为什么英语中有些动词后只能接 doing，而不能接 to do？

咱们今天就来聊聊英语里那些“只认 doing 不认 to do”的动词，这事儿说起来挺有意思的，也怪不得大家会觉得有点摸不着头脑。其实这背后啊，跟动词本身的含义和它在句子里的作用有很大关系。别担心，我尽量用大白话，把这事儿给你掰扯清楚，保证听起来就像是咱哥俩儿闲聊一样。

首先，咱们得明白，动词后面接“doing”（也就是动名词）和接“to do”（也就是不定式）在意义上是有细微差别，有时候甚至是挺大的差别。它们就像是同一种“动作”的两种不同表达方式，但英语这语言就是这么讲究，在某些动词后面，只能用一种方式来表达，而不能混用。

为什么有些动词就偏爱“doing”呢？

这很大程度上是因为这些动词表达的动作，更倾向于是一种“经历”、“习惯”、“享受”、“持续”或者是一种“事实”。简单来说，就是它描述的这个“事情”已经发生过了，或者是一个习惯性的动作，又或者是一种持续的状态。

咱们可以从几个角度来理解：

1. 强调“经历”和“体验”

有一些动词，它们本身就带有“经历过某事”的含义，比如：

enjoy (享受): 你说 enjoy doing something，意思就是你在这个动作里面得到了快乐和满足。比如 "I enjoy reading." 这不是说你计划去读，而是说你现在或者过去读的时候，感觉很棒。如果接 "I enjoy to read."，听起来就有点奇怪，好像你在享受“阅读这个行为的计划”一样，不太对味儿。
finish (完成): 这个词强调的是动作的结束。当你完成了一件事，这件事就已经成为过去式，它是一个已经发生的事实。所以 "I finished reading the book." 意思是书已经读完了。如果说 "I finished to read the book."，这就好像你在完成一个“未完成的阅读计划”，语意不通。
mind (介意): "Do you mind closing the window?" 这是问你是否会因为关窗这个动作而感到不快。这个“关窗”是你可能要做或者已经做了的事情，它是一个具体的操作。你不会问 "Do you mind to close the window?"，那样就好像在问你是否介意“关窗这个事情的意图”。

你看，这些词都倾向于描述一个已经发生的、已经体验过的、或者已经完成的事情。而动名词“doing”恰好能够很好地表达这种“已经发生的、作为一项事物存在的”的概念。

2. 表示“习惯”和“持续”

还有些动词，它们描述的往往是长期以来形成的习惯或者是一种持续的行为模式：

practice (练习): 你练习是为了熟能生巧，是个持续性的过程。 "She practices playing the piano every day." 她每天都在弹钢琴，这是个习惯。你说 "She practices to play the piano." 听起来更像是她为了“能够弹 piano”这个目标而进行的练习，有点像“为了学会而练习”，但更自然的说法是“为了弹 piano 而练习”。
spend (花费): 比如 spend time doing something，意思就是把时间花在做某件事上。这是一个持续的动作。 "He spent hours fixing the car." 他花了好几个小时修车。你说 "He spent hours to fix the car." 意思就变成他花了好几个小时，就为了去修车（这本身是个目标），但实际的动作过程就被忽略了。
waste (浪费): 和 spend 类似，waste time doing something，就是把时间白白耗费了。 "Don't waste time worrying about it." 别浪费时间去担心它。你说 "Don't waste time to worry about it." 就有点像是“别为了担心而浪费时间”，但实际的含义是“别把时间花在担心这事儿上”，后者更符合 waste 的用法。

在这些情况下，“doing”就像是在说“这件事本身”，而“to do”更像是“去做这件事的目的”。当动词的含义更侧重于“这件事本身是什么样子”或者“这件事的持续性”，它就更倾向于接动名词。

3. 作为“主语”或“宾语”的性质

有时候，接动名词“doing”是因为这个动词后面接的“doing”在句子中扮演了重要的角色，比如它就是一个名词化的概念，作为宾语或者主语的成分。

admit (承认): "He admitted stealing the money." 他承认偷了钱。这里的 "stealing the money" 就是一个“盗窃行为”本身，它是一个名词化的概念，作为 admit 的宾语。你说 "He admitted to steal the money." 就很奇怪，好像他在承认“去偷钱这个行为的计划”或者“去偷钱这个动作本身即将发生”。
deny (否认): 和 admit 对应，"She denied breaking the vase." 她否认打碎了花瓶。 "breaking the vase" 就是“打碎花瓶这个事实”。
suggest (建议): "I suggest going to the cinema." 我建议去看电影。 "going to the cinema" 就是“去看电影这个活动”。你说 "I suggest to go to the cinema." 听起来像是我建议你“去电影院”，而没有把“去看电影”作为一个具体的活动来建议。

