ING FORM or TO+INFINITIVE?

Verb + -ing form To admit (ammettere) To avoid (evitare) To consider (considerare) To deny (negare) To enjoy (piacere, godere di) To finish (finire) To keep / keep on (continuare a…) To miss (mancare) To postpone (posticipare) To practise (esercitarsi) To risk (rischiare) To Mind- not to mind (importare) [Can’t] stand (non sopportare) [Can’t] help (non poter fare a meno)

Remember After a preposition you should always use the - ing form I’m interested in reading books about science fiction I ‘m looking forward to seeing you Remember

Ex: Would you like to have dinner with us on Friday? Verb + to +infinitive To agree (essere d’accordo) To choose (scegliere) To decide (decidere) To expect (aspettarsi) To fail (non riuscire a…) To help (aiutare) To hope (sperare) To learn (imparare) To manage (riuscire a…) To need (necessitare) To offer (offrire) To plan (programmare) To pretend (fingere di…) To promise (promettere) To refuse (rifiutare) To seem (sembrare) To tend (tendere a…) To want (volere) ***Would like / love / prefer / hate Ex: Would you like to have dinner with us on Friday?

A rule…some exceptions To hate (odiare) To like (piacere) To love (amare) To prefer (preferire) These verbs can be followed either by -ing or a to-infinitive. The difference in meaning is often small. The -ing form emphasises the verb itself. The to-infinitive puts the emphasis more on the preference or the results of the action.

Compare… -ing form to-infinitive I like cooking Indian food. (emphasis on the process itself and enjoyment of it) I like to drink juice in the morning, and tea at lunchtime. (emphasis more on the preference or habit) Most people prefer watching a film at the cinema rather than on TV. (emphasis on the process itself and enjoyment of it) We prefer to drive during the day whenever we can. (emphasis more on the result and on the habit or preference. The speaker doesn’t necessarily enjoy the process of driving at any time of day.)

A rule…some exceptions These verbs can be followed by either the –ing form or to+infinitive, without changing their meaning To begin (cominciare) To continue (continuare) To intend (intendere) To start (cominciare) Ex: It started to rain. It started raining. It is starting to rain. But

These verbs can be followed by either the –ing form or to+infinitive, but their meaning changes To remember (ricordare) To regret (rammaricarsi) To stop (fermarsi) To try (provare a…/cercare di…)

To remember (ricordare) To regret (rammaricarsi) Ing form…. If they refer to past actions To+infinitive… if they refer to future actions EX: I remember meeting her at the party. Ricordo di averla conosciuta alla festa.. You must remember to post the letter. Devi ricordare di imbucare la lettera. Devi ancora imbucarla. I regret telling him the truth. Mi dispiace di avergli detto la verità. I regret to tell you that… Mi dispiace dirti dire che

To stop Ing form…. Con il significato To+infinitive… di smettere Con il significato di fermarsi per… EX: Stop talking! Smettila di parlare! He stopped to talk to her. Egli si fermò per parlarle

un tentativo non riuscito di fare qualcosa To try Ing form…. Con il significato di provare a To+infinitive… Con il significato di un tentativo non riuscito di fare qualcosa EX: I tried to move the wardrobe, but it was too heavy. Ho cercato di spostare l’armadio, ma era troppo pesante. Non sono riuscito a spostarlo. You should try to eat more vegetables! Dovresti cercare di mangiare più verdure!Ti invito a fare uno sforzo: l’uso dell’infinito lascia intendere che le verdure non ti piacciono molto. If you want to improve your English, try reading English books. Se vuoi migliorare il tuo inglese, prova a leggere libri inglesi.Ti invito a fare una prova, vedi se funziona.

Last but not least Compare A group of verbs connected with feeling, hearing and seeing can be used with -ing or with an infinitive without to: Feel Notice See Hear Watch When they are used with -ing, these verbs emphasise the action or event in progress. When they are used with an infinitive without to, they emphasise the action or event seen as a whole, or as completed. Compare -ing infinitive without to She heard people shouting in the street below and looked out of the window. (emphasises that the shouting probably continued or was repeated) I heard someone shout ‘Help!’, so I ran to the river. (emphasises the whole event: the person probably shouted only once) A police officer saw him running along the street. (emphasises the running as it was happening) Emily saw Philip run out of Sandra’s office. (emphasises the whole event from start to finish)