One verb, two grammars, two completely different meanings — learn to choose the right one.
You already know that some verbs take the -ing form (a gerund) and others take to + verb (an infinitive). At B2 the real challenge is a small group of verbs that accept both forms — but with a different meaning for each one. Choosing the wrong pattern does not just sound odd; it changes what you are actually saying.
These are the seven verbs this unit will make automatic: remember, forget, stop, try, regret, go on and mean. Look at how much the meaning moves when only the form changes:
Keep this table in your head. The -ing form usually looks backwards (to something real that happened or an activity in progress), while the to-infinitive looks forwards (to a purpose, a duty or an intention).
| Verb | + -ing (gerund) | + to-infinitive |
|---|---|---|
| remember | recall a past action | not forget a future duty |
| forget | fail to recall the past | fail to do a duty |
| stop | quit / end an activity | pause in order to do something |
| try | experiment; test an idea | make an effort; attempt |
| regret | be sorry about the past | be sorry to announce bad news |
| go on | continue the same action | move on to a new action |
| mean | involve / result in | intend to |
With remember and forget, the -ing form points back to something you did (or failed to recall). The to-infinitive points forward to a job you must (or must not) do.
| Meaning | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a memory of the past | remember + -ing | I remember meeting her at summer camp. |
| a duty not to forget | remember + to-inf | Please remember to bring your gym kit. |
| no memory of the past | forget + -ing | I'll never forget seeing the ocean for the first time. |
| failing to do a duty | forget + to-inf | He forgot to reply, so we waited for nothing. |
These two cause the most mistakes. With stop, the -ing is the thing you end; the to-infinitive is your reason for pausing. With try, the -ing is a small experiment; the to-infinitive is a real effort at something difficult.
| Verb | Form & meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| stop | + -ing = quit the activity | My little brother finally stopped crying. |
| stop | + to-inf = pause for a purpose | We stopped to take photos of the view. |
| try | + -ing = experiment (does it work?) | Try turning it off and on again. |
| try | + to-inf = make a hard effort | I tried to lift the box, but it was too heavy. |
The same logic runs through the last three verbs. -ing stays anchored to the real past or a continuing action; to-infinitive looks ahead to news, a next step or an intention.
| Verb | Form & meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| regret | + -ing = be sorry about the past | I regret quitting the drama club so early. |
| regret | + to-inf = be sorry to say news | We regret to inform you that the school trip is cancelled. |
| go on | + -ing = continue the same thing | The teacher went on talking for another hour. |
| go on | + to-inf = move to the next thing | After the warm-up, the coach went on to explain the plan. |
| mean | + -ing = involve / result in | Making the team means training every weekend. |
| mean | + to-inf = intend to | I meant to text you, but I ran out of time. |
Every error below comes from choosing the wrong form — and so saying the wrong thing. Check your own sentences against each row.
| Wrong ✗ | Right ✓ | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| Remember calling the dentist tomorrow. | Remember to call the dentist tomorrow. | a future duty → to-infinitive. |
| I stopped to game every night, so I sleep better now. | I stopped gaming every night, so I sleep better now. | quitting a habit → -ing. |
| Have you tried to restart the router? (as a quick test) | Have you tried restarting the router? | a simple experiment → -ing. |
| She regrets to leave school so young. | She regrets leaving school so young. | sorry about the past → -ing. |
| This club means to meet every week. | This club means meeting every week. | a consequence it involves → -ing. |
Two friends talk about a big life change. Read it twice and watch how each verb switches meaning with its form.
Choose the correct answer. — 10 questions, each one is marked instantly. Questions get harder as you go.
Learn the words, then use them in your own sentences about a change you have faced.
Write 8 sentences about a big decision or change in your life — a move, a new school, a new habit, a hobby or a challenge. Use at least 8 of the words above.
Sentence starters (you can begin with these):
Değerlendirme öğretmenin tarafından yapılacak. (Your teacher will review your task.)
Read the text, then answer the questions.
Good readers prepare before they start. Before you read, think about these three questions (you do not need to write the answers):
Words to spot (from the Speaking section): relocate · isolated · adapt · remote · reluctant · daunting · settle in · rewarding
When I decided to accept a place at a boarding school in a remote mountain town three hundred kilometres from the city, my friends thought I had lost my mind. I will never forget arriving on a rusty bus in the middle of a snowstorm, wondering what I had done. The decision meant leaving my family, my old friends and my football team behind; nevertheless, it turned out to be the best thing I have ever done.
For the first few weeks I counted the days on a small calendar taped above my bed, promising myself that I would leave the moment the term finished. The dormitory was a long stone building with narrow windows, and at night the wind howled across the valley as if it were alive. My roommate, a quiet boy called Ilya, warned me that the first winter always tested newcomers, and he was right. I remember lying awake for hours, listening to the old pipes creak and groan, asking myself again and again whether I had made a terrible mistake by coming so far from everything I knew.
The first month was brutal. Living there meant getting used to a world without hot water, fast internet or my mum's cooking. I remember spending my first evenings staring at the ceiling, homesick and cold. Although I nearly stopped believing I could cope, I refused to book a ticket home. Therefore, I tried keeping a diary every night, and slowly, writing my thoughts down helped me settle in.
Gradually, though, the daily routine began to shape me. We woke long before sunrise, cleared the fresh snow from the courtyard together, and ate breakfast in a hall that smelled of woodsmoke and warm porridge. I stopped complaining about the cold and started noticing small wonders instead: the way frost drew silver patterns across the glass, the deep silence of the forest at dawn, and the green light that sometimes rippled above the peaks on the clearest nights. Our teachers expected us to look after ourselves and one another, and, little by little, I learned to enjoy being trusted rather than fearing the responsibility.
