When to is a preposition, it can be followed by a noun or a gerund: I'm looking forward to our trip. I'm looking forward to hearing from you. I'm used to cold showers. I'm used to walking long distances. But when to is part of a to -infinitive, it is followed by an infinitive: I wish to make a complaint. He used to smoke. Shandi Stevenson - Updated May 17, 2019. Participles are "verbals," or forms of verbs, functioning as adjectives. Gerunds are verbals functioning as nouns. This sounds simple enough, but many people find them tricky to recognize and use correctly -- perhaps because they remember being intimidated and confused by these concepts in school. One of the common challenges in learning English grammar is to know which verbs are followed by gerunds , the -ing form of verbs. On this webpage, you will find a list of verbs followed by gerunds , along with examples and explanations. You will also be able to practice your skills with quizzes and exercises. Don't miss this opportunity to improve your English grammar with EF , the world The difference between gerunds and infinitives is that we use a gerund as a noun, while an infinitive is used as a verb. For example, the gerund “running” can be used as a noun, while the infinitive “to run” is used as a verb. Other differences include how they are used in a sentence and how they are formed. The "to infinitive", in that example, is a noun phrase; a gerund is a noun, and a noun is a noun. So they are all the same. So they are all the same. Only one question mark is used in English, and there is no space between between words and punctuation. Infinitive examples: To give. To run. To wait. Although an infinitive is easy to locate because of the to + verb form, deciding what function it has in a sentence can sometimes be confusing. Keep in mind that though infinitives are verbs, they function differently from verbs, and instead, they act as a noun, adjective, or adverb. According to (Lowe, 2017), Gerund is known as the noun form of a verb that ends with ‘ing’. For example ‘playing’, ‘Eating’, ‘dancing’ and similar. Right away Gerund becomes confusing in learning as these can be used in form of a continuous form of the verb. Gerund, pronounced as ‘Jerund’, is a verb acting as a noun. GERUNDS VS. INFINITIVES: Certain verbs can be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive. Sometimes, both expressions will have the same meaning, but sometimes they will mean different things. Some examples of gerund and infinitives with the SAME meaning: Verb Followed by a Gerund Followed by an Infinitive Attempt I attempted surfing Gerund and infinitive pelmanism/ memory game/ pairs. Make cards with a more or less equal number of verbs which only take gerund (“mention”, etc) and verbs which only take infinitive (“need”, etc), plus maybe a few verbs which take both. Students spread all the cards out face down on the table and take turns trying to find two which After a passive reporting verb, we use a simple or continuous infinitive to refer to the present or future, and a perfect infinitive to refer to the past. (⇒ See B1+ Grammar » The passive with reporting verbs) They are believed to be lovers. (=now) They are believed to have been lovers. (=in the past) Gahq.