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As a user, I want… Verbs with to or -ing for writing user stories

Verbs with to or -ing in user stories are the grammar point of this B1 English for IT lesson plan.

Grammar
Verbs + to (want, need, hope), verbs + -ing (avoid, keep, suggest, mind), -ing after a preposition (instead of typing) and the frame As a…, I want to…, so that…
Topic
Turning beta merchants' feedback into user stories for a payments app, with words such as a pain point, a persona and acceptance criteria.
Activities
An article on the user-story template, a product owner's post, a call about the so that, self-checking drills, a chat with a shop owner and a wheel, then three stories to write and one to record.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: Who Are Your Users?

    • PictureUnlock
    • Open a box and answer the questionOpen the boxUnlock
    • Study the words for user storiesVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2The Story: Who, What and Why

    • Read the story: three parts in one sentenceArticleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the storyQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3At Work: From Feedback to Stories

    • Read Beatriz's post and the team's repliesReal-life documentTry it
    • True or false? Check Beatriz's postTrue or falseUnlock
    • Match the feedback with its user storyMatchUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Listen: What's the “So That”?

    • Listen to Beatriz and Wes's callListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the callQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Grammar: Want to Export, Avoid Typing

    • Study the scheme: to + verb or verb-ing?Grammar schemeTry it
    • Sort the verbs into the correct columns: which form comes next?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Amara's notes from a test with FelixChoose the optionTry it
    • Fill in the gaps: complete the user storiesFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: say it again with the two verbs, in the present simpleFill in the gapsUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Speak Up: Ask the Merchant

    • Choose the best reply to the shop ownerChatTry it
    • Spin the wheel and discussSpin the wheelUnlock

  7. Chapter 7Homework: Your Three Stories

    • Read your phrase bankReal-life documentUnlock
    • Choose the correct sentence: fix the user storiesQuizUnlock
    • Unscramble the words from the lessonAnagramUnlock
    • Write three user stories for an app you useWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record a user story for your backlog reviewSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

24 exercises in 7 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

User story vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • a persona
  • a pain point
  • a feature request
  • acceptance criteria
  • a spreadsheet
  • export
  • filter
  • avoid
  • reuse

Grammar: verb + to or verb + -ing

Whether a gerund or an infinitive follows depends on the verb that comes first. Turning beta feedback into user stories, learners sort the to verbs from the -ing verbs, put -ing after prepositions and write the three-part frame As a…, I want to…, so that…

Verb + to or verb + -ing?

Some verbs take to + verb, others take verb-ing. After a preposition, always use verb-ing.

Want to, avoid -ing: which form comes next?

Want, need, would like, plan, decide, hope, forget and try take to + verb: I want to export my payments. Avoid, enjoy, finish, suggest, mind, keep and consider take verb-ing: Bruno keeps scrolling through old payments. After a preposition, the verb always ends in -ing: instead of typing.

After these wordsUseExample
want, need, would like, plan, decide, hope, forget, tryto + verbI want to export my payments.
avoid, enjoy, finish, suggest, mind, keep, considerverb-ingBruno keeps scrolling through old payments.
a preposition: instead of, before, after, by, without, about, ofverb-ingShe sends a file instead of typing the numbers.

The user-story frame

A user story names who, what and why: As a shop owner, I want to filter my payments, so that I can find a refund quickly. The middle takes want to or need to + verb, never I want exporting, and the so that part gives the reason.

As a + type of user,I want to / I need to + verb,so that + the reason

As a shop owner, I want to filter my payments, so that I can find a refund quickly.

As a shop owner, I want to reuse my QR links, so that I don't create the same link every day.

Both patterns in one call

The team's call mixes both patterns: I'd like to finish the beta stories before Wednesday. I suggest starting with refunds only. She's afraid of refunding the wrong order. Mind is common in questions and negatives: Do you mind writing the acceptance criteria? I don't mind waiting.

