Which verbs are followed by the -ing form?

A large set of common verbs, grouped by meaning: enjoy, dislike, fancy, mind; avoid, delay, postpone, miss; suggest, recommend, imagine, consider, practise; finish, keep, give up, carry on; admit, deny, risk. Nia enjoys restoring old radios. Iosif suggested walking the towpath. After these choosers, a to-infinitive is the usual error.

Is it suggest doing or suggest to do?

Suggest doing, or suggest that someone do: Iosif suggested walking the towpath, and he suggested that we walk the towpath. Suggest to walk is not standard English, and recommend follows the same two patterns.

Why do we say Would you mind waiting?

Because mind takes an -ing complement. Would you mind + -ing is the polite request form: Would you mind waiting while the glaze sets. Would you mind to wait mixes mind with the infinitive pattern of would you like to. I don't mind waiting is the same complement in a statement.

Can like, love, and hate take -ing as well?

Yes. They take -ing and they also take a to-infinitive, often with only a small change of meaning. Enjoy does not join them: enjoy is -ing only. Priya likes carrying the seed trays and Priya likes to carry the seed trays are both used; Nia enjoys to restore is not.

What is the difference between this page and the -ing form page?

The -ing form page is about the shape itself: gerund, adjective, participle, spelling. This page is about which verbs choose that shape as a complement. Nia enjoys restoring old radios belongs here because enjoy is the chooser. Restoring old radios cleared her head belongs on the -ing form page because restoring is doing a noun's job as subject.

English grammar · Intermediate

Verbs -Ing Form: Enjoy, Avoid, Suggest, Mind, and More

Written by Eleanor Whitfield, Lead English Curriculum Editor · Reviewed September 2026

Some English verbs are followed by another verb in the -ing form: enjoy restoring, avoid firing, suggest walking, mind waiting. The first verb chooses the shape of the second. This page groups those verbs by meaning (likes and dislikes, avoiding and delaying, suggesting and imagining, starting and stopping) so you can learn them as sets. The -ing form itself, and the verbs that allow both -ing and a to-infinitive, are neighbouring lessons.

Nia enjoys restoring old radios.

enjoy is a verb that takes an -ing complement, not a to-infinitive

What it is

After some verbs, the next verb must be an -ing form: Nia enjoys restoring old radios, not Nia enjoys to restore. The first verb is the chooser. Enjoy, avoid, suggest, and mind are four of the most frequent choosers, and they stand for four meaning groups: likes and dislikes, avoiding and delaying, suggesting and imagining, and caring whether something happens. A to-infinitive after any of these is the usual error, because many other verbs (want, decide, hope) do take to.

Iosif suggested walking the towpath at dusk. (suggest + -ing) He wanted to walk the towpath at dusk. (want + to-infinitive) The two patterns are not interchangeable.

How to spot it

Find a verb plus a second verb. If the first verb is in the lists on this page, the second should end in -ing. If you have written to plus a base verb after enjoy, avoid, suggest, mind, finish, or keep, rewrite it.

Nia enjoys restoring old radios. (enjoy + -ing)
We avoided firing the kiln during the freeze. (avoid + -ing)
Iosif suggested walking the towpath at dusk. (suggest + -ing, not suggest to walk)
Would you mind waiting while the glaze sets? (mind + -ing, especially in requests)

After a preposition the next verb is also -ing (after leaving, good at drawing), but that is the preposition choosing, not the verb. This page is about the verb as chooser.

Verbs Followed by -ing Quick Reference

Verb groups that take an -ing complement

Meaning group	Common verbs	Example
Likes and dislikes	enjoy, fancy, dislike, mind, detest	Nia enjoys restoring old radios.
Avoiding and delaying	avoid, delay, postpone, put off, miss	We avoided firing the kiln.
Suggesting and imagining	suggest, recommend, imagine, consider, practise	Iosif suggested walking the towpath.
Starting, stopping, continuing	finish, stop, keep, carry on, give up, quit	She finished glazing the tiles.
Admitting and risking	admit, deny, mention, risk, involve	Harun admitted misreading the warp.
With a possessive or object	mind, imagine, remember, stop	Would you mind my waiting here?

