Grammar · Verb Patterns: -ing & Infinitives
Meaning-Change Verbs (Remember, Stop, Try, Regret)
Remember doing or remember to do? With five common verbs, the form that follows changes the whole meaning. Learn how with the film Source Code.
Grammar › Verb Patterns: -ing & Infinitives › Meaning-Change Verbs
The rule in one sentenceAfter remember, forget, stop, try and regret, -ing looks back at an action that already exists, while to + verb looks ahead to an action that still has to happen.
About the film
Source Code is a 2011 science-fiction thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Captain Colter Stevens, a US Army helicopter pilot. He wakes up on a commuter train to Chicago, sitting opposite a friendly stranger called Christina, and he doesn’t remember getting on board. He soon learns that a bomb is hidden on the train, and he has only eight minutes at a time to try to find the person responsible.
What does it do?
Most verbs keep roughly the same meaning whichever form follows them: I like watching films and I like to watch films are almost identical. A small group of everyday verbs behave differently. With these, the choice between -ing and to + verb changes what actually happened, so a listener can misunderstand you completely.
The easiest way to picture it is as a direction in time. -ing points backwards, or at an action that is already going on. to + verb points forwards, at something that is still waiting to be done.
In the first tile, boarding the train is in the past, and it has disappeared from Colter’s memory. In the second, checking the passengers is a job he still has to do. The same pattern appears with stop: in the third tile, the talking ends; in the fourth, Colter pauses what he is doing in order to look.
Colter tries asking Christina a different question. (an experiment: will it help?)
Colter tries to stay calm. (a real effort, and it may not work)
With try, the difference is small but real. The first sentence tests an idea; the second describes a struggle.
Visual guide
Teacher Teddy’s illustrated guide to this rule is being drawn — the full swipe-through infographic will appear here soon.
How to make it
verb + -ing — looking back
Colter remembers flying helicopters for the army.
He doesn’t remember meeting Christina before.
The meeting may have happened, but the memory is missing.Why does Christina keep calling him Sean?
Keep, like stop, is followed by -ing.verb + to + verb — looking ahead
Goodwin tells him to remember to look for clues.
He doesn’t forget to watch the other passengers.
Forget to do = a job you did not do.Will he stop to explain everything to Christina?
Stop to = pause in order to do something else.When to use each one
+ -ing
+ to + verb
Words that help: back or ahead?
The words around the verb often tell you which direction the sentence is facing.
+ -ing → looking back, or at the action itself
+ to + verb → looking ahead
Common mistakes
❌ Please remember checking the bag under your seat.
✅ Please remember to check the bag under your seat.
The checking hasn’t happened yet. A job for later needs to + verb.
❌ Colter will never forget to wake up on that train.
✅ Colter will never forget waking up on that train.
This is a strong memory of something that happened, so use -ing.
❌ The train stops picking up more passengers at the next station.
✅ The train stops to pick up more passengers at the next station.
The train pauses in order to do something else, so use to + verb.
❌ We regret telling you that the 7:48 service is delayed.
✅ We regret to tell you that the 7:48 service is delayed.
Formal bad news uses regret + to. Regret telling would mean you are sorry you said it.
One more thing
This part is a little harder. You can come back to it later.
Go on changes meaning too. Go on + -ing means you continue the same activity, while go on + to + verb means you move on to something new, often the next stage in a sequence. The same idea sits behind mean: mean to do is an intention, but mean doing describes what something involves.
✅ Christina goes on chatting about her plans. (she continues)
✅ Stopping the bomber means searching the whole train. (what the job involves)
✅ Colter means to find the answer this time. (his intention)
Practice: choose the right form
Eight questions. Choose one form. You get the answer, and why.
1. Colter doesn’t remember ___ on the train.
The memory is about the past, so it is remember + -ing.
2. Next time, remember ___ the man by the door.
Next time points to a future job, so use to + verb.
3. Christina stops ___ when she sees how nervous he is.
The talking ends, so use stop + -ing.
4. On the platform, Colter stops ___ a newspaper.
He pauses in order to buy something, so use stop + to.
5. The door is stuck. I try ___ it, but it won’t move at all.
It won’t move, so this is a real effort that fails: try + to.
6. If one question doesn’t work, try ___ a different one.
This is an experiment, so use try + -ing.
7. We regret ___ that the train will arrive late.
Formal bad news uses regret + to.
8. Colter will never forget ___ Christina for the first time.
A strong memory uses never forget + -ing.
Your turn
Choose one ending. Then listen to your sentence.
Every sentence here is correct. Pick the one that is true for you. Say it out loud too!
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