One of the trickiest things about using gerunds and infinitives is that some verbs can be followed by either form, but the meaning of the sentence can change depending on which form is used. Here are a few examples:
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"I remembered to lock the door" vs. "I remembered locking the door." In the first sentence, "to lock" is an infinitive and indicates that the speaker remembered to perform the action. In the second sentence, "locking" is a gerund and indicates that the speaker remembers the action itself.
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"I stopped to smoke" vs. "I stopped smoking." In the first sentence, "to smoke" is an infinitive and indicates that the speaker stopped what they were doing to smoke a cigarette. In the second sentence, "smoking" is a gerund and indicates that the speaker quit smoking altogether.
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"I love to dance" vs. "I love dancing." In the first sentence, "to dance" is an infinitive and indicates that the speaker enjoys the act of dancing. In the second sentence, "dancing" is a gerund and indicates that the speaker enjoys the activity as a whole.
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"I hope to win" vs. "I hope for winning." In the first sentence, "to win" is an infinitive and indicates that the speaker desires to win. In the second sentence, "winning" is a gerund and is not used with the verb "hope" because "hope for" is a fixed collocation.
- The phrases "try to call" and "try calling" have slightly different meanings. "Try to call" means making an effort to attempt to call someone, while "try calling" means attempting to call someone as a way of testing or finding out if the call will be successful or not. "Try to call" implies an intention to call, while "try calling" implies an action taken to see if calling will work.
In general, the best way to become comfortable using gerunds and infinitives is to practice, practice, practice. Exercises that include fill-in-the-blank sentences or multiple-choice questions can be particularly helpful.
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