Verbs that are normally followed by the gerund form:-

acknowledge | admit | adore | anticipate | appreciate | avoid | celebrate | confess | contemplate

delay | deny | describe | detest | discuss | dislike | dread | endure | enjoy
fancy | finish | imagine | involve | keep | justify | mention | mind | miss | omit | postpone | practise
quit | recall | recommend | regret | report | resent | resume | risk | suggest | tolerate | understand

For example:

 I adore reading your books.

 They anticipated winning the election.
 I detest going to discos.
 We postponed making any decision in the meeting.
 I quit smoking.
 Do you recall seeing someone like that?

Verbs which are normally followed by the infinitive form:-

afford | agree | appear | arrange | ask | attempt | care | choose | claim | come | consent
dare | decide | demand | deserve | determine | elect | endeavour | expect | fail | get | guarentee
hate | help | hesitate | hope | hurry | incline | intend | learn | long | manage | mean | need
offer | plan | prepare | pretend | promise | refuse | resolve | say | seem | tend | threaten | want | wish

For example:

 I can't afford to go to the pub.

 He agreed to practise more.
 You should learn to express yourself.
 They managed to fix the problem.

Verbs which can be followed by the gerund or infinitive form:-

Some verbs can be followed by the gerund or infintive

With no change in meaning

begin | continue | hate | like | love | neglect | prefer | start | try

For example:-

 He began to learn English when he was eight.

 He began learning English when he was eight.
 I hate to leave.
  I hate leaving.

!Note - We often use the gerund when we speak about things in general, and the infinitive for particular situations.
With a change in meaning

forget | remember | stop

For example:-

 I forgot to feed the cat. (The cat is hungry - he has not been fed)
 I forgot feeding the cat. (The cat is ok - I fed him and then forgot about it)

The gerund (-ing form) must be used when a verb comes after a preposition:-

against | at | after | by | on | instead of | talk about | tired of | without

For example:

 I am against smoking in public places.

 She is good at speaking English.
 I went home after leaving the party.
 You can improve your English by using the Internet.
 We need to keep on going.
 You should tell the truth instead of lying all the time.
 We can talk about going home.
 I'm tired of hearing excuses.
 You can't learn English without making mistakes.


Verbs Followed by an Infinitive

She agreed to speak before the game.
agree consent have offer shoot
aim continue hesitate ought start
appear dare hope plan stop
arrange decide hurry prefer strive
ask deserve intend prepare swear
attempt detest leap proceed threaten
be able dislike leave promise try
beg expect like propose use
begin fail long refuse wait
care forget love remember want
choose get mean say wish
condescend happen neglect

Verbs Followed by an Object and an Infinitive

Everyone expected her to win.
advise choose have love remind
allow command hire motivate require
ask dare instruct order send
beg direct invite pay teach
bring encourage lead permit tell
build expect leave persuade urge
buy forbid let prepare want
challenge force like promise warn
Note: Some of these verbs are included in the list above
and may be used without an object.

Verbs Followed by a Gerund

They enjoyed working on the boat.
admit delay finish permit resist
advise deny forbid postpone resume
appreciate detest get through practice risk
avoid dislike have quit spend (time)
can't help enjoy imagine recall suggest
complete escape mind report tolerate
consider excuse miss resent waste (time)

Verbs Followed by a Preposition and a Gerund

We concentrated on doing well.
admit to depend on plan on
approve of disapprove of prevent (someone) from
argue about discourage from refrain from
believe in dream about succeed in
care about feel like talk about
complain about forget about think about
concentrate on insist on worry about
confess to object to