Verbs followed by gerunds or to infinitive

Question

Hi all,Is there any basic rule of distinguishing verbs that followed by gerunds or to infinitive? I often confuse it. Thanks. Bowo - in Jakarta

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Hi all, Is there any basic rule of distinguishing verbs that followed by gerunds or to infinitive? I often confuse it. Thanks. Bowo - in Jakarta[/nq]
Bad news, bowo. Most non-native speakers of English never completely get the hang of the -ing/to-infinitive problem.
You're going to have to memorize a few lists and work through lots of problem verbs. Remember that most verbs are followed by the to-infinitive, do a bunch of exercises based on those problem verbs, and review your lists often. When you start catching Indonesians in your country who claim to speak excellent English making serious mistakes (you know, the annoying posers who go off to Britain, Australia, or the States for some or all of their education and spend the rest of their lives telling the people who never leave Indonesia how wonderful living and studying abroad is, and how it's made them far better than the madding crowd), you'll know that you're getting somewhere.

Usenet · Answer

Thanks credo for the info.
Btw, how did you know that there are lots of Indonesians who act like the annoying posers? Have you visited Indonesia?

Verbs followed by gerunds or to infinitive

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