Stop to do sth and stop doing sth

[Sen Vichet]

What do you think of the two phrases? If we give a close look at them, we will think that they are not really the same. When do we say stop to do sth and when do we say stop doing sth? Have you ever focused on the usages between them while speaking?

[Alan]

When you have another dependent verb after stop, you usually use the gerund or ing form. Constructions are like this:

They stopped working at 6 pm
She never stops talking
He's trying to stop smoking.

If you see the construction stop+ to + infinitive, this has a completely different meaning. In this sentence:

We stopped to let the people cross the road. This means: We stopped (the car) IN ORDER TO let the people cross the road.

Hope this helps
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English as a Second Language
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