Some verbs, when followed by another verb, require the -ing form (the gerund) rather than the infinitive. This is not a matter of style — it is a fixed pattern that belongs to each individual verb.
There is no reliable rule that tells you which verbs take the gerund. The practical approach is to learn them in small groups, organized by meaning — most gerund-taking verbs fall into a handful of semantic categories.
Verbs of liking and disliking
These verbs describe how you feel about an activity.
- enjoy — Daniel enjoys cooking on weekends.
- like — She likes walking to work.
- love — I love reading before bed.
- hate — They hate waiting in queues.
- dislike — He dislikes being interrupted.
- mind — I don't mind driving at night.
- prefer — Anna prefers living in small towns.
- can't stand — I can't stand losing.
- can't help — She can't help laughing at his jokes.
A short note: love, like, hate, and prefer can also take the infinitive (I like to read) with a very small shift in feel. The choice between the two forms is covered separately.
Verbs of stopping, avoiding, finishing
This is the largest everyday group. They all describe ending, delaying, or staying away from an action.
- avoid — James avoids driving in the city centre.
- finish — We finished painting the kitchen yesterday.
- quit — She quit smoking last year.
- give up — He gave up trying to convince them.
- stop — The baby finally stopped crying.
- postpone — They postponed announcing the results.
- delay — The airline delayed boarding the flight.
- put off — I keep putting off writing that email.
- keep — She kept checking her phone.
- carry on — He carried on working despite the noise.
Verbs of suggesting, admitting, considering
These introduce ideas, proposals, or mental actions.
- suggest — Maria suggested taking the train.
- recommend — The doctor recommended walking daily.
- admit — He admitted breaking the window.
- deny — She denied knowing anything about it.
- consider — We're considering moving to Berlin.
- imagine — I can't imagine living without music.
Note that suggest and recommend are never followed by an infinitive — suggested to take is always wrong.
Verbs of activity and practice
These describe engaging in, missing, or being exposed to an activity.
- practise — Tom practises speaking Spanish every morning.
- miss — Sarah misses seeing her grandparents.
- risk — You risk losing your deposit.
- involve — The job involves travelling abroad.
- entail — The procedure entails filling out several forms.
- spend time — He spent the afternoon fixing the bike.
Spend time / spend money follow the same pattern: we spent hours looking for parking, she spent a fortune renovating the flat.
The "mind" pattern for polite requests
Mind takes the gerund in ordinary statements (I don't mind waiting), but it also has a common use in polite questions. Would you mind + -ing is one of the standard ways to make a request in English.
The response "No, not at all" — counter-intuitively — means yes, I'll do it happily, because you are saying you don't object to the action. Learners often answer yes and confuse the other speaker.
Negative form
To make the gerund negative, put not directly before it. Do not move not anywhere else.
Compare:
The two sentences mean different things. The first negates the admission; the second negates the action inside the gerund.
A note on prepositions
Any verb followed by a preposition takes the gerund — thank you for coming, she apologised for being late, he insisted on paying. This is a separate pattern from the verb + gerund pattern above and is covered separately.
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive after a gerund-only verb
Wrong placement of "not"
Dropping the -ing form
Confusing "suggest" with a direct object pattern