Uso de Gerundios e Infinitivos

El ingls tiene dos tipos de sustantivos verbales, el infinitivo (con o sin "to") y el gerundio (la terminacin
-ing). La mayora de los verbos que toman un sustantivo verbal pueden estar seguidos de uno u otro (un
gerundio o un infinitivo, pero no ambos). Sin embargo, existen determinados verbos a los que puede seguirle
indistintamente un gerundio o un infinitivo. A ellos nos referiremos aqu...

VERBOS
A algunos verbos puede seguirles el gerundio o el infinitivo y es slo una cuestin de estilo cmo y cundo
utilizarlos. Tres de estos verbos son continue (continuar), start (arrancar, comenzar) y begin (comenzar,
iniciar).

The fans continued to shout / shouting at the referee.

Helen started to cough / coughing because of her bad cold.
It began to rain / raining.

Otros verbos pueden tomar el gerundio o el infinitivo en la mayora de los tiempos verbales (aunque el ingls
britnico prefiere el gerundio, el infinitivo es muy comn en ingls americano), pero slo se los usa con el
infinitivo cuando se encuentran en condicional. Estos verbos son: hate (odiar, no gustar), love (amar), can't
bear (no soportar), like (gustar), dislike (disgustar) y prefer (preferir).

I hate talking to her.

I like to get up early on Sunday mornings and go riding.

... but:

I like getting up early on Sunday mornings to go riding.

I couldn't bear to live in that country.
I'd prefer to see the manager early tomorrow.

CUANDO EL SIGNIFICADO CAMBIA

Sin embargo, con algunos verbos el significado de las oraciones se altera, si se utilizan gerundios o
infinitivos. Es interesante analizarlo:

Remember/Forget (recordar/olvidar)
Con los verbos remember (recordar) y forget (olvidar), el gerundio hace referencia a una accin que ocurri
ANTES QUE el hecho de recordar u olvidar. Veamos...

I remember giving him the key significa...

I remember having given him the key o lo que es lo mismo...
I remember the moment in which I gave him the key.

I will never forget going water rafting in Africa significa...

I will never forget the occasion on which we went water rafting in Africa.

Sin embargo, con remember y forget, el infinitivo hace referencia a una accin que ocurri DESPUES
QUE surgiera el hecho de recordar u olvidar. Veamos...

I remember to feed the cat significa...

I remember that it was my responsibility to feed the cat and I fed her.

I forgot to post that letter significa...

I did not post the letter because I forgot.

Regret (lamentar/se)
El verbo regret (lamentar/se) es similar. La estructura regret + gerund (ing) hace referencia mientras que
regret + infinitive se usa para prsentar malas noticias (I regret to say..., I regret to tell you..., I regret to
inform you...). Por lo tanto, decimos...

I regret telling him the secret significa

I regret having told him the secret o lo que es lo mismo
I wish I hadn't told him the secret.

I regret to say that I just ran over your dog! significa

I'm very sorry but I just killed your dog with my car.

I regret to inform you that your car is missing significa

It is my sad responsibility to inform you that your car is missing.

Stop (dejar de)

La estructura stop + gerund (ing) expresa que se ha interrumpido la accin mencionada en el gerundio.
Veamos...

You must stop smoking.

Sin embargo, stop + infinitive expresa que se interrumpel la actividad que se est realizando para llevar a
cabo la actividad mencionada en el infinitivo. Observa...

The window-cleaners stopped to smoke. significa

They stopped cleaning the windows in order to have a cigarette.

Go on (seguir, continuar)
La estructura go on + gerund expresa lo mismo que continue + gerund/infinitive:

He went on talking about himself, even though nobody was listening.

Sin embargo, go on + infinitive significa to start something new:

He went on to talk about his children significa

He was talking about one thing and then he changed the subject and started to talk about his children.

Try (tratar, intentar)

Existe una ligera diferencia entre try + infinitive y try + gerund. La estructura try + infinitive sugiere que la
accin del infinitivo is difcil y es posible que la persona no llegue a realizar la accin:

Try to open the window. I can't because I'm not very strong and it has recently been painted.
He tried to climb the cliff.
Sin embargo, try + gerund sugiere que la accin del gerundio no es compleja pero desconocemos si la
consecuenciade esa accin ser lo que buscamos o deseamos. Se utiliza la estructura try + gerund cuando
realizamos algo para descubrir cules sern las consecuencias. Observa...

A: Phew! It's hot in here!

B: Try opening the window. Although it's probably just as hot outside!

Need (necesitar, tener necesidad de)

Con el verbo need, el infinitivo adquiere un significado activo y el gerundio uno pasivo.

I need to talk to you significa I must talk to you.

My shoes need cleaning significa My shoes need to be cleaned.
The car needed servicing significa The car needed to be serviced.

the rule is the same as in Spanish.

first verb........conjugate
second verb.......infinitive(to + base form of verb) or in some cases gerund (ing)

conjugate + verb in ger

Yo disfruto hablando en Ingles
I enjoy speaking in English

Yo necesito aprender a mas Ingles

I need to learn more English

There is a VERY extensive list of which verbs should be used in infinitive and which should be used in gerund,
and another list of which verbs can be used in either form without change in meaning.