30 Verbs followed by Gerunds and Infinitives

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Introduction

There are some verbs that need to be followed by a gerund or infinitive.

Form

The verbs followed by a gerund (a verb acting as a noun) or infinitive (the basic form of the verb preceded by to) have these structure:

  • The most commonly used verbs + gerund [verb + -ing] are: admit, avoid, celebrate, dislike, suggest, give up, miss, tolerate…
  • The most commonly used verbs + infinitive [to + verb] are: agree, care, decide, hope, manage, pretend, seem, wait…

Example

  • Verbs + gerund
    • They admitted making a mistake.
    • He avoided paying taxes.
    • She celebrated passing her driving test.
  • Verbs + infinitive
    • We agreed to pay more for the house.
    • She just doesn’t care to come tonight.
    • I decided to travel for a year.

Use

We use verb + gerund/infinitive if we want to follow a verb with another action. Some verbs are used with gerunds and some with infinitive, and there is no rule to distinguish them.

Summary

Certain verbs need to be followed by a gerund (verbs acting as nouns) or an infinitive (to + verb). There is no rule regarding this topic, therefore you need to learn them off by heart.

  • The most commonly used verbs followed by gerund are: admit, avoid, celebrate, dislike, suggest, give up, miss, tolerate…
  • The most commonly used verbs followed by infinitive are: agree, care, decide, hope, manage, pretend, seem, wait…

For example:
— “I admit loving you.” = The verb admit is followed by a gerund.
— “I decided to marry him.” = The verb decide is followed by an infinitive.

Let’s revise this content within the {Form} section. Take a look at the {Example} section that shows its use within a context.

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