What comes after the verb: the two patterns
enjoy doing - decide to do
How to use this sheet
Some verbs must be followed by the -ing form, others by the to-form, and the choice is fixed by the first verb, not by meaning - you simply learn each verb together with its pattern. A third, smaller group accepts both forms with a change of meaning, and the last three rows of the table belong to it. In rows 9 and 10 the -ing form looks back at something real - an activity in progress or a past event - while the to-form looks ahead to a purpose or a duty; in row 11 the -ing form proposes an experiment to see what happens, while the to-form reports an effort that may or may not succeed.
| Verb | Followed by | Example |
|---|---|---|
| enjoy | -ing form | She enjoys cooking for a crowd. |
| avoid | -ing form | He avoided answering the question. |
| finish | -ing form | Have you finished packing yet? |
| suggest | -ing form | I suggest taking the earlier train. |
| want | to + base verb | They want to move to the coast. |
| decide | to + base verb | We decided to sell the flat. |
| hope | to + base verb | I hope to hear from you soon. |
| manage | to + base verb | She managed to fix it herself. |
| stop | both, with different meanings | He stopped drinking coffee. / He stopped to drink some water. |
| remember | both, with different meanings | I remember meeting her in Rome. / Please remember to lock up. |
| try | both, with different meanings | Try turning it off and on again. / I tried to warn you. |
In use
I really enjoy working from home two days a week. She decided to apply for the job in the end. Please remember to send the report before five.
Watch out
I enjoy to travel with my family.
When both forms are possible (the last three rows), do not treat them as interchangeable: in row 9 the -ing form means quitting an activity while the to-form means pausing in order to do it, and in row 10 the -ing form recalls a past event while the to-form is about a duty not to forget. Picking the wrong one produces a grammatical sentence that says something you did not mean - which is much harder to notice than an ordinary mistake.