Verbs That are Followed by Gerunds in English Grammar

Learn the correct usage of some common English verbs that are followed by gerunds in English with helpful example sentences. In this lesson, you will learn how to use gerunds correctly after certain common English verbs in typical English sentences. Read each of the common English verbs below, followed by their meanings as they are used in sentences with gerunds, and then some examples of how they are used in common English sentences followed by a gerund.

Remember that the meanings being given for the verbs are the meanings when the verbs are used with a gerund.

Common English Verbs followed by Gerunds

Read the examples, as they will give you a good idea as to how to use the common verb-gerund combinations in real English sentences.

After the examples are given for each verb, you have a chance to practice what you have learned. In the “Now you try” sections, fill in the blank space with the correct form of the word given in parenthesis ().

There is a review section at the end of this lesson. The answers to the review section are found by carefully studying this lesson, especially the examples given for each verb.

1. Acknowledge: to admit to, or confirm knowledge of, doing something or knowing the existence of something or someone.

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• My teacher asked me if I had studied English before. I acknowledged studying English while attending high school.
• The secretary asked me if I had paid the I acknowledged having paid the fee.

Now you try: The man acknowledged (smoke) ____________ in the building.

2. Admit: to acknowledge or confirm that something, someone, or some action is or was real; to acknowledge the existence of an action or something or someone.

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• I admitted using marijuana when I was in high school.
• I admitted not studying for the exam.

Now you try: Tomoko admitted (work) ____________ for the government.

3. Appreciate: To recognize the quality, significance, or greatness of something or someone.

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• I appreciated being able to study English in Hawaii.
• Lana appreciated having the chance to travel to Europe last year.

Now you try: Lana appreciated (work) ____________ for the good company.

4. Avoid: To stay clear of something or someone

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• Students usually avoid going to expensive restaurants.
• Soo Woo avoids doing exercises in the evening.

Now you try: Adam avoided (walk) ____________ to work because of his injury.

5. Can’t help: An inability to refrain from doing something

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• My sister can’t help eating delicious chocolates.
• Jason couldn’t help going to the pub with his friends every night.

Now you try: Alice can’t help (eat) ____________ chocolate.

6. Celebrate: To observe an important occasion, usually with festivity

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• My classmates and I celebrated graduating from university.
• Kaori celebrated getting married.

Now you try: The team celebrated (win) ____________ then tournament.

7. Consider: To think carefully about or give careful thought to something

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• My sister considered attending university after graduating from high school.
• Mika considered studying English in Hawaii.

Now you try: Alex considered (work) ____________ for the good company.

8. Delay: To postpone until a later time; defer

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• We delayed going to the theater because we wanted to look at the sunset.
• Susan delayed studying for the exam because she had other work to do.

Now you try: The student delayed (register) ____________ at the new school.

9. Deny: To refuse to acknowledge

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• Cindy denied smoking cigarettes when she was younger.
• The policeman stopped Toshiko for driving through the red light, but Toshiko denied driving through the red light.

Now you try: Juan denied (use) ____________ marijuana.

10. Detest: To dislike intensely.

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• The children detested eating Brussels sprouts.
• The commuters detested driving in the bad weather.

Now you try: Christina detests (talk) ____________ to people who are not honest.

11. Discontinue: To put a stop to; to terminate.

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• The store discontinued selling the laptop computers.
• Mayumi discontinued shopping at the computer store.

Now you try: Megumi discontinued (study) ____________ at the school because of illness.

12. Discuss: To speak with others about something or someone; to talk something over.

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• My wife and I discussed going to dinner tonight.
• Sam discussed getting a raise with his boss.

Now you try: Sandra discussed (work) ____________ for another company.

13. Dislike: To not be pleasing; to regard something or someone with displeasure.

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• My brother dislikes taking out the garbage.
• The daughter dislikes doing the dishes.

Now you try: Fred disliked (have) ____________ to go to work every day.

