The to-infinitive is used The -ing form is used

to express purpose. as a noun

He went to university to become a Walking is good exercise
lawyer
after certain verbs (agree, appear, after: I’m busy, it’s no use, it’s (no)
decide, expect, hope, plan, promise, good, it’s (not) worth, what’s the use
refuse etc). of, can’t help, there’s no point (in),
He refused to pay the bill can’t stand, have difficulty (in), in
addition to, as well as, have trouble,
have a hard/difficult time
after certain adjectives (happy, glad, after: spend/waste (time, money etc)
sorry etc). He spends his free time (in) digging
She was happy to win the prize the garden
after I would like/would love/would after: prepositions
prefer to express specific preference. He left the shop without paying so he
I’d like to see the manager was accused of stealing
after certain nouns. after: look forward to, be/get used to,
What a surprise to see him there! be/get accustomed to, object to, admit
(to) etc
after too/enough constructions after: hear, listen, notice, see, watch to
He’s too young to have his own car express an incomplete action, an action
He’s clever enough to do the in progress or a long action
crossword I saw Tim doing his homework (I saw
part of the action in progress. I didn’t
wait until he had finished)
with: it + be + adjective (+ of + noun / But: hear, listen, see, watch + infinitive
pronoun) without «to» express a complete action,
It was generous of him to offer $1000 something that one saw or heard from
beginning to end. I saw Tim do his
homework. It took him an hour. (I saw
the whole action from beginning to
end)
with: so + adjective + as
Would you be so kind as to help me
move the sofa?
with ”only“ to express an
unsatisfactory result
She came in only to find Bob had left
after: be + the first/second
etc/next/last/best etc
He was the last to come to work
in the expression: for + noun/pronoun
+ to -inf
For him to be so rude was unforgivable
in expressions such as: to tell you the
truth, to begin with, to be honest etc
To be honest, I don’t like him
Note: If two infinitives are joined by
«and» or «or», the «to» of the second
infinitive can be omitted.
I want to call Mr Jones and fax or post
him a letter.
 + to-infinitive + -ing form
agreement, arrangement, decision, admit, anticipate, appreciate, avoid,
demand, desire, failure, offer, plan, can`t face, can`t help, can`t resist, can`t
promise, refusal, tendency, threat, stand, carry on, consider, continue,
agree, aim, appear, arrange, ask, delay, deny, detest, dislike, discuss,
attempt, beg, can’t afford, can’t wait, enjoy, excuse, escape, excuse, fancy,
choose, claim, decide, demand, desire, finish, forgive, go (physical activities),
expect, fail, guarantee, happen, help, give up, hate, imagine, involve, justify,
hope, manage, offer, plan, prepare, keep (on), like, love, mention, mind,
pretend, promise, prove, refuse, seem, miss, object to, postpone, practise,
tend, threaten, turn out, undertake, (prefer), put off, prevent, quit, recall,
want, wish recollect, report, resent, resist, risk,
save, stand, suggest, tolerate,
understand
like (різні значення), love, prefer, hate, begin, bother, continue, intend, propose,
start + to-infinitive or -ing form

Verb + to-infinitive

I expect to get my money back

Some people just choose not to get married

1. seem and appear + to-infinitive

Sarah seemed to be quite annoyed
The computer program appears to have a bug in it

2. tend, manage and fail + to-infinitive

We tend to get up later at weekends
Luckily I managed to find my way here all right
David failed to pay his electricity bill

3. he promised to go, his promise to go + to-infinitive

Verb + to-infinitive: Mark promised to go shopping
But then he arranged to play golf

Noun + to-infinitive: Mark forgot about his promise to go shopping

Sarah found out about his arrangement to play golf

Verb + -ing form

I usually avoid driving in the rush hour

Imagine not having anywhere to live

1. mind + -ing form

Andrew doesn`t mind having lots of work. He quite likes it

2. verbs with can`t + -ing form

can`t or couldn`t with help, resist, face and stand
I think Tom is very amusing. I can`t help laughing at his funny stories
The dress was so beautiful that Clair couldn`t resist buying it
Let`s eat out, shall we? I can`t face cooking a meal today
I never go in the bank if it`s busy. I can`t stand waiting in a queue.

3. keep (on) and carry on + -ing form

Just keep stirring the mixture until it boils
They just kept on running
Just carry on stirring the mixture until it boils

Verb + to-infinitive or verb + -ing form?

1. can’t wait and fancy

I can’t wait to see the photos you took
Do you fancy going out for a meal?

