@kriskringleecommerce1367]

" I like to think"(07:18) and "will help us put this" (07:33) are out of those rules ? (Those are not examples, but they are some sentences that he speaks.)

[@josephwest124]

Minor nitpick but with "like" and "love" (at least), using the infinitive works just as well. "I like to watch TV" is as valid as "I like watching TV." With other similar verbs (prefer, enjoy, etc), the gerund is almost certainly the better choice.

[@sujin6458]

7:29 decision making: agree/promise/request/offer/plan/choose + TO 8:43 Expect/hope/wish/wait + TO

[@sergionunzi7108]

Hi there Greg, i'am italian ,one question for you, formal or informal english ? A person non native speaker doesn't understand anything talking with one mother tongue ,one says "easy" the other says " peace of cake" always more hard speaking english, i have learn two ways to speak english ?Thanks and great new year

[@apometun]

I hope to get the Full List of Verbs. I filled the form, but I haven't got an email yet.

[@abdullahoidirisnur5415]

Yes You 🇺🇸 Your English class

[@user-on2xm1gh7v]

Will there be any worksheets?

[@rogeriomarcal5447]

You Rock