GERUND OR INFINITIVE EXERCISE 1
level: Beginner/Intermediate (A2/B1)
✓ Useful for TOEFL
✓ Useful for Cambridge B2/C1
Choosing between the gerund (-ing form) and the infinitive (to + verb) is one of the trickier areas of English grammar, largely because there is no single rule that covers every case. The choice usually depends on the verb, adjective, or preposition that comes before. This is exercise 1 of 3 in this series.
GRAMMAR REVIEW: Gerund or Infinitive? — The Foundations
A gerund is the -ing form of a verb used as a noun: Swimming is fun. / I enjoy reading.
An infinitive is to + base verb: I want to travel. / It's easy to forget.
Use the gerund after these common verbs:
enjoy, avoid, consider, suggest, keep, mind, deny, admit, finish, practise, miss, risk, imagine
I enjoy swimming. / She suggested going to the park. / He finished eating.
Use the infinitive after these common verbs:
want, need, hope, plan, decide, learn, promise, agree, expect, choose, manage, refuse, offer
I want to travel. / They decided to stay. / She promised to call.
Use the gerund after prepositions — always:
He's good at drawing. / We talked about leaving early. / I'm interested in learning more.
Use the gerund as the subject of a sentence:
Swimming is fun. / Learning English can be challenging.
TOP TIP! "Stop" changes meaning depending on the form:
I stopped smoking. → quit the habit
I stopped to smoke. → paused what I was doing to have a cigarette
The same applies to remember, forget, and try.
A gerund is the -ing form of a verb used as a noun: Swimming is fun. / I enjoy reading.
An infinitive is to + base verb: I want to travel. / It's easy to forget.
Use the gerund after these common verbs:
enjoy, avoid, consider, suggest, keep, mind, deny, admit, finish, practise, miss, risk, imagine
I enjoy swimming. / She suggested going to the park. / He finished eating.
Use the infinitive after these common verbs:
want, need, hope, plan, decide, learn, promise, agree, expect, choose, manage, refuse, offer
I want to travel. / They decided to stay. / She promised to call.
Use the gerund after prepositions — always:
He's good at drawing. / We talked about leaving early. / I'm interested in learning more.
Use the gerund as the subject of a sentence:
Swimming is fun. / Learning English can be challenging.
TOP TIP! "Stop" changes meaning depending on the form:
I stopped smoking. → quit the habit
I stopped to smoke. → paused what I was doing to have a cigarette
The same applies to remember, forget, and try.
Fill in each space with either the gerund ("-ing") or the infinitive (to ...) form of the verb.
Example: "Reading in the dark is difficult." OR "Don't forget to brush your teeth."
MORE LIKE THIS:
Gerund or infinitive 1 (A2/B1)
Gerund or infinitive 2 (A2/B1)
Gerund or infinitive 3 (B1/B2)
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Gerund or infinitive 1 (A2/B1)
Gerund or infinitive 2 (A2/B1)
Gerund or infinitive 3 (B1/B2)
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DID YOU KNOW? Why gerunds and infinitives are so hard
The gerund/infinitive distinction is notoriously difficult for ESL learners — and for good reason: unlike most grammar rules, there's no single underlying logic that covers all cases. The choice after many verbs is simply a matter of convention that has to be learned verb by verb.
Interestingly, some verbs accept both forms with no change in meaning — like, love, hate, and start are the classic examples: "I love swimming" and "I love to swim" mean exactly the same thing. Others — stop, remember, forget, and try — accept both forms but with a significant difference in meaning, which is what makes them so frequently tested.
In Cambridge B2 First and C1 Advanced, gerund/infinitive distinctions appear regularly in Use of English Part 1 (multiple choice cloze) and Part 4 (sentence transformations). A typical transformation: "I regret telling him the truth" → "I wish I hadn't told him the truth" — requiring the learner to recognize that regret + gerund refers to something already done.
The gerund/infinitive distinction is notoriously difficult for ESL learners — and for good reason: unlike most grammar rules, there's no single underlying logic that covers all cases. The choice after many verbs is simply a matter of convention that has to be learned verb by verb.
Interestingly, some verbs accept both forms with no change in meaning — like, love, hate, and start are the classic examples: "I love swimming" and "I love to swim" mean exactly the same thing. Others — stop, remember, forget, and try — accept both forms but with a significant difference in meaning, which is what makes them so frequently tested.
In Cambridge B2 First and C1 Advanced, gerund/infinitive distinctions appear regularly in Use of English Part 1 (multiple choice cloze) and Part 4 (sentence transformations). A typical transformation: "I regret telling him the truth" → "I wish I hadn't told him the truth" — requiring the learner to recognize that regret + gerund refers to something already done.