Common Verbs Followed by -ing Examples in English

Verbs followed by -ing, grouped by the meaning of the first verb, which is how they are learned as sets:

Likes, Dislikes, and Mind

Nia enjoys restoring old radios on wet Sundays.: enjoy + -ing
Harun dislikes oiling the loom in a draughty shed.: dislike + -ing
I fancy walking as far as the mill pond after lunch.: fancy + -ing, British for feel like
Would you mind waiting while the glaze sets?: mind + -ing in a polite request

Like, love, and hate also take -ing, and they also take a to-infinitive with a small change of meaning. Enjoy, dislike, fancy, and mind do not: they are -ing only.

Avoiding, Delaying, and Missing

We avoided firing the kiln during the freeze.: avoid + -ing
They postponed signing the chandler's lease until March.: postpone + -ing
Sioned put off skippering until the swell dropped.: put off + -ing, a phrasal verb in the same group
I miss walking the towpath before a night shift.: miss + -ing, a past activity you no longer do

Delay, postpone, and put off share a meaning and share the -ing complement. Decide and plan, which look similar, take a to-infinitive instead.

Suggesting, Imagining, and Practising

Iosif suggested walking the towpath at dusk.: suggest + -ing, not suggest to walk
Elowen recommended cooling the kiln overnight.: recommend + -ing
Can you imagine firing to 1,260 degrees in that shed?: imagine + -ing
Priya practised carrying the seed trays on one hip.: practise + -ing (British spelling)

Suggest and recommend can also take a that-clause (Iosif suggested that we walk). They cannot take a to-infinitive with the same subject: Iosif suggested to walk is the error to unlearn.

Finishing, Keeping, Giving Up

She finished glazing the tiles before the vestry locked.: finish + -ing
The mill race kept flooding the lower path in March.: keep + -ing, for a repeated action
Harun gave up oiling the spare loom on Fridays.: give up + -ing
Carry on mixing the beeswax until it clears.: carry on + -ing

Stop can take -ing (stop firing = the firing ends) or a to-infinitive (stop to fire = pause in order to fire). That pair belongs with the special-use verbs below.

How Verbs Followed by -ing Work

The first verb chooses the form of the second. Learn the choosers in meaning groups, then lock the complement.

The First Verb Chooses -ing

After enjoy, avoid, suggest, mind, finish, admit, and the rest of the lists on this page, the next verb is an -ing form, not a to-infinitive and not a bare infinitive. The -ing form can still take an object (restoring old radios) and still be negated (she admitted not seeing the warp). The chooser itself inflects for tense and person: Nia enjoys, Nia enjoyed, Nia has enjoyed, all followed by restoring.

Nia enjoys restoring old radios. She has enjoyed restoring them for years.

enjoy inflects; restoring stays -ing

Chooser verb + -ing, in every tense.

Suggest and Recommend Do Not Take To

Learners often write suggest to go because other speech verbs take to (promise to, offer to, refuse to). Suggest and recommend take -ing or a that-clause: Iosif suggested walking, Iosif suggested that we walk. They do not take a to-infinitive with the same subject. Advise is different: advise someone to go, but advise -ing without an object (I'd advise waiting).

Iosif suggested walking the towpath. He suggested that we set off at dusk.

-ing or that, never suggested to walk

Suggest / recommend: -ing or that.

Mind Is Almost Always -ing, Often in Questions

Mind meaning object to takes -ing: I don't mind waiting. Would you mind opening the vestry. The request form Would you mind + -ing is a polite way of asking someone to do something, and the -ing is required. Do you mind if + clause is a related pattern, but it is not an -ing complement.

Would you mind waiting while the glaze sets?

would you mind plus -ing as a request

Mind + -ing, especially after Would you.

A Possessive Can Mark a Different Subject

When the person doing the -ing action is not the subject of the first verb, English can put a possessive or an object form in front of the -ing: Would you mind my waiting here. I remember Harun oiling the loom. The possessive (my, Harun's) is the more formal choice; the object form (me, Harun) is common in speech. Both beat a to-infinitive in this slot.

Would you mind my waiting in the vestry?

my marks that I, not you, will wait

Different doer: possessive + -ing.

Common Mistakes with Verbs Followed by -ing

Incorrect: Nia enjoys to restore old radios.

Correct: Nia enjoys restoring old radios.

Enjoy takes -ing only. The to-infinitive is borrowed from want, decide, and hope, which are a different list. Enjoyed restoring and has enjoyed restoring keep the same complement.

