Grammatica · B2
Verbs that change meaning: stop, remember, try, mean
A small group of verbs means two different things depending on what follows. Stop doing means you ended the activity; stop to do means you paused in order to do something else. Remember doing looks back at a memory; remember to do looks forward at a duty. The same split applies to forget, regret, try, mean, go on and need.
Most verbs take either -ing or to and that is simply what they take. A handful take both, and the choice changes the meaning of the sentence completely.
The pattern is consistent once you see it. The -ing form points backwards to something already happening or already done. The to form points forwards to a purpose, a duty or an attempt.
So he stopped smoking means the habit ended, while he stopped to smoke means he broke off from something else in order to have a cigarette. Getting this wrong does not sound like a small error; it reverses what you said.
Nu gebruiken
12 oefeningen van deze pagina. Er wordt niets opgeslagen behalve in je eigen account.
De oefeningen en de uitleg zijn in het Engels. Dat is met opzet: het gaat erom te denken in de taal die je leert.
Vraag 1 van 12
On the way home we stopped petrol.