Level: beginner

Common verbs followed by the -ing form are:

  • verbs of liking and disliking:

detest dislike enjoy fancy hate like love

I love swimming but I hate jogging.
They always enjoyed visiting their friends.

  • phrases with mind:

wouldn't mind (= would like)
don't mind (= I am willing to)
would you mind (= will you please …?)

I wouldn't mind having some fish and chips.
I don't mind waiting for a few minutes.
Would you mind holding this for me?

  • verbs of saying and thinking:

admit consider deny imagine remember suggest

Our leader suggested waiting until the storm was over.
Everyone denied seeing the accident.

  • others:

avoid begin finish keep miss practise risk start stop

I haven't finished writing this letter.
Let's practise speaking English.

Verb + -ing form 1


Verb + -ing form 2


verb + noun + -ing form


  • verbs of the senses
see hear listen to smell watch etc.

We saw everybody running away.
I could hear someone singing.

  • others:
catch find imagine leave prevent stop

I caught someone trying to break in to my house.
We couldn’t prevent them getting away.

Verb + noun + -ing form 1


Verb + noun + -ing form 2


Infinitive or -ing form?



I don't like being interrupted.
Our dog loves being stroked under the chin.


Dear Sir
Let me know whether I am correct or wrong. I like riding my bike.
This means I
Aint got no friends. I like be alone. This means im a loser.
Am I correct?
The real Rasmus Wiborg :)))

PS. love your webpage

Dear Sir
Let me know whether I am correct or wrong. I like travelling.

This means I
have already started travelling. I like to travel. This means a wish or intention.
Am I correct?

Hello Andrew,

Both of these are expressions of preference, but neither tells us whether or not you are travelling at the moment. We use 'ing' after like with the meaning of 'enjoy' - the act of travelling gives me pleasure. We use 'to verb' after like to describe our preferred way of spending time - in other words, to say that this is something that we choose to spend time on.


Best wishes,


The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Sir
Thank you very much for your reply explaning 'ing' and to verb. This is something that I had the difficulty to understand. To make sure that I have understood this I am writing an example let me know If I am correct. Eg. I am a tour guide and I am telling my friend- I like my job very much because I like travelling.
Is 'I like travelling.' correct according to the context.
Thank you.

can we say "i tried to study but i kept spacing out" (spacing out as being distracted)
does spacing out really means distracted if not can you give me the right thing to say
also can we put ing after kept?

Hello ennie123,

It is fine to use -ing after 'keep', but we don't use the phrase in this way. It can be used as an adjective - spaced-out - when someone is constantly daydreaming and unable to concentrate.

The simplest way to complete the sentence would be 'getting distracted' or 'losing concentration'.

Best wishes,


The LearnEnglish Team

Hello people. I did read the comment and I was wondering about the case we use to apply the condition of never more as: stopped working and stopped to work at 5. (Ex)
I didn't find, in the explanation behind, the case i just spotted.

Hi Annaluvillela,
Is your doubt about the use of -ing form and infinitive form with stop?
In that case, we use -ing form after stop whne an action is terminated and is no longer done after that, for example:
I stopped working after a car accident.
We use infinitive form after stop when an action is terminated in order to do something else:
I was having lunch but I stopped to work on my project.

Hope this could help you.
Best wishes.

Hello Annaluvillela,

I'm afraid I don't understand your question here. Could you rephrase it, please, with an example sentence to illustrate? Thank you.


Best wishes,


The LearnEnglish Team

Hello again!
"I consider Bob to be the best player on our soccer team."
Why don't we use "being" after consider?