The other students changed everything. Many of them came from tiny villages and had almost nothing; however, they never stopped smiling. When a younger boy in my dorm struggled with his reading, I tried teaching him through songs and games instead of the textbook, whereas his old teacher had relied only on the coursebook. Within weeks he was reading aloud in class. I regret to say that I had almost given up on him at first; moreover, I had doubted whether I could help anyone at all. I am so glad I was wrong.
Helping that younger boy taught me more than any lesson ever had. Every evening we practised reading beside the iron stove, turning the hardest words into silly rhymes and clapping out the rhythm of each sentence until he laughed. When he finally managed to read a whole page without stopping once, the entire dormitory cheered, and I felt prouder than I ever had after scoring a goal for my old football team. That night I noticed something strange: I had stopped counting the days until I could go home. Instead, I had quietly begun to dread the moment when I would have to leave the mountain for good.
There were genuinely hard days too. Once, a blizzard trapped us indoors for almost a week, and the electricity failed for two whole nights. We could not phone our families, and some of the youngest children cried in the dark. Yet even that difficult week gave us something we could not have found any other way. We told long stories by candlelight, taught each other card games from a dozen different villages, and shared the very last of the biscuits our parents had sent from home. By the time the road finally reopened, we were no longer a crowd of strangers; we had become a strange, snowbound family.
When spring at last arrived, the whole school walked down to the frozen river to watch the ice break apart and rush away in great white sheets. We built a bonfire on the bank, roasted potatoes until they were black on the outside, and sang until our voices cracked. For me, that bright afternoon marked the end of my homesickness. I understood then that I no longer wanted to escape this place; I wanted to hold on to every muddy, freezing, unforgettable minute of it. I remember standing by the rushing water, grinning like a fool, thinking that my old self would never have believed the change in me.
Looking back now, I understand that the mountain did not simply change my daily habits; it changed the way I saw myself. I had arrived believing I was fragile, someone who needed constant comfort and familiar faces in order to feel safe. I left knowing that I could face real difficulty, learn from my own failures, and help other people do the same. When I finally saw my old friends in the city again, they said I seemed calmer and somehow older, as though those long winters had quietly settled something deep inside me.
I stayed for two years. Since that time, I have never stopped missing the place. When my two years ended, I went on to start a club for students who felt out of place, yet a part of me still lives on that snowy mountain. I do not regret leaving the city for a single day. If you ever get the chance to do something that frightens you, remember to say yes — you may discover, as I did, who you really are.
Choose the correct answer.
Are these sentences true or false, according to the text?
Complete each sentence with ONE word from the text. Mind the form — is it an -ing or a to-infinitive?
Write your answer in your own words. These questions are not marked automatically.
1. Why did the writer's friends think he "had lost his mind"?
2. How did the writer cope during the difficult first month?
3. What lesson does the writer share at the end of the text?
Find these connectors in the text — each one appears at least once: however, therefore, nevertheless, although, whereas, moreover, since, yet. (You will use these same connectors in the Writing section.) Note them down, then check.
Todd talks to Abidemi about life and teaching in an isolated Arctic community.
You will hear an interview: Todd asks Abidemi about teaching in a remote community in the far north of Canada — the cost of living, the frozen ground, and the long winter darkness. You will listen TWICE. First listen: answer questions 1-5. Second listen: answer questions 6-10. (Kaydı İKİ kez dinleyeceksin: ilk dinlemede 1-5, ikinci dinlemede 6-10.)
Write and submit your paragraph; your teacher will review it.
At B1 you linked ideas with and, but, so, because. At B2 you sound noticeably more advanced when you use formal, precise connectors. Four of them are essential this unit — and two familiar ones, although and however, become sharper tools.
| Connector | Use it to... | Example |
|---|---|---|
| moreover | add a stronger, extra point | The move was hard. Moreover, it meant leaving my friends. |
| therefore | show a logical result | I hated giving up; therefore, I tried again. |
| whereas | contrast two ideas directly | My friends stayed, whereas I chose to relocate. |
| nevertheless | say "in spite of that" | It felt daunting. Nevertheless, I said yes. |
| although | concede a point inside one sentence | Although I was reluctant, I have no regrets. |
| however | contrast between two sentences | I nearly quit. However, I went on to succeed. |
See the difference — the same facts, written two ways:
| Basic linking ✗ | Confident B2 writing ✓ |
|---|---|
| I moved away. It was hard. I did not give up. I learned a lot. I am happy now. | I decided to relocate, and the first months were daunting. Nevertheless, I refused to quit. Although I nearly stopped believing in myself, I have learned a great deal since then; therefore, I do not regret leaving. |
A "decision" paragraph has three parts. The skeleton stays the same — you change the content, not the structure:
| Part | What to write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Opening | A topic sentence that names the decision | Two years ago I made a decision that changed my life. |
| 2. Body | Tell the story. Use this unit's verbs with the correct form: I remember arriving...; it meant leaving...; I tried keeping...; I don't regret leaving... Link with B2 connectors. | Although I was reluctant, I stopped making excuses. Nevertheless, it meant leaving everything behind. |
| 3. Closing | A final comment about now or the future | I have never stopped missing it, therefore I hope to go back. |
Write about a big decision or a change you have been through — a move, a new school, a hobby, a habit you started or stopped, a challenge you took on. Use this unit's verb patterns.
Değerlendirme öğretmenin tarafından yapılacak. (Your teacher will evaluate your writing.)
Mixed questions from the whole unit, then check what you can do.
14 questions: grammar + vocabulary + reading + listening. Each question is marked instantly.
Tick what you can do now. Honest answers help your teacher.
İşaretlemediğin madde varsa ilgili bölüme dönüp tekrar çalış — soldaki menüden her bölüme geri dönebilirsin.
Oturum kontrol ediliyor...