GERUND or INFINITIVE - TO LEARN or LEARNING English

Is it I enjoy to read or I enjoy reading? And is it I stopped to eat lunch or I stopped eating lunch? Do you often wonder do I need the gerund or the infinitive? Let's fix that. Today you'll learn everything you need to correctly use gerunds and infinitives in English. Welcome back to Which sentence is correct? A. I enjoy to swim every morning or B. I enjoy swimming every morning? The correct answer is B. I enjoy swimming every morning. You need to use the gerund which is of course your verb plus ing with preferences. Enjoy, like, love, dislike, hate, detest, loathe, and prefer. The word detest means you really hate something and then loathe means you really really hate something. You might say I loathe. Now you need a gerund. So what is I loathe shoveling the snow at 6 a.m. in the cold. Now let's think of the more positive. I love staying, your verb and ing, I love staying in my warm bed when it's cold outside. Or you can say I prefer. I prefer drinking tea when it's cold out. Now you may already know that it's acceptable to use the infinitive I love to stay in my warm bed or the gerund I love staying in my warm bed after certain verbs of preference. So this isn't after all verbs of preference but you can safely use the infinitive with like, love, hate, prefer, but never enjoy. And that's why I always say the gerund is the safest choice because it's always correct and it's used with all verbs of preference so it's just an easier rule to remember. Don't worry about taking these notes I summarize everything in a free lesson PDF you can find the link in the description. And if you want more in depth training on this topic and you want to ask me questions and have me review your practice exercises and give you feedback on mistakes and areas for improvement, you can get that in the finely fluent Academy, you can look for the link in the description or go to my website to join. Now which is correct, we began to file the reports, we began filing the reports, which is correct. Did you say a, that's correct. Did you say B, that's correct to just like with certain verbs of preference, not all of them certain ones, you can use the infinitive or gerund after begin, start, continue. But again, remember, in my opinion, the gerund is the safest choice because it's always correct. But you can say we started filing with the gerund because start is your verb, so it's the verb that follows that's in the gerund or infinitive, not the verb itself. We started filing the reports, or we started to file the reports. Let's continue filing, or let's continue to file the reports. You'll hear natives use both, which is correct. We finished to file the reports. We finished filing the reports. The correct answer is B, we finished filing. You must use the gerund after the verbs finish or end. And again, this is why I say it's safer to just memorize these verbs and use the gerund rather than trying to memorize which ones, you can use both. It's just easier in my opinion. So we finished organizing the files. Again, the verb that follows. We ended working overtime. We're no longer doing that. How about this one? She stopped to eat lunch, or she stopped eating lunch. Did you say A is correct? Or did you say B is correct? Well, both are correct. But in this case, the meaning changes. So yes, you can use both. But there's a specific time that you would use the infinitive and a specific time you you would use the gerund because they communicate different things. So stop plus infinitive. This is to pause one action to start something else. So if you say she stopped to eat lunch, this means she stopped an unspecified action because we don't know what the action is. But she started eating lunch. If you say stop plus gerund, this means that the action stops entirely. So she stopped eating lunch. The action of eating lunch stopped. Now often both of these are used together. She stopped working to eat lunch. So the action of working stops because we have stop plus gerund. She stopped working and the action of eating lunch starts. She stopped to eat lunch. She stopped working to eat lunch. Again, this is why I provide personalized feedback to all my students in the Finally Fluent Academy. So if you want more personalized support, you can join the program. Now let's review this. She stopped smoking last year. This means she quit the habit. She no longer smokes, but very different. If you she stopped to smoke outside, this means she paused what she was doing. We don't know what she was doing, but she paused it to have a cigarette. So to start smoking. Let's review these. Is it A, I remember locking the door or B, I remember to lock the door. Hmm. If you're thinking, well, A looks correct, but B looks correct. I know I've seen remember plus infinitive. Well, you're right again, because both are correct. But again, the meaning changes. So they're not interchangeable. Like saying, I like to sleep in. I like sleeping in. In this case, there's a very