Grammatical pattern: VERB + GERUND

Verbs in the list below follow this pattern strictly. They are followed by gerund and not an infinitive.

abhor, acknowledge, admit, advise, advocate, allow, anticipate, appreciate, avoid, cause, celebrate, complete, consider, contemplate, defer, delay, deny, despise, detest, discontinue, discuss, disdain, dispute, dread, encourage, endure, enjoy, entail, escape, excuse, explain, fancy, fear, feign, finish, forbid, forgive, imagine, include, involve, justify, loathe, mention, mind, miss, pardon, permit, picture, postpone, practice, prevent, quit, recall, recollect, recommend, regret, report, resent, resist, resume, risk, save, suggest, tolerate, understand, warrant

The following verbs nearly always take the gerund pattern, but there are certain exceptions wherein they can take the infinitive pattern.

dislike, dread

The following verbs can take either the gerund or the infinitive pattern, sometimes with an important difference in meaning.

afford, attempt, bear, begin, bother, cease, choose, continue, deserve, dislike, disdain, dread, forget, hate, help, intend, learn, like, love, mean, need, neglect, omit, prefer, propose, regret, remember, stand, start, stop, threaten, try, want

 

Click here for a fuller discussion of the difference between the pattern [VERB + INFINITIVE] and the pattern [VERB + GERUND].

See also the full discussion of the pattern VERB + GERUND.