Many verbs, such as remember, forget, regret and stop can be followed by both gerunds and infinitives but with different meanings. The most difficult one to understand is Try + gerund vs infinitive. Let’s take a look.
TRY + GERUND
Use try + gerund to:
- talk about an experiment
- see if the experiment changes the current situation
- know if the result is what you wanted or not
- Carol wanted to lose weight, so she tried drinking more water. It worked. (Carol drank more water to see if she would lose weight.)
- Julie is going to try talking to her boss tomorrow about changing company policy. (Julie will see if talking to her boss will make a difference)
TRY + INFINITIVE
Use try + infinitive to:
- talk about something you tried in the past but were unable to do
- Carol wanted to lose weight. She tried to stop eating junk food, but found it too difficult. (Carol did not stop eating junk food. It was too dificult for her).
- He tried to quit smoking last year. (He is still smoking)
- speak about things in the present or future that you may not be able to do because they are difficult.
- We are trying to use less water every day, but it’s so hard. (We are not doing a very good job of this)
- He is going to try to stop smoking, but doesn’t want any help. (He is likely to continue to smoke)
COMMON MISTAKES
When you are thinking should I use gerund or infintive, think:
- Was it easy (try + gerund) or difficult (try + infinitive) to do?
- Did I do it? Yes (try + gerund) or No (try + infinitive)
English Grammar
Now that you have seen Try + gerund vs infinitive, take a look at our other Grammar Hammer posts:
Grammar Hammer: Forget + gerund vs infinitive
Grammar Hammer: So, such, too enough
