Gerund and infinitive

Gerunds are formed by adding –ing to the end of a verb. Some examples are eating and playing.

Words that should be followed by gerunds such as avoid, enjoy, and dislike and there is no great way to remember which words except through considerable amounts of practice using them.

We use gerunds (verb + ing):

• After certain verbs - I enjoy singing
• After prepositions - I drank a cup of coffee before leaving
• As the subject or object of a sentence - Swimming is good exercise

Infinitives use to before the verb, so the examples above would be to eat, to play, and to listen. Both can be used as the subject or object of a sentence. There are also some words such as demand, hope, and pretend, that must be followed by an infinitive.

We use 'to' + infinitive:

• After certain verbs - We decided to leave
• After many adjectives - It's difficult to get up early
• To show purpose - I came to London to study English