Tips to Master Gerunds and Infinitives 3

• "I remember locking the door."
• "I remembered to lock the door."

Remember + Gerund

• Alex: "The door wasn't locked when I came back home today! Why did you leave it open?"
• Me: "That's strange because I remember locking it."
• (I remember that I locked the door. I have a memory of it that I'm playing in my head.)

Remember + Infinitive

• Me: "That's strange because I remember locking it."
• Alex: "I guess you forgot. Can you please remember to lock it next time?"

• "Remember to call your mom!"

• "I still remember buying my first bike."
• "She remembers being shy when she was younger."
• "I remember telling you this before."
• "How did she get into the house? I don’t remember giving her a key!"

• "I hope she remembers to buy coffee."
• "If you see them, remember to say hello from me."
• "Thank you for remembering to bring my passport!"
• "It’s a good thing we remembered to bring the tickets."

We use the gerund after the verbs keep, finish and imagine.

• "She keeps losing her keys."
• "I hate that they keep telling me what to do."
• "If you keep practicing, you'll get better."

• "Did you finish reading the book?"
• "I'm waiting for them to finish eating."
• "Call me when you finish working."

• "She can't imagine working anywhere else."
• "He can't imagine living with them."
• "Can you imagine traveling for a year?"

We use the infinitive after the verbs refuse, hesitate, and pretend.

• "She refused to answer any of my questions."
• "They refused to let him stay in the country."
• "He keeps refusing to help her."

• "They hesitated to tell him what happened."
• "Don't hesitate to call me if you need me."
• "She hesitated to take the job at the company."

• "They pretend to understand, but they don't."
• "He knows nothing but he pretends to know everything."
• "She's pretending to be asleep."