Gerund And Infinitive

Why A is correct:
After "enjoys," you need a gerund (verb + -ing). "Enjoys playing" is the standard grammar pattern in English.

Why the others are wrong:
- B (to play): The infinitive form doesn't work here. You'd say "she wants to play," not "enjoys to play."
- C (play): The base verb form is incorrect after "enjoys."
- D (played): Past tense doesn't fit. This sentence describes her current habit, not something already finished.

A. being ✓

After the verb "avoid," you need the gerund form (verb + -ing), not the infinitive. "Avoid" always takes a gerund object: "avoid being late," "avoid making mistakes," etc.

Why the others are wrong:
- B. to be — This is the infinitive form. Infinitives don't follow "avoid"; you'd say this after verbs like "want" or "plan" instead.
- C. be — The base form doesn't work here; it's not grammatically correct after "avoid."
- D. been — This is the past participle and doesn't fit the structure needed after "avoid."

A. going ✓

Why it's correct:
After the verb "suggest," you must use a gerund (the -ing form). "Suggest + gerund" is the correct grammar pattern in English.

Why the others are wrong:
- B. to go — "Suggest" doesn't take an infinitive; you'd say this with "recommend" instead
- C. go — Bare verbs can't follow "suggest"
- D. went — This is past tense and doesn't fit the structure at all

A. Swimming ✓

This sentence needs a gerund (verb form acting as a noun) to be the subject. "Swimming" is the gerund form and works as the noun that performs the action.

Why the others are wrong:
- B. Swim – Base verb form can't be a subject; needs the -ing form
- C. To swim – Infinitive form is grammatically possible but less natural here; gerunds are preferred as subjects
- D. Swims – This is third-person singular present tense, not a noun form, so it can't work as a subject

Correct answer: A (waking)
- After the verb "hate," you must use a gerund (verb + -ing), not an infinitive. "Hate waking" is the standard construction.

Why the others are wrong:
- B (to wake): This is an infinitive, but "hate" requires a gerund, not an infinitive.
- C (wake): This is the base verb form, which doesn't work after "hate."
- D (to have woken): This is a perfect infinitive, which is incorrect after "hate" and is overly complex.

A. to complete ✓

"Hope" is a verb that requires an infinitive (to + verb), not a gerund or bare verb. You say "I hope to do something," just like "I want to complete" or "I plan to finish."

Why the others don't work:
- B (completing): Gerunds (-ing forms) don't follow "hope." You wouldn't say "I hope completing the project."
- C (complete): Bare verbs (no "to") don't work here. The infinitive is required.
- D (to completing): This mixes both forms—grammatically incorrect. You can't use "to" before a gerund.

A. to buy ✓
After "decided," you need the infinitive form (to + verb). "Decided to buy" is the correct structure in English.

B. buying ✗
The gerund (ing form) doesn't work here. "Decided buying" is grammatically incorrect.

C. buy ✗
Missing the "to." The base verb alone doesn't follow "decided."

D. bought ✗
Past tense doesn't fit. She hasn't bought it yet—she just made the decision.

A. staying ✓

After "prefer," you need a gerund (verb + -ing form) to match the structure "prefer [gerund] rather than [gerund]." This creates parallel grammar: "prefer staying... rather than going out."

B. have stayed ✗ – Uses perfect tense, which doesn't fit the parallel structure.

C. stay ✗ – Uses base verb form, but "prefer" requires a gerund, not an infinitive.

D. stayed ✗ – Past tense doesn't make sense here and breaks the parallel structure with "going."

A. to going ✓

"Look forward to" is a phrasal verb that always requires a gerund (verb + -ing) after it, not an infinitive. The "to" is part of the phrase, not a sign of the infinitive form.

B. to go — Wrong. This uses the infinitive form, but "look forward to" needs a gerund, not an infinitive.

C. go — Wrong. Missing the required "to" and not in gerund form.

D. going — Wrong. Missing the "to" that's part of the phrasal verb "look forward to."

A. to buy ✓

After certain verbs like "decide," you must use the infinitive form (to + verb). "Decided to buy" is the correct structure.

Why the others are wrong:
- B. buying – This is a gerund (verb as noun). While some verbs take gerunds, "decide" requires an infinitive.
- C. buy – Missing "to"; the base verb alone doesn't work after "decide."
- D. to buying – This mixes infinitive and gerund forms together, which is grammatically incorrect.

