TOEIC Link Part 5: Gerund or Infinitive — Reading the Verb That Comes Before the Blank

One of the most testable patterns in TOEIC Link Part 5 is the choice between a gerund (-ing) and an infinitive (to + verb) after another verb. It looks like it depends on meaning, but it almost never does. The verb sitting in front of the blank decides the form, and that verb belongs to a list you can learn. Once you recognize the controlling verb, the answer is fixed — you do not have to reason about what sounds right. This guide gives you the lists, the preposition shortcut, and the short set of verbs that genuinely change meaning.

The core idea: the first verb governs the second

When two verbs stack, the first one dictates the shape of the second:

She decided ( ) the report early. → to submit (infinitive) She finished ( ) the report early. → submitting (gerund)

Same blank, same surrounding words — but decided demands an infinitive and finished demands a gerund. The meaning of "do the report" did not change. The controlling verb did. So your job is never to ask "which sounds better"; it is to identify the verb in front of the blank and recall which form it takes.

Verbs that take an infinitive (to + verb)

These common business verbs are followed by to + base verb. Memorize them as a group:

• agree, decide, plan, hope, want, expect, offer, refuse, fail, manage, intend, promise, arrange, afford, learn, prepare

The vendor agreed ( ) the deadline. → to extend We cannot afford ( ) the launch. → to delay

If the controlling verb is on this list, the blank is to + verb, regardless of what the sentence is about.

Verbs that take a gerund (-ing)

These verbs are followed by the -ing form:

• finish, enjoy, avoid, consider, suggest, recommend, mind, postpone, deny, admit, involve, practice, quit, delay, keep, risk

The committee recommended ( ) the policy. → revising Please avoid ( ) confidential files. → forwarding

A reliable test-day tell: suggest, recommend, consider, and avoid are favorites in Part 5, and all four take the gerund. If you see one of them in front of the blank, choose -ing without hesitation.

The preposition rule — the single biggest shortcut

After any preposition, a verb takes the -ing form. No exceptions worth worrying about on the test:

They are committed to ( ) costs. → reducing Thank you for ( ) the issue. → reporting She is responsible for ( ) the schedule. → maintaining

Watch the word to carefully here, because it does double duty. In decide to submit, to is part of an infinitive → base verb. In look forward to submitting, to is a preposition → gerund. The way to tell them apart is the word in front of to: fixed phrases like look forward to, be committed to, be dedicated to, and object to make to a preposition, so the verb after it ends in -ing.

Verbs that take either form — with no change in meaning

A few verbs accept both with essentially the same meaning, so Part 5 rarely tests them as a trap: begin, start, continue, like, prefer, hate. If both a gerund and an infinitive option appear and the controlling verb is one of these, neither is wrong on form alone — look at the other answer choices, because the real distractor is usually elsewhere.

Verbs that change meaning — the deliberate traps

A small set changes meaning depending on which form follows. These are worth knowing because Part 5 occasionally builds a question around the difference:

• remember / forget — remember to send (a future task) vs. remember sending (a past action)
• stop — stop to rest (pause in order to rest) vs. stop resting (cease resting)
• try — try to open (attempt) vs. try opening (experiment with a method)

When one of these is the controlling verb and both forms appear as options, the surrounding context tells you which meaning is intended — this is the one case where meaning matters.

The method on sight

For any two-verb question, work in this order:

1. Find the verb (or preposition) in front of the blank. That word is your decider.
2. Is it a preposition? → use the -ing form. Done.
3. Is it an infinitive-verb (agree, decide, plan…)? → to + verb.
4. Is it a gerund-verb (finish, avoid, recommend…)? → -ing.
5. Only if it is remember/forget/stop/try with both options present, read the context for meaning.

In nine cases out of ten you stop at step 2, 3, or 4 — pure recognition, no comprehension required.

This is the same form-over-meaning discipline that carries Part 5 generally. If you still find yourself unsure whether a given question is testing meaning or grammar, review word choice versus word form; gerund-versus-infinitive questions are form questions, and treating them that way is what makes them quick.

To widen your base of mechanical, high-confidence points, pair this with another structure-driven skill. The subject–verb agreement decision path is just as systematic once you learn to ignore the words between the subject and verb; if you have not drilled it, see subject–verb agreement with intervening phrases. Every pattern you turn into a reflex is time you reclaim for the harder reading questions later in the test.