B2 - Verbs followed by gerund or infinitive

This topic is quite important in English grammar but it's also very difficult for Spanish speakers. Let's work a little on this.

This is a good link with exercises to work on the topic and this one has explanations to start with, but pay attention to the level you need and/or want. Although you are in the intermediate level, I'd rather you use the basic level in the beginning to check you don't have any doubt, but, as you can see, you have many exercises to work with. Another good link is this one with different levels as well.

This is the video  from British Council to show you how the pattern verb works and this link is quite simple but it's a start to refresh the principal verbs followed by infinitive or gerund.

As a summary, you may use this diagramme:

• VERBS followed by:

• -ing form (gerund): verbs related to likes and dislikes, followed by preposition and with reference to past or previous actions; e.g.  I enjoy listening to music,   My father gave up smoking last year   or   She denied being guilty (compare it with the verb "to refuse")

• infinitive : related to future actions
• with TO:   I'd like/want to go with you   or   She refused to go there     
• without TO (bare infinitive):   She made me laugh a lot  or  Let me tell you something

• both (infinitive or gerund)
• with a change in meaning:   
• I always remember to buy some bread for my mother  (I never forget to buy some bread for my mother)
• I remember buying some bread with my mother as a child (it's a memory)
• without changing the meaning:   I began reading - I began to read

If you want to have a good review about this topic, go to Test English and then start with the exercises.

If you need more practice, try with these ones: exercise 1     exercise 2       exercise 3

This last exercise is a listening comprehension about your spare time; remember that most of the verbs related to likes and dislikes are followed by -ing: click here

Keep in mind the importance of the verb pattern when you use introductory verbs in Reported Speech:

• Reporting verbs + -ing: go to this link
• Reporting verbs + infinitive: go here

C1 - Revision: Reporting Verbs

As this grammar point is so arid I think the best way is learning by doing as many exercises as possible, so let's practise with some of them:

• exercise 1 (low level)      exercise 2     exercise 3     exercise 4     

C1 - Verbs followed by infinitive and/or gerund

In this lesson we'll have to practise with this grammar issue. You can find thousands of lists of these Verbs and I recommend learning them by doing exercises but also by hearing in mind useful exemples.

The other difficulty is to remember that TO may be a preposition as well so in those cases TO is followed by gerund as in the example of the book and some more:

• I don't get round to phoning you yesterday
• I look forward to seeing you soon
• My sister objected to spending more money on that

This is a link which shows you this problem: click here

To finish with, remember that many verbs followed by gerund and infinitive are related to indirect speech: 

• Followed by gerund: suggest, recommend, propose, admit, deny, etc.
• Followed by infinitive: accept, promise, agree, revise, offer, etc.

Just in case you need some help, you can have this list and do these exercises to practise a bit:

• exercise 1 (easy, as a warming exercise)
• presentation about reported verbs
• a kind of rephrasing to see how to improve your writing
• another exercise and this one as well

See yuo in class!

That's English! - Module 5 - unit 5: Leisure

This lesson deals with leisure time. Let's start with common expressions about hobbies and leisure activities, especially with these verbs: LIKE - LOVE - ENJOY - DON'T MIND - HATE + -----ING

Activity 1
Explain to your partner what you like doing in your free time. Give details and say when, where, how often and why you like doing that; e.g. I love watching films on TV because it's cheaper and you don't have to spend time or money at the cinema. I usually watch a film at night, when I finish my dinner. I don't mind going to the cinema with friends because I enjoy going out with my friends.

Activity 2
Do the same with past tenses; you can speak about what you did last weekend or last holiday. Remember to give some clues about the activity.

Activity 3 (listening in class)
This is an exercise for listening; it's difficult but it's about the topic so that's the reason why I've included here: click here


Activity 4 (homework)
Here you are a link to practise reading comprenhension, like the one you'll find in the exam or more difficult. But don't worry because the questions aren't so complicated. Go to this link

In this unit you have quite a lot of grammar as well. One of the most difficult things is the use of -ing form or infinitive after certain verbs. To practise with this you can go to these links:

• short explanation with exercises; click here
• a page with exercises; click here
• another explanation with exercises; click here

If you want to practise with listening, go to this link but watch the video in full screen; don't read the tapescript. Another example of spending your free time during holidays, click here