Study materials
One verb, two forms, and the sentences tell opposite stories.
I remembered to lock the door.
I remembered locking the door.
The difference is not style but the order of events. And the same logic runs through a whole group of verbs.
One axis explains all the pairs
The pairs look arbitrary only until you see the logic they share. There is one, and it covers the whole topic.
The to form looks forward: the action has not happened yet, it is a goal, an intention or a necessity. The ing form looks back: the action is already done, it is a fact or an experience.
I remembered to lock the door.
I remembered locking the door.
So what has to be memorised is not a list but a direction of view. The list then builds itself.
The classic pairs
Here are the verbs where the form changes the meaning itself, not merely a shade of it.
| With to | With ing |
|---|---|
| remember to do: not to forget doing it | remember doing: to recall having done it |
| forget to do: to fail to do it | forget doing: not to recall having done it |
| stop to do: to pause in order to do it | stop doing: to give it up |
| try to do: to make an effort | try doing: to test it as an option |
| regret to say: to announce with regret | regret saying: to be sorry about what was said |
He stopped smoking.
He stopped to smoke.
Try: the finest pair
This pair causes the most confusion, because Ukrainian renders both forms with one word.
I tried to open the window.
I tried opening the window.
The first form is about effort, the second about an experiment. In the second, opening the window was easy: the question was whether it would help.
The mistakes everyone makes
The first is taking an ing where the action still lies ahead.
Don't forget locking the door. → Don't forget to lock the door.
The second is taking to where giving something up is meant.
He stopped to smoke last year. → He stopped smoking last year.
The third is confusing effort with experiment.
I tried calling him, but he didn't answer.
All three are caught by one question. Has the action already happened, or is it still ahead?
Try it right now
Take three verbs from the table and build a pair of sentences for each: one with to, one with an ing.
Then put the difference into words. If you managed to name it, the topic is yours.