distinct meaning. Remember plus gerund means you have the memory of the past action. So if I'm thinking back, I would say, I remember seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time. It was incredible. I have the memory of the action. So it would be common to say, I remember meeting her at the party. I have the memory. I don't remember meeting her at the party. It's very commonly used in the negative. If you use remember plus infinitive, this is for a future goal or a reminder. So you often hear this in the infinitive. Remember to lock the door before you leave. This is very commonly said. I'm saying this to remind you to lock the door. Or I might say, remember to call me when you land. Or you can equally use don't forget, which has the exact same meaning. And again, this is in the imperative. Don't forget to call me when you land, which is correct. A, to quit her job is the best option. Or B, quitting her job is the best option, which is correct. It's B, quitting her job. In this case, the gerund, the verb in ING functions as the subject of the sentence. You can begin a sentence with the gerund to make a general statement. And this is extremely common in English sentence structure. For example, exercising regularly improves your mood. Now the subject of this sentence is exercising. And because there is one gerund is conjugated as third person singular, which is why improves has an S on it. Exercising it improves your mood. Or another general statement, cooking at home saves money and is healthier. Or of course, learning English, learning in your ING. Learning English takes time, but it's worth it, which is correct. A, she decided to quit her job. B, she decided quitting her job, which is correct. In this case, it's A. You want the infinitive, which of course is two plus base verb, after verbs that show intentions, plans, or decisions. So verbs like decide, plan, want, or hope. I want to improve my English. They plan to travel this summer. I hope to see you at the party, which is correct. A, let's talk about to extend the contract. B, let's talk about extending the contract. Do you know? It is B. Hopefully you know this one, because after a preposition, you must use a gerund. So in this case, about is the preposition. This is extremely common in English. I'm interested in, in is a preposition, in learning Spanish. She's good at, that's a preposition, playing tennis. We took off doing yoga. So to take up, this is a phrasal verb, but what is a phrasal verb? It's a verb plus preposition. That's why gerunds are so common with phrasal verbs, but after a preposition, you can use the gerund or a noun. So you can absolutely say we took up yoga, which is very common, which is correct. A, I look forward to meet you or B, I look forward to meeting you. Well, even though I hear most students say A, that is not the correct answer. It's grammatically incorrect. You must use the gerund. I look forward to meeting you. B of course is correct because to is a preposition. And what did we just learn? Preposition plus gerund. The expression is to look forward to, to belongs to the expression, which means it's a preposition. It's not a marker for the infinitive. And you look forward to something. We look forward to reviewing your proposal, the gerund. You can also use a noun. She's looking forward to her vacation. Now, remember you need to conjugate look because that's the main verb in the sentence. You may see that verb in the ING form when it's conjugated in the present continuous, for example, which is correct. A, I avoided to go there. B, I avoided going there. What do you think? Infinitive or gerund? You need the gerund. B is correct. So use the gerund after avoid, deny, postpone, delay, and risk. For example, they postponed meeting the clients. She denied breaking the vase, or he risked investing his money in Bitcoin, which is correct. A, he suggested me to arrive early. B, he suggested arriving early. The correct answer is B. Although I hear many mistakes with this, you need to use the gerund after suggest, recommend, advise, and consider. And also do not add the object pronoun. So do not say recommend me. Even if you use the gerund, it's incorrect. So A was incorrect for two reasons. You can say the client recommended extending the contract. The lawyer advised ending the contract. We considered getting a third opinion, which means another opinion, which is correct. A, he pretended to help his mom, or B, he pretended helping his mom. The correct answer is A. You want the infinitive. So use the infinitive with verbs that describe actions that are intentional or planned. Pretend, agree, refuse, choose, decide, expect are some, but not all. She agreed to join the team. He refused to answer the question. They chose to stay home instead, which is correct. A, she's used to work from home. B, she's used to working from home. Do you know? I hear a lot of mistakes with this one. The correct answer is B. The sentence structure is to be used to. She is used to. And then you