verbs followed with the infinitive or ing form with a change in meaning

[nouamaneer]

Hello,

I hope you all doing great. I got a lesson to give and it's on verb patterns. I mean verbs that are followed either by -ing form or the infinitive. This former has a category of verbs that change in meaning as the the form that follows changes.

Examples:

Don't forget to tell her.
Don't forget visiting Rome once in Italy.

See? two sentences with the same verb, but surely with different meanings.

Now, is there a trick that I should know about them?

Thanks a lot,

[Tdol]

Don't forget to tell her.
Don't forget visiting Rome once in Italy.

Don't forget to tell her- This means that you will tell her in the future.
I won't forget visiting Rome- This means that you have already visited Rome and the memory will stay with you.

[TheParser]

[QUOTE=nouamaneer;817453]Hello,

NOT A TEACHER


(1) You are 100% correct: this topic is super important. You can find more information in the search box at this helpline and, of course, on the Web.

(2) Here is an example of something that teachers always give their students:

I stopped to drink some coffee. = I was working. I stopped. I drank some coffee. Then I continued to work some more.

I stopped drinking coffee ten years ago. = I have not drunk coffee for ten years.

(3) Just one more example. OK?

I am very proud of myself. Why? Because this morning I remembered to say "Good morning" to the boss in her office. And she smiled. Maybe I will get that promotion.

I must be getting old. I do not remember saying "Good morning" to the boss in her office this morning. Maybe I did do it, or maybe I did not do it. I just cannot remember.

[nouamaneer]

Here I got another link to handy article on catenative verbs, verbs that can form chains. Appendix:English catenative verbs - Wiktionary

I came across a very interesting example of a verb and chain of verbs following and dependent.

We promised to agree to try practicing playing tennis more than often.

Nice one indeed!

Thanks for you both, Theparser and Tdol.

[Mohammadhelmi]

Don't forget to tell her.
It means remember to tell her.
It means that the action will happen in the future.

Don't forget to visit Rome when you go to Italy.
It means remember to visit Rome when you are in Italy.

I will never forget visiting Rome once in Italy.
It means you visited Rome just once and you never forget that.
It means that the action happened in the past and its memory is still in a mind .

forget to + infinitive verb = to do something in the future
don't forget to = remember to

forget + (verb + ing) = usually preceded by (never) to refer to memory in the past.
you did the action first, but you still remember it

[BobK]

You might find this useful.

b