在这种情况下，动名词“doing”更像是一个“事情”，一个名词化的概念，被动词所接收，而“to do”则更多地表达一种行动的方向或意图。

为什么有些动词就偏爱“to do”呢？

反过来，那些喜欢接“to do”的动词，通常表达的是：

1. “意图”、“目的”、“计划”

这类动词往往侧重于未来的打算、目标或者意愿。

want (想要): "I want to travel." 我想去旅行。这里是你对未来的一个愿望，一个计划。你说 "I want travelling." 听起来就好像你现在正在旅行，并且很享受这个过程，或者你想要“旅行这个行为本身”。
hope (希望): "I hope to see you soon." 我希望很快见到你。这是对未来的期盼。
plan (计划): "We plan to buy a new car." 我们计划买新车。这明确是一个未来的打算。
decide (决定): "He decided to quit his job." 他决定辞职。这是一个做出的决定，指向一个未来的行动。

在这些情况下，“to do”清晰地表明了“动作的方向”和“想要达成的目标”，它是一个指向性的、有方向感的表达。

2. 表示“学习”、“尝试”等具有学习和成长性质的动作

learn (学习): "She is learning to drive." 她在学开车。这个“开车”是她正在学习的技能，一个目标性的行为。
try (尝试): "Try to be more patient." 试着更有耐心一点。这里是鼓励你采取行动，去达成一个更“有耐心”的状态。而 "try doing" 则通常表示“尝试一下某事，看看效果如何”，比如 "Try adding a little salt." 试试加点盐。这是对一个具体行动的尝试。

小结一下：

总的来说，动词后接“doing”还是“to do”，很大程度上取决于动词本身的语义倾向。

如果动词表达的是一种已经发生过的、被经历过的、被享受过的、或者是一种习惯性的、持续性的行为，并且这个行为本身被看作是一个“事物”或“概念”，那么它就更倾向于接动名词 (doing)。这些动词就像是在说：“这件事本身是怎样的”。
如果动词表达的是未来的意图、计划、目的、愿望、决定，或者是一种指向性强的行为，那么它就更倾向于接不定式 (to do)。这些动词就像是在说：“我要去做这件事，或者我的目标是去做这件事”。

当然，英语的学习就是一个不断积累和实践的过程，记住哪些动词搭配哪些形式，最有效的方法就是多读、多听、多用。有时候，一些动词确实可以用两种形式，但意义会有些许差别，这就需要我们结合上下文去理解了。这就像我们在中文里说话一样，同一个意思，有时候用不同的词或者不同的句式说出来，味道就不太一样了。

希望我这么一说，你能大概有个谱了。这也不是什么深奥的语法规则，就是语言用着用着，自然形成了这么一些习惯和偏好，咱们跟着学就是了！

网友意见

一，这个问题其实很简单，你只要理解一个大的原则就可以了，就是：

动词后的不定式往往表示：你打算做的具体的活动 ；而动名词往往表示：你经历了的经验。

所以，enjoy后只能是动名词，比如：

I enjoy listening to music.

你肯定有听过音乐的经验，否则你说不出这样的话来。

同样，want的后面只能是不定式，因为你想做某事，这事肯定还没有做（注意，是站在谓语动词的时间点，这个问题这里不展开），所以只能说： I want to listen to music.

再比如admit这个词，你只能说：

He admitted stealing my money.

而如果是plan那就只能是不定式了：

He is planning to steal money.

二，这样的一种大的原则是普遍的——也就是说不仅是动词后适用，在任何地方任何时候都适用。比如：

听音乐是我的爱好。

Listening to music is my hobby.

My hobby is listening to music.

今年结婚是我的计划。

To get married this year is my plan.

My plan is to get married this year.

有了这样的原则，我们就知道，我们翻译句子时一定要看清句子的意思，比如：

我的工作就是在知乎上写文章。

My job is writing articles on Zhihu.

今天，你的工作就是在知乎上写一篇文章。Today, your job is to write an article on Zhifu.

