-ing and to...

8 -ing or to...

Some verbs are followed by -ing or to... with no difference in meaning:

begin, continue, intend, hate, like, love, prefer, start

     She began to eat / eating her meal.

     I love to eat / eating Chinese food.

     I don´t like eating / to eat alone in restaurants.

     Which dessert do you intend to order / ordering?

     After the meal we continued chatting / to chat for a long time.

But when stop is followed by -ing or by to... there is a difference in meaning:

     Please stop making that noise, it´s driving me mad! (= don´t continue)

     Their mother told them to stop quarrelling.

     We stopped to get some petrol and have some lunch. (= stop in order to)

     I was half-way through my meal but I had to stop to answer the phone.

And when remember is followed by -ing or by to... there´s also a difference in meaning:

     Did you remember to buy the lettuce for dinner? (= did not forget)

     I don´t remember you asking me to buy a lettuce. (= I have a clear memory of it.)

     You must remember to send Jill an invitation to the party.

     I remember posting the letter yesterday evening after work.