Choosing between infinitive and -ing forms

· Open choice

In a small number of cases (for example, after begin and start) it makes no difference whether we choose an infinitive or an -ing form:

It began/started raining/to rain just as we were leaving.

· Hypothetical and factual statements

When we can choose between an infinitive and an -ing form, we sometimes choose the infinitive in order to stress that something is more speculative or hypothetical. We choose an -ing form more to describe what actually happens or has happened:

It’s bad for you to do exercise straight after a meal. (So, if you were thinking about doing some exercise, perhaps you shouldn’t.)

Doing exercise straight after a meal is bad for you. (Statement of fact.)

· After certain verbs

Try

After try we use:

- an infinitive to suggest some kind of effort or difficulty involved in an action:

They tried to persuade their daughter not to smoke.

- an -ing form to make suggestions:

Try drinking camomile tea just before you go to bed.

Stop, remember, forget, regret and go on

After a number of verbs we choose:

-infinitives to look forward.

-ing forms to look at the present or past.

stop + infinitive	I stopped to stretch my legs. (I stopped (walking) and then stretched my legs - that was why I stopped.)
stop + -ing	I stopped smoking. (I smoked until I stopped.)
remember/forget + infinitive	Remember/Don’t forget to pick up your dry- cleaning. (i.e. remember something which should happen subsequently.)
remember/forget + -ing	I can remember/never forget going to my great- grandmother's. (i.e. remember/forget an event from further back in the past.)
regret + infinitive	I regret to inform you that your presence is no longer required…(I am about to inform you.)
regret + -ing	I don’t regret getting married. (i.e. my marriage which took place in the past.)
go on + infinitive	After he left university he went on to become one of the world's top medical researchers. (This is what happened next.)
go on + -ing	He went on playing tennis long after the doctor had told him to stop (He continued an activity that he had started previously.)

Love, like and hate

After love, like and hate in British English we generally use an –ing form, while in American English the infinitive is equally common:

I like dancing. (British and American)

I like to dance. (American)

In British English we can also use an infinitive after love, like and hate to refer to actions which happen only occasionally:

I hate to interrupt your class, but there’s a call for you.

I love to find myself completely alone in some vast gothic building.

We use an infinitive after would (‘d) like, love and hate:

I’d like to leave.

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