List of Verbs Followed by Gerunds or Infinitives

Verb

Definition

Example Sentence

abhor

to hate 

John abhors working outdoors.

acknowledge

to recognize what someone has done

She acknowledges his working hard on the project.

admit

to say that you have done 

Peter admits wasting time and money.

advise

to give advice

I advise saving a little money every month.

allow

to permit

She allows using smartphones in class.

anticipate

to expect 

I anticipate visiting New York next month.

appreciate

to be grateful for 

Jack appreciates your helping him out with the project.

avoid

to try not to do 

She avoids dating men over 30.

be worth

to be a good idea to spend the time on 

It’s worth spending some time on the grammar.

can’t help

to be able to not do 

Tom can’t help complaining about the heat.

celebrate

to party about 

We’ll celebrate working together for over fifty years.

confess

to admit that you did 

Alice confessed stealing the money from her sister.

consider

to think about 

We’re considering buying a new house.

defend

to give reasons why you did 

They defend purchasing the new car because they have two jobs.

delay

to postpone, put off

We’re going to delay meeting until next week.

detest

to hate, despise

Jack detests learning new vocabulary.

discontinue

to stop doing, providing 

The store discontinued providing customer service on demand.

discuss

to talk about 

We like to discuss learning techniques.

dislike

to not like

Bob dislikes having to work so hard.

dispute

to say you didn’t do

They dispute stealing the merchandise.

dread

to fear doing or experiencing

I dread taking tests.

endure

to go through 

We endured listening to him for three hours.

enjoy

to have a good time doing

Sarah enjoys cooking fine dinners.

escape

to get away from

The students escaped taking the test because the fire alarm rang.

evade

to avoid

He evades doing yard work on Saturdays.

explain

to give details about

He’ll explain purchasing online next week.

fancy

to like very much

They fancy eating donuts.

fear

to be afraid of

I fear flying in airplanes.

feign

to pretend to do

Mary feigns not knowing anything.

finish

to stop doing

We finished shopping and went home.

forgive

to not be angry at someone anymore

They forgave stealing the candy as the children didn’t know it was wrong.

keep 

to continue doing

We keep studying the same grammar every week.

mention

to say in passing

They mentioned buying a new car last week.

mind 

to object to

I don’t mind smoking.

miss

to want something you don’t have 

I miss having more free time.

necessitate

to require to do

The job necessitates lifting heavy objects.

omit

to leave out, delete

We omitted discussing the new Smith account during the meeting.

permit

to allow

We’ll permit fishing on Saturdays.

picture

to imagine

Doug pictures retiring to Brazil.

postpone

to put off, delay

We postponed traveling to Chicago for a week.

practice

to do over and over again

Practice playing scales for thirty minutes every day.

recall

to remember

Yes, I recall buying that book.

recollect

to remember

Tom recollects playing baseball as a child.

recommend

to tell someone they should do something

They recommend purchasing insurance with this product.

report

to tell about

Tim reported spending twelve hours on the job.

resent

to not like that something that someone does

Susan resents having to work so hard.

resist

to try to avoid doing

Many students resist studying more than two hours a day.

resume

to start doing again

We resumed speaking about the problem at the meeting.

risk

to take a chance on

Jack risks making everyone angry with his stupid statements.

shirk

to not do something you should do

Dan shirked paying for the children’s meal.

shun

to avoid contact with

Don’t shun spending time with those you don’t know very well.

suggest

to say someone should do something

I suggest buying a new camera.

support

to help someone with words, thoughts or money

They supported our going to the doctor for help.

understand

to comprehend

He understands investing in the stock market.

urge

to suggest strongly 

I urge spending some time learning the program.

warrant 

to provide the reasons for doing 

The situation warrants investigating Mr. Todd.

Verb

Definition

Example Sentence

agree

to say you will do

Tom agreed to help me with the work.

appear

to seem to be

She appeared to wait for a moment.

arrange

to put in some order

I arranged to meet David next week.

ask

to inquire

They asked to join us for dinner.

attempt

to try

Doug attempted to say something.

beg

to urgently ask for

The man begged to receive some help.

can/can’t afford

to permit

I can’t afford to spend time doing this.

can/can’t wait

to allow time for

Susan can’t wait to see Tom next week.

care

to have feelings for

She cares to comment about the situation.

chance

to try

I chanced to give it a taste and it was good.

choose

to make a choice

Chris chose to not visit his friends last weekend.

claim

to say is true

Dick claims to see UFOs!

come

to arrive at

They came to purchase a new car.

consent

to agree to

Martha consented to instruct the children.

dare

to risk doing

We dared to take some time off work.

decide

to make a decision

He decided to go to university in San Francisco.

demand

to insist 

I demand to receive help now!

deserve

to merit

Peter deserves to have his time off this week.

determine

to come to the conclusion 

We determined to finish the project by the end of next year.

elect

to choose

Alice elected to not come with us to the presentation.

endeavor

to try

The company endeavors to provide the best possible service.

expect

to feel something should happen

She expects to arrive in thirty minutes.

fail

to not succeed

Unfortunately, they failed to get enough votes for the measure.

get

to receive

We got to see our friends last week.

guarantee

to say will happen

They guarantee to finish the work before five o’clock.

hesitate

to not be sure about

She hesitated to say yes, but in the end, did.

hope

to want to happen

I hope to see you soon.

hurry

to go to quickly

Mack is hurrying to finish the report by three this afternoon.

incline

to tend towards 

They incline to not come to parties.

learn

to study and memorize

The children learned to do many things at camp this summer.

manage

to do with difficulty

Don managed to finish the job on time.

mean

to intend

Dan means to speak with you this evening.

need

to have to have/do

We need to think about this some more.

neglect

to not do something you should do

The man neglected to give me all the information.

offer

to say you will do, give, provide

We offered to help them with their homework.

pay

to spend money on 

We paid to become informed about the matter.

plan

to think about the future

I plan to visit Chicago someday.

prepare

to get ready for

They are preparing to leave on vacation.

pretend

to act as if 

The boy pretended to be a ghost.

profess

to believe

Lori professes to believe in UFOs.

promise

to say you will do 

I promise to come over tonight for dinner.

refuse

to say you will not do

Jane refused to do what he asked.

remain

to stay

I remained to finish the work until eight o’clock.

request

to ask for

The man requested to speak to a lawyer.

resolve

to decide to do

We resolved to clean up the house this summer.

say

to tell someone

He said to tell you hi!

seek

to look for

They are seeking to receive $1,000,000 in damages.

seem

to appear

It seems to be very easy.

shudder

to physically react to something you do not like

I shudder to think about all the problems in the world.

strive

to try hard to do

Frank strove to meet all the demands of his boss.

struggle

to work hard to do

The students struggle to understand all the grammar.

swear

to promise to do

I swear to be a good boy in the future.

tend

to usually do

Dianne tends to waste time on the telephone.

threaten

to say you will do a bad thing to someone

The boss threatened to fire everyone.

volunteer

to say you will help

They volunteered to help with the cooking.

wait

to let time pass

We waited to see the doctor for three hours.

want

to desire

I want to help you.

wish

to want to do

She wishes to visit her parents in Ireland.

would like

to want

I’d like to have a steak, please.

yearn

to desire very strongly

I yearn to finish work today!