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B2grammar34 preguntas

Gerund or infinitive: changes of meaning

Aprendizaje rápido

Several essential English verbs take both gerunds and to-infinitives, but alter their meaning fundamentally based on the complement chosen.

Recuerda

  • Contrast remember, forget, and regret: gerunds look backward at past memories; infinitives look forward to duties and required actions.
  • Contrast stop: stop doing ends or quits an activity; stop to do pauses an activity in order to perform another.
  • Contrast try: try doing conducts an exploratory experiment; try to do makes an intentional effort that may meet difficulty.

Ejemplos

  1. 1Please remember to attach the receipts before submitting your travel expense claim to finance.
  2. 2I vividly remember visiting the ancient Roman amphitheater during my childhood travels across Italy.

Error común que evitar

Saying He stopped to smoke when intending He stopped smoking; the infinitive expresses purpose, meaning he paused in order to smoke.

Profundiza

La regla

  1. Same verb, two meanings

    While many English verbs strictly govern either a gerund or an infinitive, a vital group of verbs can take either complement, with each choice producing a distinct semantic distinction. The core verbs undergoing meaning changes are remember, forget, regret, stop, try, and go on.

  2. Remember, forget, regret

    With remember, forget, and regret, the gerund refers to an action that occurred prior to the mental state (I remember meeting her in Berlin; I will never forget winning that trophy; He regrets resigning). Conversely, the to-infinitive looks forward to a necessary responsibility, task, or impending statement (Remember to lock the gate; Don't forget to pay the bill; I regret to inform you that your application was unsuccessful).

  3. Stop

    With stop, stop doing terminates the activity itself (She stopped drinking coffee), while stop to do indicates pausing one ongoing activity in order to initiate another purpose (While walking home, he stopped to buy a newspaper).

  4. Try

    With try, try doing means testing an experiment to see if it solves a problem (If your computer freezes, try restarting it), whereas try to do denotes making an active effort to achieve a difficult goal (He tried to lift the heavy stone but failed).

Anatomía de la frase

Frases de esta lección, separadas en sus partes en el orden que exige el inglés.

  1. SujetoIModovividlyVerborememberObjetovisiting the ancient Roman amphitheaterTiempoduring my childhood travels across Italy.

  2. SujetoSheTiempolaterVerboregrettedObjetospeaking so sharply to her junior colleagueTiempoduring the team retrospective.

  3. SujetoThe tired long-distance driverVerbostoppedOraciónto drink a cup of strong black coffeeLugarat the roadside diner.

Guía visual

How to read this B2 topic

At B2, the form often changes the focus: agent, emphasis, register, implication, or stance.

1. Decide what is foregrounded

Passive, cleft, inversion, and participle clauses all move attention.

What matters is the evidence.

2. Check register

Some options are grammatical but too informal, too heavy, or unnatural.

Not only did she win, but she broke the record.

3. Watch compressed clauses

Advanced English often removes repeated subjects and auxiliaries.

Having finished, we left.

Decision path before answering

Use these checks before choosing between close options.

  1. 1Mark the subject, main verb, object, and any connector.
  2. 2Underline the time expression or discourse clue.
  3. 3Reject any option with the wrong agreement, tense, article, pronoun case, or word order.
  4. 4Read the whole sentence once more for naturalness and register.

Contrasts that often decide the answer

Event or background

Simple forms move events forward; continuous forms show an action in progress.

I left while she was talking.

Fact or stance

Modals, hedges, and reporting structures show how certain or responsible the speaker sounds.

This may indicate a problem.

Clause or compressed phrase

Advanced writing often compresses full clauses into participle, noun, or prepositional phrases.

Having reviewed the data, we revised the plan.

Ejemplos

  1. 1Please remember to attach the receipts before submitting your travel expense claim to finance.
  2. 2I vividly remember visiting the ancient Roman amphitheater during my childhood travels across Italy.
  3. 3We deeply regret to inform all conference participants that the keynote address has been cancelled.
  4. 4She later regretted speaking so sharply to her junior colleague during the team retrospective.
  5. 5The tired long-distance driver stopped to drink a cup of strong black coffee at the roadside diner.
  6. 6The physician advised him that he needed to stop smoking immediately to prevent chronic respiratory issues.
  7. 7If the stain does not come out with regular detergent, try soaking the fabric in warm white vinegar.
  8. 8The injured runner tried to complete the final lap, but severe muscle spasms forced him to withdraw.
  9. 9After outlining the financial deficit, the finance director went on to propose comprehensive cost-cutting measures.

Excepciones

Go on doing means continuing the same uninterrupted activity (She went on talking for an hour), while go on to do marks transitioning to a new topic or phase (After discussing the budget, he went on to introduce the new director). Like, love, and hate take either form with negligible difference in British English, though like to do often highlights habitual good practice (I like to check my oil weekly) rather than pure enjoyment.

Errores frecuentes

  • Regret to for a past action

    Error

    I regret to tell him the truth yesterday.

    Correcto

    I regret telling him the truth.

    A past action takes the gerund.

  • Stop to vs stop -ing

    Error

    He stopped to smoke.

    Correcto

    He gave up smoking.

    Stopped to smoke means he paused in order to smoke, the opposite meaning.

Repaso

Lo esencial de la lección en una tarjeta, antes de ponerte a prueba.

Recuerda

  1. Contrast remember, forget, and regret: gerunds look backward at past memories; infinitives look forward to duties and required actions.
  2. Contrast stop: stop doing ends or quits an activity; stop to do pauses an activity in order to perform another.
  3. Contrast try: try doing conducts an exploratory experiment; try to do makes an intentional effort that may meet difficulty.

Errores frecuentes

  • Error: I regret to tell him the truth yesterday.

    Correcto: I regret telling him the truth.

  • Error: He stopped to smoke.

    Correcto: He gave up smoking.

Ponte a prueba

Write paired sentences for remember, regret, stop, and try, explaining aloud how the meaning changes in each pair.

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