Using two verbs together to add information about actions

Using an infinitive or an -ing form

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Verbs followed by infinitive/-ing with a change in meaning

Note that with some verbs the meaning can change, depending on whether the second verb is in the -ing form or the infinitive. For example, compare the following two sentences:

I stopped studying.

I stopped to study.

In the first example the speaker is primarily conveying information about a single action, the "studying", and the first verb serves to add information relating to the action, namely, that the speaker stopped studying at some point.

In the second example, however, it can be seen that there are two separate actions involved: the speaker "stopped" whatever they were doing, with the intention of "studying" something. These two actions are linked by the logical relationship of purpose, and the original sentence can be seen to be a shortened version of a more explicit structure containing two separate clauses:

I stopped [in order] to study.

This can also generally be made explicit by reversing the order of the two clauses:

[In order] to study, I stopped.

For further information about to used to express purpose, see Linking clauses by subordination: Expressing purpose (p 2).

Introduction
Verbs followed by infinitive/-ing with little change in meaning
Verbs followed by infinitive/-ing with a change in meaning
Verbs always followed by the -ing form
Verbs always followed by the to-infinitive
Verbs always followed by the bare infinitive
Verbs typically followed by the bare infinitive
Teaching implications