Some verbs are always followed by a gerund only or can be followed by either and some are always followed by the infinitive. You simply have to remember these verbs:
Examples: He tried working/He tried to work/He wants to work.
In the test sentence you need to use the infinitive so that it balances with ‘do’ - they do nothing/they play. They are two separate verbs.
Thanks for your explication - I think I was very careless because this is so logical what you said.I didn’t notice there are two verbs and one subject so the second verb belong to this subject.
You asked a question what I have long wanted to learn. I hope Alan won’t take it bad part that I answered the letter which was addressed to him.
Verbs that can be followed by a gerund (ex: .verb +…ing) or both: gerund and infinitive *means that the verb can use with infinitive also.
1- After verbs that express likes/dislikes :
like (I like cooking) (I didn’t like telling him.) love (chatting) enjoy ( walking)(I don’t enjoy going to the cinema on summer evenings! dislike (quarreling) hate (ironing) don’t mind ( I don’t mind at all telling people my age.) can’t stand (being kept waiting) = I detest waiting. can’t bear(I can’t bear being laughed at)or (I can’t bear to see an accident.) delight(She delights making others feel stupid. )/negative feeling/ annoy (I am annoyed about not being invited to the party.)
2- After certain other verbs, such as :
admit- (I admit to making mistakes.)
appreciate ( I appreciate being loved.)
apologize =He apologized being late.
allow* (They don’t allow smoking in their flat) or (My parents didn’t allow me to stay out late.)
avoid (When I speak in Hungarian I avoided using foreign words)
advise*(I advise buying your tickets in advance) I advise him to buy his tickets in advance.)
consider( I am considering travelling In Great Britain)
deny (He denies speaking to me about this)
delay ( delayed telling him the shocking news.)
understand ( I understand him needing some time alone)/understand in complex sentences after conjunctions : why/what/that we don’t use gerund)
finish(I have just finished my email)
fancy ( I don’t fancy the idea going home in the dark)
go* in for (She is going for the TOEFL examination)
involve ( the test involving the verbs with gerund.)
keep=(Keep smiling.)
mention ( Did I mention going to see the Van Gogh exhibition?)
mind (Nobody really minded what happened to me.)
stop ( You need to stop making excuses.)
waste time/money (you are wasting your time trying to explain to him.)
imagine( I could hardly imagine living without him)
involve (try to involve students in learning.)
keep (on) Don’t keep on interrupting me.)
miss (He narrowly missed being run over.)(I miss living in London)
postpone( they postponed building a new hospital)
permit*(The rules do not permit keeping animals in the flat) or (The rules didn’t permit us to keep animals in the flat.)
suggest* (He suggested going to cinema./ He suggested to go to cinema.)
resist ( the bank resisted to cutting the interest rates.)
reject*(If I wouldn’t have rejected studying, I would have passed my exam) or (he urged to reject the plan)
risk ( I risk being late.)
can’t help ( I can’t help thinking about happenings)
can’t stand ( I can’t stand being kept arguing.)
recommend*(I recommend buying a new coat) or My mum recommended me to buy a new dress)
forbade* ( forbade entering.)or (They forbade to everyone to enter in)
require*(Lentils do not requires to soak before cooking)or (My granny required me to soak the lentils before cooking)
insist (He insisted speaking to the manager.)
forget*(Please don’t forget calling me when you arrive.) or ( Don’t forget to call me.)
need*(Your bike needs oiling.) (Your bike needs to be oiled.)
3- After prepositions :
interested in … (I am interested in learning English.)
instead of …(I don’t want to walk instead of going by car.)
good at …She is good at finding cheep clothing.)
before …Before doing shopping drink an orange juice.
after …After waking up I drank a coffee.
4- After certain expressions :
it’s no use …( It’s no use convincing him to revise his lessons. He’s so stubborn.)
it’s no good …(It’s not good complaining.)
there’s no point in …( There is no point explaining to him.)
I can’t help…( I can’t help being depressive.)
I don’t mind…( I don’t mind your smoking.)
Would you mind…(Would you mind opening the window.)
I couldn’t help…(I couldn’t help smiling.)
Could you help me? As you can see I asked for help yesterday night but I didn’t receive. I could have deleted the unnecessary posts if I had received the deleting sign. (a blue +)
I am very sorry, I can’t helpless. My every attempt to answer a post ends in failure.Until now I had received the possibility to delete the redundant posts, but now no.
My question would be please to help me to delete ALL these posts.
English Grammar Tests, Elementary Level