1.33 Verbs followed by the infinitive or the –ing form

Some verbs can be followed by the infinitive or the –ing form with little difference in meaning. These include: begin, continue, hate, intend, like, love, prefer, start, e.g.:

They began talking/to talk. (Van començar a parlar.)

Do you like dancing/to dance? (T'agrada ballar?)

Notice that would like and would prefer take the infinitive only, e.g.:

A: Would you like to go to the theatre? (T'agradaria anar al teatre?)

Some verbs can be followed by the infinitive or the –ing form with different meanings: come, forget, go on, mean, regret, remember, try. Compare, e.g.:

The car came screaming round the corner. (El cotxe va doblar l'esquina xisclant.)

In the end we came to understand that protest was useless. (Al final vam arribar a entendre que protestar era inútil.)

Don't forget to phone the bank. (No oblidis de trucar al banc.)

I will never forget meeting Nicole. (No oblidaré mai quan vaig coneixer la Nicole.)

I remembered to pick up the key. (Em vaig recordar d'agafar la clau.)

I remember picking up the key. (Tinc present que vaig agafar la clau.)

First she talked about the history of the project. Then she went on to talk about the current situation. (En primer lloc, va parlar de la història del projecte. A continuació va explicar la situació actual.)

They went on playing in spite of the heavy rain. (Continuaven jugant malgrat la forta pluja.)

We have to finish everything today. This means having a quick lunch. (Això vol dir dinar ràpid.)

I'm sorry you didn't know. I meant to send you a message. (Tenia la intenció d'enviar-te un missatge.)

We regret to advise you that we cannot accept dollars. (Sentim avisar-vos que no podem acceptat dollars.)

She now regrets telling her mother that she's pregnant. (Ara es penedeix d'explicar a la seva mare que està prenyada.)

They tried to open the door. (Van intentar obrir la porta.)

They tried opening the door. (Van fer la prova d'obrir la porta.)

	See also verbs followed by the infinitive, verbs followed by the –ing form and verbs followed by an object and the infinitive.