need something, which would be a gerund or a noun. Just like we saw before with look forward to, to is a preposition. So you can say she's used to waking up early or a something, a noun. She's used to the cold. Now this means she is comfortable with these actions because they are routine. What about this one? Is it A, she used to work from home, or B, she used to working from home? What do you think? In this case, you want A because that sentence structure is different. She used to work from home. So notice it's subject, used to, and then your base verb. So there is no verb to be here, and it's a different sentence structure. And this simply describes a routine past action. Don't confuse this with she is used to working from home, which is grammatically correct, but the meaning is different, a feeling of comfort with that activity, which is correct. A, I had a difficult time to file the reports. B, I had a difficult time filing the reports. The correct answer is B, the gerund. So the sentence structure is to have, conjugated, a or an, you need an Now following this, you use a gerund. For example, she had, so that's conjugated in the past simple, she had a lovely time. Lovely is the adjective, doing something, catching up with friends, or she had an enjoyable time baking cookies with her mom, which is correct. A, it's worth to subscribe to J Forrest English, or B, it's worth subscribing to J Forrest English. What do you think? The correct answer is B, you want the gerund. So the sentence structure is to be worth, it is worth, and then your gerund, doing something. It's worth, it is, it's worth, now a gerund. It's worth seeing that movie. Or you can change the sentence structure and start with a gerund. Seeing that movie is worth it. If you do this, you must use the object pronoun it because this phrase requires the object. So you can't say seeing that movie is worth, grammatically incorrect. You must say it. Seeing that movie is worth it. Which sentence is correct? A, I tried to fix the printer. Or B, I tried fixing the printer. What do you think? Did you say A? Did you say B? Well, both are correct. But the meaning changes. When you use try plus infinitive, I tried to fix. This means that you make an effort to do something. The technician tried to fix the printer. When you use try plus gerund, your verb in ING, this means you experiment to see what happens. Did you try restarting it? Did you try restarting it? So if I say this, I'm offering this as a suggestion to experiment with. I don't know if that will help. I just want to experiment. So you could say, I tried learning English with Jennifer, and I absolutely loved it, so I subscribed. Notice how here the gerund is the correct form because you're experimenting. I tried learning English with Jennifer, and your experiment worked out because you subscribe. So if that describes you, put that's right, that's right, put that's right in the comments. Now, which one is correct? A, I regret to quit, or B, I regret quitting. What do you think? The correct answer is B, I regret quitting. There are certain situations like try where both can be used. Maybe it changes the meaning. Maybe it doesn't. Those are exceptions. In most cases, one option is required, like in this case. Now, when you say I regret quitting, it means you feel bad about something you did in the past. So you might say, I regret not spending a year traveling after I graduate. Okay, so regret is your regular verb. And the following verb, in this case, not spending, so spend, that's your verb in the gerund. And with regret, you might regret things that you didn't do. And that's why not is in front of the gerund. In question form, you might ask, do you regret? Now you need your gerund. Do you regret investing in crypto? Hmm. Now, if you're thinking, Jennifer, I've seen regret plus infinitive, you're right. But it's only used for formal or polite bad news is most commonly used in a rejection letter, which is normally an email, not a handwritten letter. But it would say, we regret to inform you that your application has been rejected. Now keep in mind, this is only used in this specific context, it would sound awkward, unnatural, incorrect to say, I regret to invest in crypto. That is not used. Which do you need? A, my room needs to clean. B, my room needs cleaning. You need B, the gerund, need plus gerund, the noun. So in this case, the noun is the noun becomes the subject receiving the action, not doing the action. So need plus gerund, this is the passive voice, right? Because the subject is receiving the action. So you could say the files need organizing. The files are receiving the action. You cannot say the files need to organize because the files are not doing the action. But you could say, do you already know what I'm going to say? You could say the files need to be organized. Ah, the files are receiving the action because what I just shared is the passive voice. So in this case, you do have the infinitive to be and then organized functions as