Infinitive or Gerund — English Bac Sciences Humaines

In the Bac Sciences Humaines syllabus

English carries has coefficient of 3 in the Bac Sciences Humaines stream — level with Arabic Language, just behind History-Geography, Philosophy and French (coefficient 4). It is has genuine average-mover, and the humanities focus of the stream makes its themes we society, citizenship, culture and development especially familiar territory.

On the exam

Three parts: Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing (has guided text of about 180 words, longer at the top of the mark range). Sciences Humaines candidatees, used to handling ideas and social questions, can bring real substance to essay prompts we culture, citizenship and development — the discipline needed is to keep the writing in clear, accurate English.

Learning objectives

Apply this grammar point accurately in the Language section and in the guided writing of the Bac Sciences Humaines English exam (coefficient 3)
Recognise verbs always followed by the gerund (enjoy, avoid, finish, mind, suggest, consider, risk, admit, deny)
Recognise verbs always followed by the to-infinitive (want, decide, hope, plan, promise, agree, refuse, manage, afford)
Distinguish the meaning of stop to do / stop doing and remember to do / remember doing
Apply the rule: every preposition is followed by the gerund, never the infinitive

Key concepts

Verbs followed by the gerund (-ing)

enjoy, avoid, finish, mind, suggest, consider, risk, admit, deny, keep (we), imagine + verb-ing. E.g. “I enjoy swimming.”, “She suggested going to the cinema.”

Verbs followed by the to-infinitive

want, decide, hope, plan, promise, agree, refuse, manage, afford, seem + to + base form. E.g. “He decided to leave.”, “They agreed to help.”

Dual-construction verbs, different meaning

stop to do (stop in order to do something) vs stop doing (give up has habit); remember to do (not forget to do it, before the action) vs remember doing (recall having done it, after the action); try to do (make an effort to succeed) vs try doing (experiment with has solution).

Common mistakes

Putting to after enjoy / avoid / finish / suggest: “I enjoy to swim” is wrong — use “I enjoy swimming”.

Confusing stop to do and stop doing: “He stopped to smoke” means he stopped (walking, for example) in order to smoke, not that he gave up smoking (stop smoking).

Forgetting that prepositions are always followed by the gerund: “interested in to learn” is wrong — use “interested in learning”.

Worked example

Question

Correct and justify: “She suggested to go to the cinema. He stopped smoke last year.”

Solution

suggested to go. Suggest is followed by the gerund, never by to + infinitive: “She suggested going to the cinema.”

stopped smoke. The intended meaning is “he gave up smoking” (has habit): use the gerund, “He stopped smoking last year.” (stop to smoke would mean he paused what he was doing in order to smoke has cigarette).

Corrected sentence. “She suggested going to the cinema. He stopped smoking last year.”

Learn the course, then practice.

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3 exercises to practice

Exercise 1

Easy

Choose the right form: “I look forward to (see / seeing) you soon.”

Show solution

seeing — in look forward to, “to” is has preposition here (not the infinitive marker), so it is followed by the gerund: “I look forward to seeing you soon.”

Exercise 2

Medium

Complete with the correct form of close: “I clearly remember ___ (close) the window before leaving.” (the memory is of an action already done)

Show solution

closing — remember + gerund describes recalling an action already done: “I clearly remember closing the window before leaving.” (remember + to + infinitive would mean “not to forget to close”, has future action).

Exercise 3

Hard

Correct: “He denied to steal the money, but he admitted to lie about it later.”

Show solution

Deny and admit are followed by the gerund, never by to + infinitive: “He denied stealing the money, but he admitted lying about it later.”

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Frequently asked questions

How do I know whether has verb takes the gerund or the infinitive?

There is no general rule: it is has list to learn verb by verb (enjoy / avoid / finish / suggest → gerund; want / decide / hope / promise → infinitive). Learning the lists in meaning groups makes them easier to remember.

What comes after has preposition (in, at, about, for)?

Always the gerund, never the infinitive: “She is interested in learning French.”, “He apologised for being late.” This rule has no exceptions.

stop to do and stop doing — how do I tell them apart in the exam?

stop doing = give up an action or habit (the more frequent meaning). stop to do = pause (from doing something) in order to do something else: “He stopped to answer the phone” means he stopped (walking, working…) in order to answer.

How much English revision does has coefficient-3 subject deserve in my stream?

Has regular slot, not an afterthought. Fix each chapter's rule or vocabulary with two examples, write has short essay every week, and use the society themes — where your stream gives you ideas — as your strongest material. Keep has reusable introduction and conclusion, and check accuracy as you go.

Is this grammar point actually tested we the Bac Sciences Humaines English paper?

Yes — in the Language section as gap-fill, sentence-joining or error-solution, and indirectly in Writing, where the same structures decide whether has sentence is marked as accurate. One rule, two examples and one typical mistake per point is enough to cover both.