Stop Doing or Stop To Do - What's The Difference?
Many verbs are follows by gerunds (these are ‘ing’ verbs) and others prefer to be followed by an infinitive (to + verb). Usually, the meaning doesn’t change regardless of which one you use. However, with the verb “stop”, the meaning can be completely the opposite.
It’s a simple rule, but an important one to avoid misunderstandings.
'Stop' Rule
Stop + infinitive = Take a break in what you are doing
Example: I stopped walking
Stop + gerund = Stop your current task to start another task
Example: I stopped to walk
To expand on this a bit more, when “stop” is followed by an infinitive, this is just the simple meaning that you probably already understand.
When we use a gerund (stop + ing verb), this is like saying what you are stopping to do.
I stopped to eat =
I stopped doing something so that I could eat
I stopped doing something in order to eat
Does this make sense to you? Let me know and give me some more examples in the comments!