Gerund vs. Infinitive after Adjectives
Gerund and Infinitive after Adjectives
In English, certain adjectives are followed by either a gerund (-ing form) or an infinitive (to + verb), and choosing the correct form is essential for grammatically accurate sentences. Understanding which structure to use depends on the specific adjective and sometimes the meaning you want to convey.
Many adjectives that describe feelings or reactions are typically followed by infinitives. For example: "I'm happy to help you," "She was surprised to see him," or "They are eager to learn." Common adjectives in this category include glad, ready, willing, afraid, likely, and certain.
However, some adjectives are followed by prepositions, which then require a gerund. For instance: "I'm tired of waiting," "She's good at solving problems," or "He's interested in learning French." The preposition determines that a gerund must follow. Additionally, the construction "It's + adjective + gerund" appears in expressions like "It's no use crying over spilt milk" or "It's worth trying."
Mastering these patterns will help you sound more natural and avoid common errors that even intermediate learners make. Try the quiz to check your knowledge!
Gerund
If you've ever said I enjoy to read or good at to swim and wondered why it sounded wrong, you've met the gerund. English is fussy about which structures take -ing and which take to + verb, and getting this wrong is one of the most common giveaways that someone learned grammar from a list rather than from real usage.
A gerund is the -ing form of a verb acting as a noun — reading, swimming, being late. After many common verbs (enjoy, avoid, finish) and after every preposition, English demands the gerund, never the infinitive.
Habitual aspect
If you've ever written Last summer, I used to go swimming every day when you meant would go — or vice versa — you've hit the habitual aspect's main puzzle. Used to and would both describe past habits, but they have different rules: one needs a time anchor; the other implies the habit has stopped. Mix them up and the meaning subtly shifts.
The habitual aspect marks an action as repeated or routine. English expresses it through the present simple (I walk to work), used to for past habits no longer true (I used to smoke), and would for repeated past actions in a specific time frame (Every summer we would go to the lake).
Infinitive
If you've ever written I enjoy to swim or He let me to go and only later learned why both are wrong — you've hit the infinitive's main puzzle. English is fussy: some verbs demand the to-infinitive, some demand the bare infinitive, some demand the gerund, and a few accept multiple options with different meanings (remember to lock vs remember locking).
The infinitive is the basic form of a verb, used non-finitely. The to-infinitive (to go) follows verbs like want, decide, plan; the bare infinitive (go) follows modal verbs (can, will) and causatives (Let him go).
Preposition
If you've ever written I'm interested on you (should be in) or I'm good on football (should be at) — you've hit prepositions' main pitfall. Their choice is mostly idiomatic, not logical, and rarely matches what your native language does. Memorising the right preposition for each common verb and adjective is what stops your speech from sounding subtly off.
A preposition is a small word linking a noun or noun phrase to other parts of the sentence: in, on, at, to, from, with. Marks time, place, manner, or abstract relationships. Choice is largely idiomatic, especially in fixed combinations (depend on, good at, afraid of).
Verb
If grammar feels overwhelming, the fix is almost always to focus on verbs first. They carry the action, the time, the mood, and the voice — a single verb form decides whether your sentence reads as past or present, fact or hypothetical, active or passive. Get verbs solid and the rest of grammar suddenly looks much smaller.
A verb expresses action, state, or occurrence — the engine of every English sentence. Most verbs have five forms (base, -s, past tense, past participle, -ing); be has eight; modal verbs have fewer. Verbs carry tense, aspect, mood, and voice.
B1 | Intermediate
If you can hold a conversation about your weekend, explain why you're late, and follow a short news story without panicking — but still feel lost in fast or technical English — you're probably operating at B1. Knowing this matters: study material at the wrong level either bores you or burns you out, and B1 is the typical target for travel, casual work, and most everyday social English.
B1 is the intermediate level in the CEFR framework, where you handle everyday English independently and start combining ideas with complex sentences, passive voice, and modal verbs.
Difficulty: Medium
If easy questions feel too obvious but hard questions leave you guessing, you're probably ready for Medium — the level where most real learning happens. It pushes just enough to expose the rules you don't quite have yet, without burying you in edge cases. This is where steady fluency is built, one well-aimed challenge at a time.
The Medium difficulty tag marks middle-range challenges — typically A2 to B1. One rule per question, realistic distractors, and contexts that require active thought rather than instant recognition.