One day, my youngest daughter had forgotten to take her lunch to school. (Passage A, Unit 6)
上例中，动词forget后接的是不定式to take，意为“忘了带午饭”，亦即“没带午饭”。但如果把不定式to take改为-ing分词taking，意义就成了“把曾带午饭的事忘了”，亦即“之前曾带午饭，而现在记不起了”。可见，一词之改，意义发生了很大的变化。
英语中有些动词，其后既可接不定式，也可接-ing分词。在有些情况下，两者区别不大，但有时会有很大的区别。
1. 动词begin / start等后的非谓语动词如果表示一个动态的动作或行为，通常用不定式或-ing分词都可以。例如：
Children start to go / going to school at seven.
It began to rain / raining last night.
He will soon begin to write / writing a book.
She started to teach / teaching English ten years ago.
而当begin / start后的动词表示一个静态的动作或状态时，用不定式要比用-ing 分词更普遍。例如：
He began to like Shakespeare after he had read Hamlet.
I started to know something about Australia when I was fifteen.
The boy began to realize that he was wrong.
Martin started to be an actor in 1980.
After that lesson the students began to respect Professor Jackson.
We started to see what he meant.
She began to believe his story.
当begin / start用于进行体 (continuous aspect) 时，后面通常接不定式。例如：
It’s beginning to rain.
They are starting to build a new bridge.
He’s beginning to work on his plan.
The students were beginning to discuss American literature.
begin常用于起动点不一定非常清楚、准确的场合， start常用于起动点非常清楚、准确的场合。
His health began to take a turn for the better. 他的健康状况开始好转。（不用start）
The driver started the car. 司机发动了汽车。（不用begin）
2. 动词like / love / prefer / hate等后的非谓语动词如果表示经常的爱好、偏爱或憎恨，用不定式或-ing分词都可以。例如：
Bob likes dancing / to dance.
They prefer to watch / watching television.
In winter boys love to play / playing football.
Some people hate to work / working in the early morning.
但是，当 like / love / prefer / hate 后的动词表示一时的爱好、偏爱或憎恨时，只可用不定式，不可用-ing分词。例如：
She would like to dance with us tonight.
[误] She would like dancing with us tonight.
I’d love to get up early the next morning so that I would be able to finish the task before noon.
[误] I’d love getting up early the next morning so that I would be able to finish the task before noon.
I prefer to have dinner when we arrive there.
[误] I prefer having dinner when we arrive there.
I hate to break things up, but it’s time to go home.
[误] I hate breaking things up, but it’s time to go home.
3. 动词remember / forget后用不定式或-ing分词在意义上有明显的区别。其区别主要在于非谓语动词和谓语动词之间的时间先后。不定式表示比谓语动词晚发生的动作，而-ing分词则表示比谓语动词早发生的动作。例如：
I remembered to mail the letter. (“寄信”发生在“记得”之后)
I remember mailing the letter. (“寄信”发生在“记得”之前)
I forgot to mail the letter. （“寄信”发生在“忘记”之后）
I forgot mailing the letter. (“寄信”发生在“忘记”之前)
I shall always remember meeting you for the first time.
Please remember to buy some milk and butter in the nearby store.
He would never forget seeing President Roosevelt.
He’s always forgetting to give me his homework.
在实际使用中，有些学生由于对这种区别尚未完全掌握，常会出现错误。例如：
[误] I don’t remember to have said that.
I don’t remember saying that.
[误] Please remember turning off the lights before you leave the room.
Please remember to turn off the lights before you leave the room.
[误] Don’t forget writing to Ted.
Don’t forget to write to Ted.
[误] I’m sorry I’ve forgotten to borrow money from you.
I’m sorry I’ve forgotten borrowing money from you.
4. 动词stop / go on后用-ing分词表示停止/继续目前在做的动作，用不定式表示停止前一动作接下去要做新的动作。例如：
You really must stop smoking.
When I am working, I stop to smoke a cigarette every half an hour.
The speaker drank some tea and went on talking.
The teacher asked a question and went on to ask a student to answer it.
Stop watching television.
Stop to do your homework.
They have been playing football for two hours. I don’t know how long they will go on playing it.
He was reading, but now and then he would stop to look out of the window.
After the women’s game, we went on to watch the men’s game.
5. 动词try后用不定式表示“尽力做某事”，用-ing分词表示“试着做某事”。例如：
He tried to do it better.
He tried doing it in a different way.
The text is difficult, but try to understand it.
Try putting in some sugar – that might make the coffee taste better.
动词后的不定式与-ing分词的比较语法
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