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'Remember/forget/regret' + 'to' = the action is future or pending; + '-ing' = the action already happened in the past.
Side-by-side comparison
With "remember" and "forget": the gerund refers to something past that you remember or forgot doing. The infinitive refers to something future or still to be done.
Please remember to turn off the lights when you leave the office tonight.
She forgot to lock the front door and had to go all the way back to check it.
I regret to say that we cannot offer a refund after thirty days of purchase.
With "regret": the gerund expresses remorse for something already done ("I regret saying that"). The infinitive is used in formal communication to deliver bad news ("I regret to inform you").
I remember meeting her at a party years ago, she was very funny and warm.
He will never forget travelling across Europe by train at the age of nineteen.
She regrets not studying harder for the exam, she knows she could have done better.
Common mistake
- •The most critical error: reversing the temporal direction.
- •"Remember TO lock the door" = remember to do it (you have NOT done it yet, future action).
- •"I remember LOCKING the door" = I recall having locked it (I already did, past action).
- •Same pattern with "forget" and "regret": "I regret TO tell you..." (about to deliver bad news) vs "I regret TELLING you..." (sorry I told you something I already said).
Trick to remember it
Time arrow: TO + infinitive points FORWARD (action has not occurred yet). -ING points BACKWARD (action has already occurred). Can you naturally add "tomorrow"? = TO. Can you add "yesterday"? = -ING. "Remember to sign it TOMORROW" = TO. "I remember signing it YESTERDAY" = -ING.
Quick rule
TO + infinitive = future/pending action (has not occurred): "remember to do it," "forget to do it," "regret to inform." -ING = past action (already occurred): "remember doing it," "forget doing it," "regret doing it."
Did you know?
This distinction is one of the most celebrated in English pedagogy because it shows how grammar can radically change meaning. "I forgot to tell him" vs "I forgot telling him" sound nearly identical to a non-native ear, but mean completely different things: in the first, you never said anything; in the second, you did say it but had no memory of doing so. Grammarians Geoffrey Leech and Jan Svartvik called these "aspectual verbs" because the choice of complement (infinitive vs gerund) encodes the temporal aspect of the action: a simple morphological change communicates a temporal difference that in many other languages would require additional words.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
I regret _____ her the secret. She told everyone.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
She remembered _____ the oven off before she left. Nothing burned.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
In 'look forward to', the 'to' is a preposition, not part of the infinitive, so it is followed by a gerund (-ing).
'Start' and 'begin' accept both gerund and infinitive with no meaning difference, except with stative verbs or in continuous forms.
'Stop to do' = pause in order to do something else; 'stop doing' = cease doing something.
'Suggest' and 'recommend' never take 'to' + infinitive; they use a gerund or a 'that' clause.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy