A Gerund is a the -ing form of a verb living the exciting life of a noun: playing the role of the subject, direct object, subject complement, and the object of a preposition.
An infinitive is the base form of a verb preceded by "to" and it also masquerades as a noun: playing the role of the subject, direct object, subject complement, and adjective.
Because they can both function as nouns, you may have noticed that infinitives and gerunds tend to occupy some of the same positions. When it comes to deciding between an infinitive or a gerund, the direct object slot presents the most difficulties.
The following is a list of verbs that can only take on a gerund in the direct object slot:
The following is a list of verbs that can only take on an infinitive in the direct object slot:
The following is a list of verbs that can take on either a gerund or an infinitive in the direct object slot:
