Gerund or infinitive: Verb patterns

When to use gerund or infinitive

In the table below, you can see when to use gerund or infinitive.

Verbs that take gerund or infinitive with a change of meaning

Some verbs, such as forget, remember, try, stop and need, can be followed by a gerund or an infinitive, but the meaning changes.

Forget

Forget to do something: Used to talk about things that we need to do, and we forget to do them.

• I think I forgot to lock the door when we left. 
• Don’t forget to call me when you finish.

Forget doing something: It’s normally used in negative sentences. Used to talk about memories, normally about things that we did in the past and that we will not forget.

• I’ll never forget walking on that amazing beach for the first time. 

Remember

Remember to do something: You remember first, and then you do something. Used to talk about things we need to do.

• He didn’t remember to turn off the heating after class. 
• Will you please remember to close the windows if you leave?

Remember doing something: Used to talk about memories. We remember things from the past.

• I remember eating on this same chair the day I graduated. 
• I remember mentioning the issue to Elisabeth last week.

Try

Try to do something: When we try to do something, we make an effort to achieve something that maybe we will or will not accomplish.

• Could you please try to be a bit less rude?
• I’ll try to convince him, but I’m not sure that’s going to change anything. 

Try doing something: Used when we want to achieve something and try something as an experiment to see if it helps us achieve what we want. We try a method (one of the many we could try) to achieve something.

• A: “I need to sleep, but I can’t.” B: “Why don’t you try drinking a glass of hot milk?”
• I can’t contact Jane. I‘ve tried calling her home number and also on her mobile, but nothing. 

Stop

Stop to do something: Used when we stop doing an activity so as to start doing a different one.

• We had been driving for hours, so we had to stop to eat something and go to the toilet. 

Stop doing something: It means to finish doing something that we are doing.

• Could you stop biting your nails? 
• I need to stop smoking once and for all. 

Need

Need to do something: It’s necessary to do something

• I need to see you immediately.

Something needs doing: It has a passive meaning. It means that something needs to be done.

• Your car needs cleaning. (=Your car needs to be cleaned.)