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How to use GERUNDS and INFINITIVES | Confusing English Grammar


I stopped to buy bread from the
supermarket stop buying bread from the
supermarket do these two sentences have
the same meaning
hello I’m Emma from English today I’m
going to show you how the patterns can
affect the meaning of sentences in
English you see a verb followed by a
gerund can have a completely different
meaning
then if the same verb is followed by an
infinitive verb
well whirl whirl whirl whirl whirl
what’s a gerund a gerund looks like a
verb but it’s actually a noun it’s
formed by adding ing to the end of the
base form of the verb so a gerund is the
base form with ing listen plus in
listening to music helps me relax this
lesson right here will explain Jones for
you in much more detail but the
infinitive is the base form of the verb
but there are two types of infinitives
in English the to infinitive which is
the verb with to to listen I prefer not
to listen to music when I’m working but
there’s also the zero infinitive or the
base form so that’s the verb without –
please listen carefully to my
instructions today we’re focusing on the
to infinitive so the verb with two and
there are many many verbs in English
that can be followed either by a gerund
or the to infinitive now you may hear
this called a verb pattern when two
verbs appear together in a sentence some
verbs completely change meaning when
they’re followed by either a gerund or
the to infinitive so back to today’s big
question what’s the difference between
stop buying bread and stop to buy bread
well stop with
gerund means to quit an action stop
buying bread from the supermarket it’s
an order to never buy bread again from
the supermarket
maybe the bread is too expensive or it’s
not good quality but whatever the reason
stop buying bread from the supermarket
means don’t buy bread there anymore
since we’re talking about completely
quitting an action this is also the form
that you should use when you’re talking
about addictions or bad habits stop
smoking cigarettes it’s bad for your
health I wish you’d stop biting your
nails
it’s gross do you have a bad habit that
you know you should stop doing write a
sentence about it in the comments below
make sure you use the gerund form right
okay so there’s a quick ad break right
now just enough time for you to write
your sentence before we move on to stop
with the infinitive form stop with the
to-infinitive means to pause or leave
one action to do another stop to buy
bread from the supermarket so this is
also an order or an instruction but it’s
to stop at the supermarket as you go
past and get some bread so you stop the
action of walking or driving by you
interrupt that action to go and buy some
bread from the supermarket but then you
would continue back on your journey so
let’s talk about a few more examples
make sure you stop to talk to Sarah
before you leave work today she’s got
something important to tell you I worked
all day I didn’t even stop to eat lunch
okay great so stop followed by a gerund
has a completely different meaning to
stop followed by the to-infinitive
now do all verbs change meaning when
they’re followed by a gerund or
infinitive that’s a good question but
the answer is no some verbs keep the
same meaning if they’re followed by a
gerund or the to infinitive let’s take a
look at the word start we start eating
dinner at 7:00 we start to eat dinner at
7:00 is there a big difference in
meaning between these two sentences nope
so how do you know which verbs change
meaning when followed by a gerund or an
infinitive now the answer is not as
simple as you want it to be you need to
learn them you need to study get
familiar with different verb patterns
and practice using them the more you see
and use these verb patterns the more
naturally you’ll start to use them but
to get you started I’ve got some more
common verbs and their meanings when
they’re followed by a gerund or an
infinitive verb so don’t stop watching
it’s just getting interesting forget
I’ll never forget watching my first
horror movie don’t forget to watch the
news tonight
do these verb patterns have the same
meaning no not at all
forget with a gerund means to look back
at past memories I’ll never forget
watching my first horror movie I was so
wish I could forget falling down the
stairs in front of the whole school so
let’s try this together
do you have an embarrassing memory that
you wish you could forget write a
sentence in the comments below so that I
can check it for you now forget with the
to-infinitive is used to give a reminder
to someone to make sure that they do
something that they don’t forget don’t
forget to watch the news tonight
was interviewed on the Main Street today
so I don’t want you to miss it don’t
forget to bring your tickets otherwise
they won’t let you into the show
remember do you remember dancing with me
on our first date remember to take lots
of pictures on your trip do you notice
any similarities between forget and
remember remember with a gerund
is used to talk about a memory what do
you remember about your first date I
remember eating ribs covered in sticky
sauce with my hands thanks sure it was
really awkward I had sticky stuff coming
all the way down my arms gross what do
you remember about your first date write
it in the comments now remember with the
to-infinitive
is used to talk about something that
someone needs to do to remind them to do
something remember to whisk the eggs
before adding the sugar remember to turn
at the intersection otherwise you’ll get
stuck on a one-way Road regret the verb
regret with a gerund is used to talk
about something that you did in the past
that you aren’t happy about anymore you
know decisions that you made in the past
that you wish you didn’t make when you
wish you could go back in time and
change those actions he regretted
yelling at her as soon as she walked
away he woke up with a pounding headache
and immediately regarded drinking so
much the night before what do you wish
you could go back in time and change can
you write a sentence about it add it to
the comments now regret with the
to-infinitive
is used to tell someone bad news or
something that they
don’t want to hear and this verb pattern
is really formal language and it’s
always followed by bad news so these are
the words that you don’t want to hear
after a job interview I regret to say
that I wasn’t impressed by the
performance we regret to inform you that
you have ten days left to pay the
account other ways will close it mean we
missed our bus which meant waiting six
hours until the next one did you mean to
miss the meeting this morning
so when mean is followed by a gerund
it’s used to talk about what the
response or the result of something is
make sure you bring your jacket or it
visiting my sister in London means
spending eight hours on a plane mean
with the to-infinitive
is used when you intend or you plan to
do something so when it’s used in the
past tense this verb is especially
useful for excuses ah I meant to call
you last night but I totally forgot she
meant to put sugar in your coffee that
she accidentally added salt so now that
you’ve had plenty of practice with
gerunds and infinitives it’s time to
move on to a new lesson don’t stop
watching yet try these lessons right
here and remember to subscribe to my
channel just down here and don’t forget
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button just down there see you in the next lesson
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