‘Stop + infinitive’ and ‘Stop + gerund’. Many verbs are followed by either a gerund or an infinitive, but there are some verbs that are followed by both. Stop is one of these verbs. In the case of stop, we use both gerund and infinitive, but they have very different meanings.
Stop + infinitive
- Use ‘stop + infintive’ to indicate that one activity is stopped (usual temporary) in order for another activity to begin.
- The first verb stops, the infinitve verb begins
- I stopped to hear the birds. (I stopped walking and starting listening to the birds.)
- In this example on the right, you see that the first stopped action is temporary and will continue again.
- Another example is:
- He stopped to talk to his boss. (He stopped working temporarily to start to talk to his boss and then went back to working).
Stop + gerund
- Use’ stop + gerund’ to show that an activity will not continue.
- I stopped yelling at my kids because I realised it wasn’t working. (I do not yell any more at my kids.)
- Lin stopped going to school last year. (Lin does not go to school).
- In the example on the right, one activity is stopped and a new activity is replacing it. It is not a temporary stop.
- Frank will stop working for them in December and will start his new job in January. (Frank will no longer work at his current company. He will start a new job somewhere else.
Common Mistakes
- Stop to smoke vs. stop smoking:
- If I stop to smoke, I still smoke.
- If I stop smoking, I do not smoke anymore.
- Requests:
- Can you stop shouting, please? (Now and later).
- Can you stop to have a chat? (Can you stop what you are doing for a minute to talk to me?).
English Grammar
Now that you have seen, ‘Stop + infinitive’ and ‘Stop + gerund’, take a look at our other English Grammar posts:
Grammar: regret + gerund vs infinitive
Grammar: remember + gerund vs infinitive
