🔧 Lesson 6.2: Gerunds & Infinitives — Verb Patterns & Meaning

Two Verbs Together

Very often we want to put two verbs side by side: enjoy + read, want + go, decide + stay. When that happens, the second verb has to take one of two forms:

At A2 you learned the everyday pairs — I like reading, I want to go. At B1 we widen the net: more verbs, new structures (-ing after prepositions and as a subject), and the special verbs that switch meaning when you switch the form. Here's the shape of the whole lesson:

graph LR
    A["First verb"] --> B["takes -ing"]
    A --> C["takes to-infinitive"]
    A --> D["takes object then to"]
    E["After a preposition"] --> B
    F["As a subject"] --> B
                

Verb + -ing

Some verbs are always followed by the -ing form. A useful group to memorize covers likes, dislikes, and the "start/stop/continue" family:

Other common -ing verbs worth adding to your collection: admit, imagine, practice, miss, can't stand, feel like, give up, spend time.

📌 Note: This builds directly on the basic -ing / to patterns from A2. The verbs are new, but the shape — first verb + second verb in -ing — is one you've already seen with like, love, and hate.

Verb + to-infinitive

A second big group of verbs is followed by the to-infinitive. Many of these look forward — to decisions, hopes, plans, and promises:

More to collect: agree, plan, expect, would like, need, seem, prepare, arrange, afford.

Verb + Object + to

Some verbs need a person (object) in the middle before the to-infinitive. The pattern is verb + someone + to do. These are the verbs of asking, telling, wanting, and advising — where you're getting another person to do something.

More in this group: allow, expect, encourage, remind, invite, warn, teach, persuade.

-ing After Prepositions & as Subject

Two more places always take the -ing form — and they trip learners up because there's no other verb before them signaling the choice.

After a preposition

When a verb comes straight after a preposition (at, in, of, about, before, after, without, instead of), it must be -ing. A preposition is never followed by to + base verb.

As the subject of a sentence

When an action is the subject — the thing the sentence is about — English uses the -ing form:

Verbs That Change Meaning

Here's the most fascinating part. A small set of verbs can take either form — but the meaning changes completely depending on which you choose. These are worth learning carefully, because the difference is real and speakers rely on it.

🔊 Hear It & Repeat — Model Sentences

Listen to each model sentence, then say it back. Use the 🎧 Audio control (bottom-right) to choose a UK or US voice and slow the speed down. Notice which verbs take -ing and which take to, and how the meaning-change verbs work.

Practice & Project

Tips & Common Mistakes

✅ Do's

• Learn the common verbs in groups (-ing verbs, to-verbs, object+to verbs) rather than one by one.
• After any preposition — at, in, of, before, after, without — always use -ing.
• Use the -ing form when an action is the subject ("Reading helps.").
• For stop, remember, forget, try, decide the meaning first, then pick the form.

❌ Common Mistakes

📓 Learning Journal

📝 Lesson Summary

🎉 What You've Accomplished

You've moved from the basic like / want patterns into a genuinely B1-level command of verb structures — enough to talk about habits, plans, and preferences with accuracy, and to catch the subtle meaning differences that fluent speakers rely on. This is the kind of grammar that quietly makes everything you say sound more natural. 🎉

❓ Common Questions at This Stage

🔭 Looking Ahead

Next, you'll fine-tune how you talk about amount and degree. In Lesson 6.3: Degree & Quantity, you'll master too / enough, the emphatic so / such … that, and the difference between (a) few and (a) little — the tools for saying precisely how much, how many, and to what extent.

✅ Before the Next Lesson

• Write five sentences about your week using five different verb patterns.
• Say aloud both versions of stop, remember, and try, explaining each meaning.
• Write your Learning Journal entry for this lesson.