14. Dispute: To disagree about something; argue about or debate something.

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• Alison’s friends called her a gossip, but Alison disputes being a gossip.
• Sun Wa said that her brother sprayed her with the water hose, but her brother disputes spraying her with a water hose.

Now you try: Frankie disputed (be) ____________ lazy.

15. Endure: To continue on or continue doing something despite difficulties and hardships.

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• Andrew could not endure going to school again without having nice clothes to wear.
• The runners endured racing in the hot sun to finish the competition.

Now you try: Donny endured (work) ____________ for the bad company.

16. Enjoy: To receive pleasure or satisfaction from doing something.

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• My girlfriend and I enjoy hiking in the mountains.
• We enjoy going to the beach.

Now you try: Eddie enjoyed (go) ____________ surfing every day.

17. Escape: To get free of something; to break out of the confines of something.

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• The little dog narrowly escaped getting hit by a car.
• We escaped having to go to the boring company meeting.

Now you try: The criminal escaped (get) ____________ caught by the police.

18. Explain: To make something clear, plain, and understandable through written or spoken communication

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• How do you explain being late to class every morning this I have been late because my car is being repaired and won’t be finished until tomorrow.
• How do you explain getting such a poor grade on the I didn’t study.

Now you try: The child explained (have) ____________ his hand in the cookie jar.

19. Feel like: To have the desire to do something; to be in the mood to do something

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• I don’t feel like doing homework tonight.
• No one on the soccer team felt like having a hard workout yesterday.

Now you try: Gladys felt like (eat) ____________ a piece of cake.

20. Finish: To complete something

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• Two of the students didn’t finish taking the exam.
• Shino finished shopping at 6pm.

Now you try: The office workers finished (type) ____________ the report.

21. Give up: To stop doing something.

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• We gave up trying to drive into the The traffic was terrible.
• At around 1 a.m, I gave up studying and went to bed.

Now you try: Laura gave up (exercise) ____________ and gained ten pounds.

22. Imagine: To form a mental image or picture of something

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• We imagined going to Europe next We thought it would be possible.
• Imagine being the leader of a country?

Now you try: We imagined (travel) ____________ around the world.

23. Justify: To demonstrate the validity of something

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• Jack and his wife justified spending all of that money on a new car by saying that the new car got very good fuel economy.
• My colleagues justified spending so much time on the project by explaining that this project was very important to the company.

Now you try: The owner of the company justified (fire) ____________ many workers by saying that the economy was bad.

24. Keep: To continue to do something

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• The students kept going to the same pub every night.
• My brother and I kept going to the gym for two years.

Now you try: Kyoko keeps (visit) ____________ the same cities every year on vacation.

25. Mention: To refer to or communicate something, usually incidentally, by spoken or written word

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• Where did Flora and Bill They mentioned going to the park.
• How long has the new student been in the United He mentioned being here for two years.

Now you try: The teacher mentioned (have) ____________ homework over the weekend.

26. Mind: To object to

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• My sister didn’t mind going to the store for chips.
• The repairman didn’t mind returning to the customer’s house to explain how to use the new appliance.

Now you try: The students didn’t mind (review) ____________ the work again.

27. Miss: To feel the lack or loss of something; to lose an opportunity to do something

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• I miss going to the beach every Now I have to work on Sundays.
• The schoolgirls missed seeing the famous movie star because the movie star left the building one hour earlier.

Now you try: After leaving New York City, Nicole missed (run) ____________ in Central Park every morning.

28. Postpone: To delay until a future time

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• We postponed having the picnic until the rain stopped.
• The school postponed giving the exam until after the holiday.

Now you try: The referee postponed (start) ____________ the game because of rain.

29. Practice: To do something repeatedly, usually to improve

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• The bicycle team practiced racing on that course every week.
• Successful English students practice speaking English every day.

Now you try: The soccer team practiced (kick) ____________ the ball into the goal.

30. Prevent: To keep something from happening

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• To prevent being late, leave early.
• To prevent having trouble with the government, pay your taxes.

Now you try: To prevent (miss) ____________ your flight, arrive at the airport early.

