"I like to cook" or "I like cooking"?
A lesson about the infinitive and the gerund
Hello everyone!
How much do you know about when to use the infinitive and when to use the gerund?
This is a huge topic and one that I know can cause students some problems. Today’s email is a very brief introduction. If you would like to learn more, I’ll tell you how you can do that later in this email.
First, let’s look at some definitions.
What’s an infinitive?
The infinitive is the basic form of a verb without any endings like -s or -ed. It’s the form you find in the dictionary. It’s not a verb tense (like present or past simple) and has no time. Sometimes it has “to” in front of it and sometimes it doesn’t. For example, “be” and “to be” are both the infinitive. So are “have” and “to have”.
What’s a gerund?
The gerund is the -ing form of the verb, like “being”. It looks like a verb but often behaves more like a noun in a sentence. For example, it can act as the subject or object of a sentence, which is something a noun usually does.
(Be careful not to confuse the gerund with continuous tenses. Present continuous means am/are/is + …-ing and past continuous means was/were + …-ing. This -ing is not a gerund.)
Before we go any further, try this little quiz. You might have seen some of the questions already on Facebook but not all of them. Also, it’s good to review what you have already learnt.
I'd like TO GET / GETTING married.
He admitted TO STEAL / STEALING it.
Do you fancy TO GO / GOING to the cinema?
My mother hopes TO RETIRE / RETIRING next year.
They plan TO VISIT / VISITING the museum this weekend.
Do you enjoy TO LISTEN / LISTENING to music?
I really want TO GO / GOING to New York one day.
Have you finished TO READ / READING that book yet?
They decided TO GO / GOING to bed early because they were tired.
He suggested TO GO / GOING to the new Italian restaurant.
I like TO COOK / COOKING.
It started TO RAIN / RAINING.
I must remember TO CHECK / CHECKING my emails.
I still remember TO START / STARTING school.
Now read the following information and use it to check your answers to the quiz.
Some verbs can only be followed by the infinitive.
For example: hope, plan, decide, want, would like
Some verbs can only be followed by the gerund.
For example: admit, enjoy, fancy, finish, suggest
Some verbs can be followed by either the infinitive or the gerund with no change in meaning.
For example: begin, start, love
“Like” can be followed by either without changing the meaning. However, in British English, we usually say "I like cooking". "Like" is usually followed by -ing. "I like cooking" means I enjoy it.
Sometimes we say "I like to ..." but this is more for a habit. I do it because I think it's a good idea and not always because I enjoy it.
"I like to cook at the weekends so I can eat something healthy at least once a week!" = I think it's a good idea.
In American English "I like to cook" is more common.
Some verbs can be followed by either the infinitive or the gerund but the meaning is different.
For example: remember
Please remember to lock the door. (Remember it and then do it. Remembering happens first and the action happens second.)
That’s strange. I remember locking the door. Why is it unlocked now? (I did it and now I remember doing it. The action happens first and remembering happens second.)
Now check your answers with mine:
I'd like TO GET married.
He admitted STEALING it.
Do you fancy GOING to the cinema?
My mother hopes TO RETIRE next year.
They plan TO VISIT the museum this weekend.
Do you enjoy LISTENING to music?
I really want TO GO to New York one day.
Have you finished TO READ / READING that book yet?
They decided TO GO to bed early because they were tired.
He suggested GOING to the new Italian restaurant.
I like TO COOK / I like COOKING. (Both answers are correct. The first answer is more American and the second is more British.)
It started TO RAIN / It started RAINING. (Both answers are correct and the meaning is the same.)
I must remember TO CHECK my emails.
I still remember STARTING school.
There are many more things to learn about when to use the infinitive and when to use the gerund. This lesson today is just a taste. If you would like to learn more, keep reading.
Starting tomorrow, I’m going to offer my paid subscribers a course on when to use the gerund and when to use the infinitive.
The course is four weeks and there are eight lessons (eight emails) in the course. Each lesson will give you a grammar explanation, a practice exercise, answers and a PDF download. You can also ask questions if there is anything you don’t understand.
If you have missed the beginning of the course, don’t worry! You’ll get instant access as soon as you have paid.
If you sign up for my paid lessons or upgrade from free to paid, you’ll get these lessons sent to you by email. The cost is £5 a month and you can cancel at any time. You’ll also get instant access to all my paid lessons going back to June last year!
If you decide to sign up for paid emails, you need to understand that the £5 is a monthly fee but you can cancel after just one month if you only want the infinitive and gerund course and don’t want any further emails after that.
If you prefer, you can get the course as a PDF e-book here.
I hope you have learnt something new today!
See you next week!
Katie
Thanks for reading! I’m Katie Salter and I teach British English online. I help adult learners to speak better English through conversation practice and grammar lessons.
This is my free newsletter which gives you weekly learning tips, quizzes and English lessons. If you choose to upgrade, for £5 a month you can get extra grammar, vocabulary and reading lessons with PDF downloads and full access to all the posts on this site.
I've corrected a small typo. I wrote that "love" can be followed by either. This is true but I actually meant to say "like".