Verb + ing

Stop        enjoy       dislike         admit       consider      miss

Finish      mind       imagine       deny        involve        postpone

Delay       suggest    regret         avoid       practice       risk

If these verbs are followed by another verb, the structure is usually verb + -ing:

 ☻Stop talking!

 ☻I’ll do the shopping when I’ve finished cleaning the apartment.

 ☻I don’t miss working late every night.

 ☻Have you ever considered going to live in another country?

 ☻I can’t imagine George riding a motorcycle.

 ☻When I’m on vacation, I enjoy not having to get up early.

The following expressions also take -ing:

Give up (=stop)                      keep or keep on (= do something

 go on (= continue)                continuously or repeatedly)

put off ( = postpone)                                           

 ☻ Are you going to give up smoking?

 ☻ He kept (on) interrupting me while I was speaking

Note the passive form (being done / being seen / being told, etc.):

☻ I don’t mind being told what to do.

You can not normally use the infinitive (to do/to dance, etc.) after these verbs and expressions:

☻ I enjoy dancing. (Not to dance)

☻Would you mind closing the door? (Not to close)

☻Jill suggested going to the movies. (Not to go)

When you are talking about finished actions, you can also say having done/having stolen, etc.

But it is not necessary to use this form. You can also use the simple -ing form for finished actions:

☻ He admitted stealing (or having stolen) the money.

☻ They now regret getting (or having gotten) married.

With some of the verbs in this unit (especially admit, deny, regret, and suggest) you can also use a (the) … structure:

☻ He denied that he had stolen the money. (Or denied stealing)

☻ Jill suggested that we go to the movies. (Or suggested going)