Incorrect: Iosif suggested to walk the towpath at dusk.

Correct: Iosif suggested walking the towpath at dusk.

Suggest does not take a to-infinitive with the same subject. Use -ing, or a that-clause: He suggested that we walk the towpath. Recommend follows the same rule.

Incorrect: Would you mind to wait while the glaze sets?

Correct: Would you mind waiting while the glaze sets?

Mind takes -ing. The polite request is Would you mind + -ing, not would you mind to. Would you like to wait is a different pattern with like.

Incorrect: We avoided to fire the kiln during the freeze.

Correct: We avoided firing the kiln during the freeze.

Avoid is an -ing-only verb. Decide to fire is grammatical because decide is an infinitive verb. Avoid and decide look like a pair in meaning and they take opposite complements.

Verbs That Take -ing or a To-Infinitive

A short list allows both shapes. Some keep roughly the same meaning; some change it. They are not the core of this page, but they sit next to it.

Little change of meaning: like, love, hate, prefer, begin, start

I like restoring radios and I like to restore radios are both used. -ing often sounds more general; to often sounds more specific or more deliberate. Begin and start go both ways with almost no change (it began raining / it began to rain).

Priya likes carrying the seed trays at dawn.: -ing: the activity in general
Priya likes to carry the trays before the tram starts.: to: a more specific preference

Enjoy does not join this list. Enjoy restoring is required. Enjoy to restore is not used.

A real change of meaning: remember, stop, try, forget, regret

Remember + -ing looks back at a memory (I remember oiling the loom). Remember + to looks forward to a duty (I remembered to oil the loom). Stop + -ing ends the activity; stop + to means pause in order to. Try + -ing is an experiment; try + to is an attempt that may fail.

Harun remembered oiling the spare loom. (a memory): remember + -ing: looking back
Harun remembered to oil the spare loom. (he did not forget the task): remember + to: a duty fulfilled
She stopped firing the kiln. / She stopped to fire the kiln.: activity ends vs. pause in order to fire

These pairs have their own page. Do not treat them as free variation, and do not let them shake the -ing-only lists above.

Quick Check: Verbs Followed by -ing

Put the verb in brackets into the -ing form or the to-infinitive, according to the chooser.

1. Nia enjoys ___ (restore) old radios on wet Sundays.

Answer: restoring

enjoy + -ing

2. Iosif suggested ___ (walk) the towpath at dusk.

Answer: walking

suggest + -ing

3. Would you mind ___ (wait) while the glaze sets?

Answer: waiting

mind + -ing

4. We avoided ___ (fire) the kiln during the freeze.

Answer: firing

avoid + -ing

5. Nia wants ___ (restore) the Bakelite set next.

Answer: to restore

want takes a to-infinitive, not -ing

Verbs Followed by -ing FAQs

Which verbs are followed by the -ing form?: A large set of common verbs, grouped by meaning: enjoy, dislike, fancy, mind; avoid, delay, postpone, miss; suggest, recommend, imagine, consider, practise; finish, keep, give up, carry on; admit, deny, risk. Nia enjoys restoring old radios. Iosif suggested walking the towpath. After these choosers, a to-infinitive is the usual error.
Is it suggest doing or suggest to do?: Suggest doing, or suggest that someone do: Iosif suggested walking the towpath, and he suggested that we walk the towpath. Suggest to walk is not standard English, and recommend follows the same two patterns.
Why do we say Would you mind waiting?: Because mind takes an -ing complement. Would you mind + -ing is the polite request form: Would you mind waiting while the glaze sets. Would you mind to wait mixes mind with the infinitive pattern of would you like to. I don't mind waiting is the same complement in a statement.
Can like, love, and hate take -ing as well?: Yes. They take -ing and they also take a to-infinitive, often with only a small change of meaning. Enjoy does not join them: enjoy is -ing only. Priya likes carrying the seed trays and Priya likes to carry the seed trays are both used; Nia enjoys to restore is not.
What is the difference between this page and the -ing form page?: The -ing form page is about the shape itself: gerund, adjective, participle, spelling. This page is about which verbs choose that shape as a complement. Nia enjoys restoring old radios belongs here because enjoy is the chooser. Restoring old radios cleared her head belongs on the -ing form page because restoring is doing a noun's job as subject.