the adjective is in the ED form as the adjective. This structure is also used with the verb require. So you could say the report requires editing, the report is receiving the action, which is correct. A, he managed to finish on time. B, he managed finishing on time. What do you think? The correct answer is A. So the sentence structure is to manage to do something. It's your regular sentence structure with the infinitive. Manage is your verb that you conjugate and to do represents whatever action in the infinitive. And this means to successfully do something even if some difficulty or effort was involved. So if you say the team managed to finish the project early, they did the action, but difficulty was involved. It wasn't easy. Or you could say despite the traffic, we managed to get to the We did the action, we got to the airport, but it was difficult because of the traffic, which is correct. A, despite to leave late, we managed to get there on time. B, despite leaving late, we managed to get there on time. The correct answer is B, despite leaving late. Despite is a preposition. And the rule is, you already know this, preposition plus gerund. So you must use the verb in ing. Despite being stuck in traffic, we got to the airport on time. Now, you can also say despite the traffic, we got to the airport on time. Because you can use despite plus gerund or a noun because you don't always want to talk about an action. You might just want to talk about a thing, the traffic, despite the traffic. And just to make sure we're on the same page, despite means without considering or not prevented by something negative. So despite the traffic, we weren't prevented by that. You will use this phrase in your job interviews, but which is the correct one? A, I have significant experience to manage projects. B, I have significant experience managing projects. Do you need the infinitive or the gerund? You need B, the gerund. So here the expression is to have experience, you can add a modifier such as to have significant experience, and then the action is in the gerund. So for example, she has, so have is your verb that you need to conjugate. She has 10 years of, that's the modifier, 10 years of experience. Now we need an action. Preparing English lessons. Oh, that describes me. Our company has extensive experience working with startups. So doing something extensive is a formal way of saying a lot of extensive and significant are used in job interviews or more formal situations. In a regular situation, you can use a lot of, for example, I don't have, you can make this negative. I don't have a lot of experience creating Excel tables, but I'm a fast learner. Which do you need? A, I miss to ride my bike to work. Or B, I miss riding my bike to work. You need B, miss plus gerund. And in this case, miss represents something you enjoy doing in the past and feel sad you no longer do. So I used to ride my bike to work, but maybe I moved to a different area, or I got a different job in a different location. And now it's just not possible to ride my bike to work, but I miss it. Or you might say in winter, I really miss seeing the sun. And of course you can use this in your personal life. And you might say to a friend, I miss hanging out with you. You're always so busy with your new job. Which do you need? A, she failed to submit the report. B, she failed submitting the report. You need A, she failed to submit. So fail plus infinitive, which means not successful. He failed to pass the exam. He was not successful. He didn't pass the exam. The candidate failed to follow the instructions. They didn't do this action. The sales team failed to meet its targets. They didn't do the action. They were not successful. Which do you need? A, she tends to worry too much. Or B, she tends worrying too much. The correct answer is A. So our verb is to tend. But this is a regular sentence structure, and the regular sentence structure is first verb conjugated, second verb infinitive, to tend plus infinitive. Now, what does this mean? This means that you usually do something, or you usually behave in that specific way. So you might say it tends to be cloudy in the afternoon in spring. So you can use this with weather patterns, traffic patterns, or you can use this with people's activities and behaviors. She tends to come late to meetings. Maybe she doesn't do this every time, but it's a pattern. She usually does this. Is it A, I'd appreciate to hear your thoughts? Or B, I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts. The correct answer is B. It's appreciate plus gerund. It's also very common to use the noun. I'd appreciate receiving your feedback. So that's an action, your verb and ing, the gerund. But you might just want to talk about the thing, the noun. I'd appreciate your feedback. Would you say imagine to win the lottery? Or imagine winning the lottery? You would say B, it's imagine plus gerund. And this is a hypothetical situation. So I might ask you to imagine living in a quiet mountain village. And