Full infinitive - Bare infinitive - Gerund

Post date: Dec 10, 2014 7:51:01 PM

We use gerunds (verb + ing):

After certain verbs

• I enjoy singing

See the full list of verbs here

After prepositions

• I drank a cup of coffee before leaving

As the subject or object of a sentence

• Swimming is good exercise

We use 'to' + infinitive:

After certain verbs

• We decided to leave

See the full list here

After many adjectives

• It's difficult to get up early

To show purpose

• I came to London to study English

We use the bare infinitive (the infinitive without 'to'):

After modal verbs

• I can meet you at six o'clock

After 'let', 'make' and (sometimes) 'help'

• The teacher let us leave early

After some verbs of perception (see, watch, hear, notice, feel, sense)

• I watched her walk away

After expressions with 'why'

• why go out the night before an exam?