31. Prohibit: To not allow or forbid (usually by some authority)

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• The law prohibits throwing trash on the highways.
• The school rules prohibit smoking in the building.

Now you try: The building rules prohibit (sell) ____________ in the building without permission.

32. Quit: To stop doing something

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• Yuki quit eating at the restaurant because the prices were too expensive.
• Tom quit worrying about his business and decided to go to a show.

Now you try: Alfred quit (go) ____________ to piano practice because it was too expensive.

33. Recall: To remember or recollect

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• The European students recalled going to Majorca.
• The driver told the policeman that he didn’t recall seeing a red light.

Now you try: The student didn’t recall (hear) ____________ about the homework assignment.

34. Recommend: To advise or counsel

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• We don’t recommend seeing the movie because it is too violent.
• They recommend getting married because the couple was too young.

Now you try: The teacher recommended (study) ____________ for the exam.

35. Regret: To be sorry or disappointed about something

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• My girlfriend and I regretted going to the movie because it was too violent.
• The businessman regretted not getting more sleep the night before.

Now you try: The criminal regretted (commit) ____________ the crime.

36. Report: To tell about something, to relate something

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• The scientist reported finding a new kind of insect.
• Our friends reported going to the street festival last night and really having a good time.

Now you try: The watchman reported (see) ____________ some strange activity in building number 5.

37. Resent: To be strongly offended by something or someone

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• The new employee resented getting all of the hard jobs in the company.
• Tomomi resented being told that she could not play on the school’s basketball team.

Now you try: Elena resented (be) ____________ told that she would not be hired for the job.

38. Resist: To struggle against something; to oppose with resistance

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• The puppy resisted being walked on a leash.
• Claudia resisted traveling by plane because she was afraid of flying.

Now you try: Hiroko resisted (learn) ____________ to drive because she was afraid of having an accident.

39. Risk: To take a chance at something, especially when there are possible negative consequences to failure.

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• Military air pilots often risk flying into dangerous areas to complete their mission.
• I didn’t study for the exam, but I will risk taking it because I will not have another chance.

Now you try: Julie risked (spend) ____________ her money on jewelry sold on the Internet.

40. Suggest: To offer advice in a polite way

Examples of usage with a gerund:

• Cindy’s friends didn’t have anything to do, so Markus suggested going to the museum.
• My mom suggested having my brother’s birthday party at the beach.

Now you try: The weatherman suggested (take) ____________ an umbrella with you because of the possibility of rain.

Correct usage of some common English verbs that are followed by gerunds

Instructions: read and /or listen carefully to the sentences below. Fill in the blank spaces with either the correct infinitive (to + base verb) or gerund (base verb + ing). The base verb is given in parenthesis. If you have difficulty with a sentence, look back through this lesson to help you find the correct form.

1. Jean and I discussed (go)________ to the movies tonight.
2. The store discontinued (sell)_________ the laptop computers.
3. Andrew could not endure (go)_________ to school again without having nice clothes to wear.
4. We enjoy (go)_________ to the beach.
5. The little dog narrowly escaped (get)_________ hit by a car.
6. How do you explain (get)___________ such a poor grade on the exam?
7. I don’t feel like (do)________ homework tonight.
8. Two of the students didn’t finish (take)_________ the exam.
9. We gave up (try)________ to drive into the city. The traffic was terrible.
10. Jack and his wife justified (spend)_________ all of that money on a new car by saying that the new car got very good fuel economy.
11. My brother dislikes (take)_______ out the garbage.
12. Sun Wah said that her brother sprayed her with the water hose, but her brother disputes (spray)____________ her with a water hose.
13. We enjoy (go)_________ to the beach.
14. We escaped (have)_________ to go to the boring company meeting.
15. Cindy denied (smoke)__________ cigarettes when she was younger.
16. The commuters detested (drive)__________ in the bad weather.
17. The store discontinued (sell)__________ the laptop computers.
18. Kaori celebrated (get)___________ married.
19. Students usually avoid (go)__________ to expensive restaurants.
20. I admitted not (study)_____________ for the exam.