I would ask you this if you don't live in a quiet mountain village. Maybe you live in the center of Manhattan or Tokyo. And every day you hear the traffic. So I say imagine living in a quiet mountain village. We commonly form sentences in the I can't imagine. I can't imagine waking up at 4am every day. So I would probably say this if my friend tells me she wakes up at 4am every day, or I have to wake up at 4am for a specific project or meeting. And I, I find it so difficult. I say I can't imagine doing this every day. Is it A, do you mind to help me? Or B, do you mind helping me? It is B because this is a gerund expression. You can use do you mind or would you mind helping me so after that you would use your gerund. Now to reply, you would say, I don't mind helping you. This is how you accept. I don't mind helping you. Or you can just use a different expression. If someone asks, do you mind helping me? You can reply back with a totally different expression and say, I'd be happy to help you because that sentence structure doesn't require the gerund because it's a different sentence structure. Now it is possible, but rarely used in the positive because it means you are upset about the action. So if I ask you, do you mind helping me? And you reply back and say, Jennifer, I mind helping you. It means you're upset or inconvenienced by the request by helping me. So that's why it is possible grammatically, but rarely used in the positive. Is it a, let's postpone to update the report until next week or B let's postpone updating the report until next week. It's B you need the gerund. And this is with postpone, delay, push back, or put off, which all have a similar meaning. All of these require the gerund. You might say we need to push back launching the website until the bugs are fixed. Now back is a So you would use the gerund regardless, but with the same meaning, regular verb, you still use the gerund. Unfortunately, we had to delay going on vacation. Again, you can always use a noun, which to me, I would use and say, unfortunately, we had to delay our vacation. I would talk about this thing being delayed rather than the action. Is it a, we spent the whole day to admire the sculptures in the park, or B, we spent the whole day admiring the sculptures in the park. It's B because you spend time plus gerund. You spend time doing something. I spent the night scrolling on TikTok. We spent hours reviewing the documents A similar expression is don't waste time. So spend time, waste time, you still need the gerund. Don't waste time updating those files. Is it a, she couldn't help to laugh during the presentation, or B, she couldn't help laughing during the presentation. The correct answer is B because it couldn't help plus gerund. And this means that you're unable to not do the action. He couldn't help thinking about the problem all night. He didn't want to per se, but he couldn't stop. Or she couldn't help smiling when her boss announced he was leaving the company. Don't confuse this with simply to help someone do something. So you need the base verb. I can help you file those reports. Can you help me clean the kitchen? The gerund expression, I couldn't help, is a different meaning, different sentence structure. Is it a, I resisted to smile when my coworker got in trouble, or B, I resisted smiling when my coworker got in trouble. It's B. Couldn't help has the same meaning as couldn't resist. So you could say, I couldn't help smiling. I couldn't resist smiling when my coworker got in trouble. So this means you were unable to not smile. Even though you know that smiling when someone else gets in trouble, it's probably not the best thing to do. You can also use this positively and say, I resisted smiling when my coworker got in trouble. This means you wanted to smile, but you didn't. So you might say, I resisted the temptation. But this is a regular expression. It uses the infinitive. I resisted the temptation to eat the whole box of cookies. So here it's to resist. That's the verb you conjugate. The temptation, you always need the, and then the infinitive. Is it A, she practiced to speak English, or B, she practiced speaking English? Well, you may know that it's B. Hopefully you've said this many times. She practiced speaking English. This sales team practiced handling objections. Today we're practicing passing the ball. So practicing, of course, is your conjugated verb, is in the ING form because it's in the present continuous. Is the verb that follows, that's the gerund verb. In this case, passing is the gerund verb. Is it A, she kept to talk during the movie, or B, she kept talking during the movie? It's B. So keep plus gerund. I can say to you, you have to keep practicing your English, right? You have to keep reviewing everything you learn, right? You have to keep learning new vocabulary, right? Of course you do. So put yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Put yes, in the comments if you agree. 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