Unit 11.2

Gerunds and Infinitives with Verbs with difference in meaning

Verb Phrase

Introduction

Sometimes, after certain verbs, we find the gerund (when acting as a noun) or the infinitive, but the meaning of those verbs change. {see Verbs followed by Gerunds and Infinitives, A2 level}

Form

These formations have the same structures:

Subject + verb + gerund + object…
Subject + verb + to + verb + object…

The most commonly used verbs are: forget, remember, stop...

Example

	GERUND	INFINITIVE
Forget	It seems she will never forget loving* her first boyfriend.* (She has memories about loving in the past.)*	She forgot to meet* with her uncle.* (She needed to meet with her uncle but she forgot to do that.)*
Remember	He still remembers listening to his favorite band. (He has memories in the past.)*	We were sitting at the table and he remembered to listen* to his favorite band.* (He didn’t forget to listen to his favorite band.)*
Stop	I stopped searching* for my book.* (Means that I tried a lot but I didn’t succeed so I gave up.)*	He was walking and suddenly he stopped to* look around.* (He was doing another activity but in order to look around he stopped.)*

NOT:

She remembers living in a dictator regime back in 1983. (A memory in the past)
I remembered to give testimony against the armed gang. (Did not forget to give)
Policemen stopped searching for evidence because they couldn’t find any. (Policemen tried but failed)
They stopped to talk about religion as Mary came. (They were doing one activity but they stopped because another one has started)

Use

We use the gerund or the infinitive after certain verbs, as the meaning of the sentence changes.

Summary

After certain verbs, we find the gerund (when acting as a noun) or the infinitive, but the meaning of those verbs change. {see Verbs followed by Gerunds and Infinitives, A2 level}

The most commonly used verbs are: forget, remember, stop…

These formations have the same structures:

We start with the subject of the sentence followed by the verb, a gerund and the object of the senence.
We start with the subject of the sentence followed by the verb, the preposition to, another verb, and the object of the senence.

For example:
— “I stopped working out a month ago.” = I stopped performing the activity of working out a month ago.
— “I was studying for an hour but then I stopped to work out.” = I stopped doing the activity of studying in order to start another activity, that of working out.

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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