Verbs followed by the gerund

VERBS FOLLOWED BY THE GERUND

The gerund is used after certain verbs.

Example

miss: I miss living in England.

The most important of these verbs are shown below.
Those marked * can also be followed by a that-clause

Example:

VERB	GERUND
She admitted…	breaking the window
	THAT–CLAUSE
She admitted…	that she had broken the window.

acknowledge,*
admit,*
anticipate,* appreciate,*
avoid,
celebrate,
consider, contemplate,
defer,
delay,
deny,*
detest,
dislike,
dread,
enjoy,
entail,
escape,
excuse,
fancy (=imagine)*,
finish,
forgive,
imagine,*
involve,

keep,
loathe,
mean,(=have as result)*
mention,*
mind,
miss,
pardon,
postpone,
prevent,
propose,*
recall,*
recollect,*
remember,
report,*
resent,
resist,
risk,
save (=prevent the wasted effort)
stop,
suggest,*
understand,*

Notes:

Appreciate is followed by a possessive adjective and the gerund when the gerund does not refer to the subject.

Compare :

I appreciate having some time off work. (I’m having the time…)
I appreciate your giving me some time off work. (You’re giving me the time…)

Excuse, forgive, pardon can be followed by an object and the gerund or for + object and the gerund (both common in spoken English), or a possessive adjective + gerund (more formal and less likely to be said):

Excuse me interrupting.
Excuse me for interrupting.
Excuse my interrupting.

Suggest can be used in a number of ways, but BE CAREFUL.

It is important not to confuse these patterns:

suggest/suggested (+ possessive adjective) + gerund:

He suggests going to Glastonbury
He suggested going to Glastonbury
He suggested/suggests my going to Glastonbury

suggest/suggested + that-clause (where both that and should may be omitted):

He suggests that I should go to New York
He suggested that I should go to New York
He suggested/suggests I should go to New York
He suggested/suggests I go to New York
He suggested I went to New York.

suggest/suggested + question word + infinitive:

He suggested where to go.

Propose is followed by the gerund when it means ‘suggest’:

John proposed going to the debate
but by the infinitive when it means ‘intend’:
The Government proposes bringing in new laws..

Stop can be followed by a gerund or infinitive, but there is a change of meaning – see GERUND / INFINITIVE? section.

Dread is followed by the infinitive when used with ‘think’, in the expression ‘I dread to think’:

I dread to think what she’ll do next.

Prevent is followed

EITHER by a possessive adjective + gerund:

You can’t prevent my leaving.

OR by an object + from + gerund:

You can’t prevent me from leaving.

Examples

Normally, a girl wouldn’t think of marrying a man she did not love.
Most people don’t like receiving bad news.
We can’t risk getting wet – we haven’t got any dry clothes.
If you take that job it will mean getting home late every night.
I can’t imagine living in that big house.
If you buy some petrol now, it will save you stopping on the way to London.
She couldn’t resist eating the plum she found in the fridge.
They decided to postpone painting the house until the weather improved.