Meaning is the same—gerund or infinitive
| VERB + GERUND |
| Some verbs may be complemented by a gerund or an infinitive verb form without a change in meaning. |
 I love traveling.
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 I prefer dunkingmy doughnuts.
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 Bob deserves having a day off.
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 I continue working outeveryday.
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| VERB + INFINITIVE |
| The choice of a gerund or an infinitive does not change the meaning of the sentence. |
| I love to travel. (But not – I would love to travel. – which expresses a wish.) |
| I prefer to dunkmy doughnuts. |
| Bob deserves to havea day off. |
| I continue to work outeveryday. |
Verbs that do not change meaning when followed by a gerund or infinitive object
| attempt I attempted to build / building a house. | begin We began to work / working. | can't bear I can't bear to leave / leaving you. | can't stand I can't stand to see / seeing waste. |
| continue We continued to work / working all day. | deserve He deserves to be / being in jail. | hate I hate to miss / missing my bus. | like I like to swim / swimming. |
| love I love to travel / traveling | prefer I prefer to walk / walking. | start She started to cry / crying |
Meaning Differs—gerund vs. infinitive
| ERB BEFORE GERUND |
| Sometimes a verb has one meaning when followed by a gerund clause … |
 I forgot locking the door. (I can't remember the action.) I remember lockingthe door. (I remember the action.)
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 I regret tellingyou the news. (I wish I hadn't told you anything.)
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 That failed, so I tried fixingit with a wrench. (I used a new or different technique.)
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 We stopped eating hamburgers. (We no longer eat hamburgers.)
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| VERB BEFORE INFINITIVE (different meaning) |
| and has another meaning when followed by an infinitive. |
 I forgot to lockthe door. (I didn't lock it.) I remembered to lockthe door. (I locked it.)
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 I regret to tellyou the news. (I am sorry about what I need to tell you.)
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 I tried to fixyour sink with a wrench. (I put in effort, I made an attempt.)
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 We stopped to eat hamburgers. (We stopped our car in order to eat hamburgers.)
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Noun + Preposition Combinations Followed by Gerunds
The following is ONLY A SAMPLE LIST of the most commonly used noun + preposition combinations that can be followed by gerunds.
| addiction to | His addiction to surfing the Internet is a problem. |
| advantage of | He has the advantage of speaking English fluently. |
| anxiety about | Her anxiety about speaking in public caused her to lose the job. |
| belief in | His belief in not harming animals was something he learned from his mother. |
| credit for | She took credit for improving the filing system. |
| dedication to | His dedication to teaching was impressive. |
| delay in | The delay in processing the visa caused problems. |
| devotion to | His devotion to biking allowed him to win the competition. |
| disadvantage of | The disadvantage of flying is that you can't see the scenery along the way. |
| experience in | She has a great deal of experience in introducing new products to international markets. With the noun "experience," sometimes a gerund is added without the preposition "in." "Experience introducing new products" would also be acceptable. |
| fear of | His fear of flying made travel difficult. |
| fondness for | Her fondness for traveling led to her career in the travel industry. |
| habit of | His habit of smoking in restaurants caused many problems in California. |
| interest in | Her career as a pilot evolved out of her interest in flying. |
| knowledge of | Her knowledge of climbing helped her during the competition. |
| love of | His love of singing developed when he was a child. |
| memory of | Their memories of traveling in Africa will stay with them forever. |
| preference for | I think his preference for speaking his native language is natural. |
| process of | The process of painting such a large mural is more complicated than you might think. |
| reaction to | His reaction to winning the prize was quite funny. |
| reason for | The main reason for taking the course is to improve your language skills. |
| regret for | The criminal's regret for committing the crime did not convince the judge. |
| report on | The magazine's report on choosing the right car was not well researched. |
| reputation for | Her reputation for lying is well known. |
| responsibility for | His responsibility for completing the project on time was acknowledged by the company. |
| story about | I don't know if I believe his story about seeing a UFO. |
| talent for | His talent for learning languages was impressive. |
Expressions followed by VERB+ing
| have (some) problems | He had some problems reading without his glasses. |
| have a difficult time | She had a difficult time hiking up the mountain. |
| have a good time | They had a good time snorkeling. |
| have a hard time | She had a hard time explaining the situation. |
| have a problem | Debbie had a problem understanding his accent. |
| have an easy time | She had an easy time selling the delicious cookies. |
| have difficulty | Wanda had difficulty translating the letter by herself. |
| have fun | The had fun skiing. |
| have no difficulty | They had no difficulty finding a discount flight to London. |
| have no problem | Francis had no problem getting from the airport to the hotel. |
| spend one's time | He always spends his time working out at the gym. |
| waste one's time | She always wastes her time playing video games. |
| I'm tired of arguing. He is afraid of going there. She is fond of listening to fairy tales. He was accused of stealing. He is proud of being a member of the team. | Я устала от споров (устала спорить). Он боится идти туда. Она любит слушать сказки. Его обвинили в краже. Он гордится тем, что он член команды. |
| She is interested in buying an apartment in this neighborhood. | Её интересует покупка квартиры в этом микрорайоне. |
| She was angry at being left alone at home. | Она злилась на то, что её оставили одну дома. |
| He was sorry for giving them so much trouble. | Он сожалел, что доставил им столько забот. |
| He is used to living alone. She is accustomed to getting up early. | Он привык жить один. Она привыкла вставать рано. |
| Lena was responsible for ordering food. | Лена была ответственной за заказ еды. |
| She is good at keeping secrets. | Она умеет хранить секреты. |
| These exercises are good for memorizing vowel combinations. | Эти упражнения хороши для запоминания сочетаний гласных. |