某教材上曾经有这样的句子：Going to a British high school for two years of study was a very exciting and enjoyable experience for me. 这里的动名词就表明了说话人已经去过英国学校学习了。如果换个说法：To go to a British high school for two years of study is my biggest dream in the near future. 意思就完全不一样了。

——当然，原则不是数学公式，不少时候我们还得具体问题具体分析。

——"to do --"叫不定式，"doing --"叫动名词，它们都是非谓语动词的一种，要知道如何正确地使用非谓语动词，你首先得弄清楚：非谓语动词是怎么来的？

这个问题，可参阅：

Now, I want to hit the '赞同' button !

Hitting the '赞同' button after reading a good answer is my habit.

附录：

一，后面常接动名词的动词列表

advise Doctors generally advised doing exercise.

allow The European Union doesn't allow smoking in bars.

anticipate I anticipated getting stuck in traffic.

appreciate I appreciated Danny helping me.

avoid He avoided talking to her.

begin I began learning Spanish.

can't bear He can't bear being late.

can't help He can't help drinking so much.

can't see I can't see us living in London.

can't stand He can't stand her smoking in the street.

cease The government ceased providing free healthcare.

complete He completed renovating the house.

consider She considered moving to Amsterdam.

continue He continued talking.

defend The lawyer defended her making such statements.

delay He delayed replying to the letter.

deny He denied committing the crime.

despise She despises waking up early.

discuss We discussed working at the company.

dislike She dislikes being ignored.

don't mind I don't mind helping you.

dread She dreads meeting her in-laws.

encourage He encourages eating healthy foods.

enjoy We enjoy swimming.

finish He finished doing his homework.

forget I forgot giving you my book.

hate I hate doing the ironing.

imagine He imagines working there one day.

involve The job involves travelling to Japan once a month.

keep She kept interrupting me.

like She likes listening to music.

love I love reading.

mention He mentioned going to the theatre tonight.

mind Do you mind waiting here for a few minutes.

miss She misses living near the shops.

need The aquarium needs cleaning.

neglect Sometimes she neglects doing her homework.

permit Most hotels do not permit smoking in restaurants.

postpone He postponed returning to Paris.

practice She practiced singing the song.

prefer He prefers sitting at the back of the movie theatre.

propose I proposed having lunch at the beach.

quit She quit worrying about the problem.

recall Tom recalled using his credit card at the store.

recommend Tony recommended taking the train.

regret She regretted saying that.

remember I remember telling her the address yesterday.

report He reported her using office property for her personal use.

require The certificate requires completing two courses.

resist He resisted asking for help.

risk He risked being caught.

start He started studying harder.

stop She stopped working at 5 o'clock.

suggest They suggested staying at the hotel.

tolerate I tolerated them being at the party.

try Sam tried opening the lock with a paperclip.

understand I understand his quitting.

urge They urge recycling bottles and paper.

二，后面常接不定式的动词列表

agree Sarah agreed to help me.

appear His health appeared to be better.

arrange Peter arranged to stay with his uncle in Paris.

ask She asked to leave.

begin He began to talk.

can't bear He can't bear to be ignored.

can't stand David can't stand to work in an office.

care He doesn't care to participate in the charity run.

cease The government ceased to provide free healthcare.

choose I chose to help.

claim She claimed to be a doctor.

continue She continued to talk.

decide We decided to go to Paris.

demand He demanded to speak to the manager.

deserve He deserves to go to jail.

dread I dread to think what might have happened.

expect They expect to arrive early.

fail He failed to get enough money to pay for the new project.

forget I forgot to lock the door when I left.

get (be allowed to) John gets to go to the concert next week! Why can't I?

happen She happened to be in Latin America during the riots.

hate He hates to be proved wrong.

hesitate She hesitated to tell me the problem.

hope I hope to begin college this year.

intend We intend to visit you next spring.

learn I learned to speak Russian when I was a kid.

like Chris likes to read.

love We love to scuba dive.

manage He managed to open the door without the key.

need I need to study.

neglect She neglected to tell me the date of the meeting.

offer Donald offered to drive us to the supermarket.

plan We plan to go to America this summer.

prefer He prefers to eat at Italian restaurants.

prepare They prepared to take the test.

pretend The child pretended to be a monster.

promise She promised to stop smoking.

propose Dad proposed to pay for the trip.

refuse The guard refused to let them enter the building.

regret I regret to inform you that your application was rejected.

remember Did you remember to lock the door when you left?

seem Sarah seemed to be disappointed.

start Marc started to talk really fast.

swear Anne swore to tell the truth.

tend Matt tends to be a little shy.

threaten Alison threatened to leave forever.

try Joanna tried to lift the table, but it was too heavy.

wait Sue waited to buy a movie ticket.

want I want to study Spanish.