See, watch and hear
After these verbs, an -ing form refers to an action in progress. An infinitive refers to a completed action. Note that these verbs are followed by an infinitive without to.
- When I looked out, I saw him crossing the road. (He was in the middle of the action.)
- I saw him get off the bus, cross the road and disappear in the crowd. (I watched the whole action.)
Try
Try + -ing form is used to talk about making an experiment.
- ‘Susie is in a foul mood.’ ‘Try sending her some flowers.’
Try + infinitive is used to talk about making an effort to do something difficult.
- I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t.
Like, love, hate and prefer
After these four verbs, infinitives and -ing forms have similar meanings.
- I like reading detective novels.
- I like to read detective novels.
- I hate working late in the evening.
- I hate to work late in the evening.
After would like, would love, would prefer and would hate, infinitives are more common than -ing forms.
- I would like to know what my duty is. (NOT I would like knowing what my duty is.)
Afraid
Afraid of + -ing form is used to talk about fear of things that happen accidentally.
- I didn’t make any noise, because I was afraid of waking the children.
In other cases afraid can be followed by an infinitive or -ing form with no difference in meaning.
- I am not afraid of telling the truth. OR I am not afraid to tell the truth.