A. to complete ✓

"Manage" is a verb that requires the infinitive form ("to + verb") when followed by another action. The phrase "manage to do something" is the correct structure meaning "succeed in doing something."

Why the others are wrong:
- B. completing – Uses a gerund (verb+ing), which doesn't work with "manage"; you'd say "manage without completing" but not "manage completing"
- C. complete – Missing "to"; bare verbs don't follow "manage"
- D. to completing – Mixing infinitive and gerund together is grammatically incorrect

Correct answer: A (watching)

After the verb "suggest," you use a gerund (the -ing form of a verb), not an infinitive or base verb. "She suggested watching a movie" is the natural, correct structure.

Why the others are wrong:
- B (watch): The base verb doesn't work after "suggest"—you need the gerund form.
- C (to watch): This is an infinitive. While some verbs take infinitives, "suggest" takes gerunds instead.
- D (watches): This is third-person singular present tense, which doesn't fit the grammatical structure needed here.

Why A is correct:
After the verb "decided," you need the infinitive form "to take." The pattern is: decide + infinitive (to + verb).

Why the others are wrong:
- B (taking): This is a gerund (verb-ing form), which doesn't fit after "decided." You'd use this after different verbs like "consider" or "enjoy."
- C (take): Missing the "to"—you can't use the bare verb form after "decided."
- D (takes): This is present tense with third person, which makes no grammatical sense here.

A. stay ✓

After "would rather" (or "I'd rather"), use the base form of the verb with no "to." So "stay" is correct.

Why the others are wrong:
- B. to stay — "Would rather" never takes "to" + infinitive (that's for other phrases like "want to")
- C. staying — Gerunds (-ing forms) don't work after "would rather"
- D. to be staying — Adds unnecessary words and breaks the "would rather + base verb" rule

Correct answer: A (to improving)

"Committed to" is a fixed phrasal expression that requires a gerund (verb + -ing form) after it. You're committed *to doing* something, not *to do* something.

Why the others are wrong:
- B (improve) – Missing the preposition "to"; also uses the bare verb instead of a gerund
- C (to improve) – Has the preposition but uses the infinitive form instead of the gerund; the phrase is "committed to" + gerund, not "committed to" + infinitive
- D (improving) – Missing the preposition "to"; you need both parts: "to improving"

A. opening ✓

After "Do you mind," we use the gerund (verb + -ing), not the infinitive. "Mind" is a special verb that takes a gerund object when asking permission politely.

Why the others are wrong:
- B & D use infinitives ("to open," "to be opened"), but "mind" doesn't work with infinitives
- C ("open") is the bare verb form—we can't use it here; "mind" requires a gerund

A. Painting is correct because it's a gerund (verb + -ing), which functions as a noun. The sentence needs a noun as the subject, and "painting" is the only option that works grammatically.

B. Paint is wrong—it's the base verb form, which can't be a sentence subject without "to" or a helping verb.

C. To paint is wrong—this infinitive form doesn't work as a subject in this sentence structure.

D. Painted is wrong—this past tense verb can't function as a subject; it needs a noun or gerund.

A. to do ✓

After "tries," you need the infinitive form (to + verb). "Tries to do" is the correct structure in English.

Why the others don't work:
- B. doing — This is a gerund (verb as a noun), which doesn't fit after "tries"
- C. do — This is a bare verb with no infinitive marker; it's grammatically incomplete
- D. does — This is present tense conjugation, which doesn't match the infinitive structure needed here

Why A is correct:
After "can't help," you must use the gerund (verb + -ing). "Can't help" is a fixed phrase meaning "can't avoid" or "can't prevent," and it always takes a gerund object.

Why the others are wrong:
- B (to feel): The infinitive form doesn't work after "can't help"—this is a grammar rule specific to this phrase.
- C (to feeling): This is incorrect because you can't mix an infinitive marker (to) with a gerund (-ing).
- D (feel): The base verb form doesn't work here; "can't help" requires a gerund, not a bare verb.

Why A is correct:
After "enjoy," you must use a gerund (verb + -ing). "Enjoy listening" is the correct structure.

Why the others are wrong:
- B (to listen): The infinitive form doesn't work after "enjoy." We don't say "enjoy to listen."
- C (listen): The bare verb form is incorrect; you need the -ing form after "enjoy."
- D (to listening): This mixes the infinitive and gerund, which is grammatically wrong.