🔤 Gerund & Infinitive

When to use -ing or to + verb

Grammar

📖 Gerund vs Infinitive

Gerund (-ing)	Infinitive (to + verb)
Used as a noun "Swimming is fun."	Used to express purpose "I came to help."
After prepositions "Interested in reading"	After certain verbs "Want to learn"
After certain verbs enjoy, love, hate, finish, avoid	After certain verbs want, need, hope, plan, decide
Example: "I enjoy reading."	Example: "I want to read."

🇲🇦 الفعل مع -ing أو to + فعل: قواعد الاستخدام

📌 Common Verbs

Gerund (-ing)

enjoy, love, hate
finish, stop, avoid
mind, admit, deny
consider, imagine

Infinitive (to + verb)

want, need, hope
plan, decide, refuse
promise, agree, learn
offer, expect

✏️ Practice

Choose the correct form

1. I enjoy (read) books.

2. She wants (learn) French.

3. He is interested in (travel).

4. They decided (stay) at home.

MathMaroc · Learning guide

Gerund and infinitive: learn patterns in context

Original practice material · explained answers · no official-exam attribution

Understand the rule

A gerund is the -ing form used in a noun-like role; an infinitive often appears as to + base verb. Enjoy, avoid, finish and suggest commonly take a gerund. Want, decide, hope and plan commonly take a to-infinitive. After a preposition, use an -ing form: interested in learning. After a modal, use the bare infinitive: can learn. Some verbs accept both forms; sometimes meaning changes. Stop talking means end the activity, while stop to talk means interrupt another activity in order to talk.

Follow a method

Identify the preceding verb or preposition. Use its pattern instead of translating word for word from French or Arabic. Learn short examples as units. For verbs with two patterns, check whether the choice changes the meaning. Keep negation in the appropriate position.

Worked example

I enjoy reading. I decided to read. I am interested in reading. I can read. She stopped writing to answer the phone: writing ended temporarily and answering was the purpose of stopping.

Practise and explain your answer

01Complete: They avoid ___ (waste) water.

wasting — avoid + gerund.

02Complete: We hope ___ (visit) the exhibition.

to visit — hope + to-infinitive.

03Complete: He is good at ___ (explain) ideas.

explaining — after at, use the -ing form.

04Explain: I stopped to drink some water.

I interrupted another activity in order to drink.

05Correct: She suggested to start early.

She suggested starting early; or She suggested that we start early.