2. happen, turn out and prove

In the end our forecast proved to be correct
Finding Harriest’s house turned out to be more difficult than Nick had expected
I happened to see Sarah in town

3. two forms together

The government decided to refuse to give in to the terrorist
I want to avoid hurting anyone’s feelings
The man denied threatening to kill a policeman

Like, start, etc

1. like, love, prefer and hate + to-infinitive or -ing form

Mrs Miles likes to do/likes doing parachute jumps.
She loves to look/loves looking down at the fields below
We always prefer to stay/prefer staying in small hotels
I hate to stand/hate standing up while I’m eating
like to do – треба йти
like doing – подобається займатися чимось

2. would like, etc

After would like, would love, would prefer and would hate + to-infinitive
I’d like to do a parachute jump one day.
My sister would love to work as an artist.
Mark would prefer to drive rather than take the train.
I’d hate to live in a big city.
would like to do – прямо зараз я хочу
like – мені подобається займатися чимось

3. start, intend, begin, bother, continue, propose + to-infinitive or -ing form

People began to leave/began leaving the theatre before the end of the play
Rachel didn`t bother to do/bother doing the washing-up
Do you intend to make/intend making a complaint?

forget, regret, remember to do – тільки збираюсь виконувати дію

forget, regret, remember doing – дія виконана

try to do – докласти зусиль щоб виконати дію

try doing – зробити і подивитися що з цього вийде

stop doing – перестати щось робити

stop to do – зупинитись щоб щось зробити

go on doing – продовжувати щось робити

go on to do – робити щось зовсім інше

be sorry to do – мені шкода що з вами щось відбулось

be sorry for doing – вибачаюсь, що я щось зробив

mean to do – планую, збираюсь переїхати в Київ

mean doing – залучати, ідея однієї речі, що призводить до іншої

would prefer to do – конкретні переваги (я б ввідала перевагу)

I’d prefer to have an early night tonight
prefer doing – подобається
I prefer reading a book to watching TV
prefer to do (rather) than inf without to
I prefer to read a book (rather) than watch TV

be afraid to do – боятися зробити щось конкретне

be afraid of doing so – боятися щось зробити щоб не було поганих наслідків

need, want, require

to do; to be V3
ing = passive voice

hate ing – я ненавиджу що мені довелося вас перебити

hate to do – я ненавиджу цю ситуацію те, що вас зараз переб’ю
 Verb + object + to-infinitive or -ing form

I expect the goods to arrive on time.

I’m sorry we’ve kept you waiting so long.

1. Verb + object + to-infinitive

We asked the doorman to let us in.

Some verbs we can use in this structure: advise, allow, ask, beg, cause, enable,
encourage, expect, force, help, intend, invite, mean, order, recommend,
remind, take (time), teach, tell, warn

2. want + object + to-infinitive

After want, (would) like, (would) love, (would) prefer and (would) hate
Tom wants United to win.
I want everyone to come here

3. verb + object + -ing form

Do you remember Laura taking our photo?
A new law has stopped traffic going into the city centre

Some verbs we can use in this structure: dislike, imagine, involve, keep, mind,
prevent, remember, risk, stop

4. advice, allow, encourage and recommend + -ing form or object + to-infinitive

They allow fishing here
They allow people to fish here

We do not use suggest + an object + a to-infinitive

I suggested to Nick (that) he should leave

Question word + to-infinitive

1. Structures with what to do, where to go, etc

Before the question word we can use a verb such as ask, decide, discover, discuss,
explain, find out, forget, know, learn, remember, say, think, understand, wonder
It was a real problem. I couldn’t think what to do
We were wondering where to park the car.

Verb + object before the question word

In this structure we can use advise, ask, show, teach and tell
Tom showed me how to change a wheel.
The guide didn`t tell the tourists when to be back at the coach.
Before the question word we can also use the adjectives clear, obvious and sure
and the expressions have an idea and make up your mind
I wasn`t sure who to ask for help
Claire doesn’t have much idea how to cook.

A preposition (e.g. of) can come before the question word

There’s the question of who to invite to the reception
You need to be informed about what to do in an emergency.

2. Why, what, whose, which and whether

We cannot use why before a to-infinitive
No one could explain why we had to wait.

After what, which, whose, how many and how much we can use infinitive
Sarah and Mark were discussing what colour to paint the walls

We can use whether but not if

We’ll have to decide whether to go ahead with the project (or not)

Adjective + to-infinitive