Verbs followed by '-ing' or infinitive to change meaning
Look at these examples to see how these verb patterns work.
The bus stopped picking up the children.
The bus stopped to pick up the children.I want to try studying with a friend to see if it helps us stay more motivated.
I'm trying to study but it's impossible with all this noise.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
Some verbs have a different meaning depending on whether they are followed by an -ing form or to + infinitive.
stop
Stop + -ing means the action is not happening any more.
I've stopped buying the newspaper because now I read the news online.
Stop + to + infinitive means that someone or something stops an activity so that they can do something else.
He stopped the video to ask the students some questions.
try
Try + -ing means that you are trying something as an experiment, especially as a possible solution to a problem, to see if it works or not.
Have you tried turning the computer off and on again?
Try + to + infinitive means that something is difficult but you are making an effort to do it.
I'm trying to learn Japanese but it's very difficult.
remember/forget
Remember + -ing and forget + -ing refer to having (or not having) a memory of something in the past.
I remember watching this film before.
I'll never forget meeting you for the first time in this cafรฉ.
Remember + to + infinitive and forget + to + infinitive refer to recalling (or not recalling) that there is something we need to do before we do it.
Please remember to buy some milk on the way home.
He forgot to lock the door when he went out.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ค ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ช "๐๐๐" / "๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐" (to change meaning)
๐ญ-๐ฆ๐๐ผ๐ฝ:
๐ข- ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑโ + ๐ช๐ฏ๐จโ = ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅโ ๐ข๐ฏโ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏโ.
Example 1 :
-My father ๐๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ due to health issues.
---> He no longer works. (He quit his job completely)
Example 2 :
-He ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐.
--->He no longer smokes.
๐ฃ-๐๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ + ๐ต๐ฐ + ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ=๐ฑ๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ.
Example 1:
-My father ๐๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฑ working ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ a rest. (Stop + to + infinitive)
---> He paused one action (working) so he can do another (to rest).
Example 2:
Weโll ๐๐๐ผ๐ฝ at the next restaurant ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ lunch.
๐-๐๐ซ๐ฒ:
๐ข-๐๐ณ๐บ + ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ= ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ง ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ด.
Example 1 :
-Iโll ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด this application to recover the deleted files; Iโm not sure if it will work.
---> I'm testing the application as a possible solution.
Example 2:
-๐ง๐ฟ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด the right button and wait a moment. If it doesnโt work, call me again.
๐ฃ- ๐๐ณ๐บ + ๐ต๐ฐ + ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ = ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ต.
Example 1:
-I ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ ๐ a transfer for your son to another department, but it was beyond my control.
---> I made an effort, but I didnโt succeed.
Example 2:
-Iโll ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ it, but that will take a lot of time!
---> That wonโt be easy. It will require more time and effort.
๐-๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ / ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ญ:
๐ข- ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ + ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ= ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ.
Example :
-Jeans: And the sugar?
-Marcia: Yes, I ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด sugar in my coffee.
-Jeans: Ok, you're right. That's really healthy.
---> Marcia is saying she remembers that she didnโt do an action in the past ( put sugar in her coffee).
๐ฃ-๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ + ๐ต๐ฐ + ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ= ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ (๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ)
Example :
-Mother: ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ก your teeth before going to bed.
-Son: Yes, I will.
--->Remember to brush your teeth ....= Donโt forget to brush your teeth.
๐ค-๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต + ๐ต๐ฐ + ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ = ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ.
Example:
Police: And your driver licence, please?
Marcia: Sorry, I ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ดo๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด it.
๐ฅ- ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต + ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ = ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ.
Example 1:
-Mother: Allรด Marcia, did you lock the outer door before leaving.
-Marcia: I'm not sure. I ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ it.
-Mother: You should go back and check it right now!
Example 2:
-Marcia: Hi mum, I ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ผ๐ ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด food to the rabbit.
-Mother: No, you did it. I have found your pet eating carrot.
--->Marcia canโt remember whether she gave the food to her pet.
Thank you so much, Mounir. Your summary is really usefull !
Hi,
When I want to say that I want sb to do sth else using 'would rather' Should I say, for example, I would rather you stayed than went or I would rather you stayed than go?
Best wishes
ZS
Hello Zuzanna123,
The verbs should be consistent so you should use 'went':
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi,
Which one is correct?
I tried to lift the suitcase but it was too heavy.
Vs
I tried lifting the suitcase but it was too heavy
I noticed that in your " try to..." example, you ended that sentence with "but" followed by a reason FOR the failure identical to the one in the my sentence. Is it a convention that "try to..." BE followed by "but"?
Also, tell me whether "reason" should be followed by "of" or "for", in this question paragraph ("for "has been capitalised for your perusal).
Finally, is the subjunctive "be" that I have used in this question employed in accordance with the rules of Grammar? Once again, the "be" in question is capitalised for your convenience .
Hello GnaisAugustus,
Both could possibly be correct (since 'tried to lift' refers more to difficulty and 'tried lifting' refers more to an experiment), but since 'but it was too heavy' implies that the speaker could not lift the suitcase, I'd say 'tried to lift' is the best answer.
Often there is a phrase with 'but' with both 'try to Verb' and 'try Verbing', so you have to consider what the most likely meaning is when deciding which form to use. The context should make this clear in many contexts. And yes, 'reason for the failure' is correct (not 'reason of').
And yes, it's fine to say 'be' in the way that you did. It's a little unusual in informal conversation -- where we'd probably say 'Is it correct to use 'but' after 'try to?' -- but it is correct.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hello, hope you people are fine.
Could I ask correction in following sentence.
"Increasing overpopulation is the biggest threat human beings facing today."
Hello MartialWhite,
There are two possible ways to correct the sentence:
Please note that generally we do not correct sentences for users. Our focus is on explaining, not correcting. Otherwise we would end up just being a proofreading service!
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you Peter.
Could you please explain why "facing" can't be used in 1st sentence?
Hello again MartialWhite,
The first sentence is actually a relative clause where the relative pronoun has been omitted:
In a relative clause you need a finite verb (face) after the subject (human beings), not a participle.
Peter
The LearnEnglish