  • I'd like to finish the beta stories before Wednesday.Beatriz, on the call
  • I suggest starting with refunds only.Wes
  • The owner avoids doing refunds on her phone.Beatriz
  • She's afraid of refunding the wrong order.after a preposition: verb-ing
  • Do you mind writing the acceptance criteria?Beatriz
  • Erin really hopes to see the export soon.Fatima, in the team chat

Avoid to, suggest to and other slips

The usual slips put to where -ing belongs: Users avoid to log in should be avoid logging in, and I suggest to add a filter should be I suggest adding. Try and forget can take -ing too, but then their meaning changes, so here they keep to.

Tips

In a user story, write want to or need to + verb, and keep the so that part: the reason helps the team choose what to build. mind is common in questions and negatives: Do you mind testing it? I don't mind waiting. try and forget can also take verb-ing, but then they mean something else.

Typical mistakes

  • As a shop owner, I want exporting my payments.

    As a shop owner, I want to export my payments.

    want + to + verb

  • Users avoid to log in on small phones.

    Users avoid logging in on small phones.

    avoid + verb-ing

  • She sends a file instead of type the numbers.

    She sends a file instead of typing the numbers.

    after a preposition: verb-ing

  • I suggest to add a filter.

    I suggest adding a filter.

    suggest + verb-ing

More lessons on this grammar: Gerunds and infinitives lessons and exercises

Try the verbs with to or -ing exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 11 auto-checked exercises
  • 3 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 2 real-life documents
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 1 audio clip
  • 1 picture
  • 1 transcript

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • use to + verb after want, need, would like, plan and decide: I want to export my payments. We decided to add link names.
  • use verb-ing after avoid, keep, suggest, enjoy and mind: She avoids doing refunds on her phone. I suggest starting with refunds only.
  • put verb-ing after a preposition: instead of typing, before confirming, without opening my laptop
  • turn user feedback into a user story with a clear reason: As a shop owner, I want to filter my payments, so that I can find a refund quickly.

Lesson 19 opens Users and clients, unit 7 of English for IT B1 · Inside the Team, on user stories and plain explanations. A2.1 lessons 21 and 29 taught the two halves apart, -ing after enjoy and to after want, and lesson 16 used Would you mind + -ing; here both patterns meet in one sentence frame. Lesson 21 brings the stories back in a role-play with a client.

Open boxes ask who uses the learners' products and what users ask for; twelve word cards with pictures and audio follow, from a template to reuse, with a picture quiz. A short article shows where the frame As a…, I want…, so that… comes from and why the reason matters. Beatriz's post turns three merchants' complaints into draft stories, with the team's replies, and students match more feedback with its story. In an AI-voiced call, Beatriz and Wes look for the real so that behind a new request.

Four self-checking drills follow the scheme, among them a column sort of verbs by the form after them and user stories with gaps. Then students interview a tea shop owner in a chat, ending with the owner's wish as a user story, and spin a wheel of questions about apps and templates. Homework has a phrase bank, a quiz that fixes broken stories and an anagram, all self-checking, then three stories to write for an app students use and one to present in a recording, both for the teacher to review.

Grammar:
verb + to or verb + -ing · want to / avoid + -ing · preposition + -ing
Topic:
user stories · user feedback · product work

Teaching tips

  • Collect real complaints first: each learner writes one thing a work tool makes hard (I keep losing…, I avoid using…), and a partner turns it into As a…, I want to…, so that…
  • Pause the call after the first so that and ask whether it's the real reason; learners suggest a better one before they hear Beatriz and Wes find it.
  • Keep two columns on the board, to and -ing, and add each verb the group meets in the post and the call, with its sentence, before the sort drill.
  • Use the learners' own backlog in company classes and one-to-one: they rewrite two real tickets as user stories, add one acceptance criterion each and explain the so that aloud.

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The whole course: English for IT B1 · Inside the Team

24 lessons at B1 for people who build, test or run software, in American English. Learners follow Iryna, a junior developer, through her first year at Kestrel Cloud, a fictional payments startup: standups, tickets, code review, chats across time zones and job interviews. Each lesson is built around a true story from software history.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Hello, team

    roles, stacks and first days: the present simple, the present perfect with for and since, question forms

    1. Lesson 1How big is a two-pizza team?Present simple for jobs and responsibilities
    2. Lesson 2Your first "Hello, World"Present perfect with for and since
    3. Lesson 3Write your personal READMEQuestion forms for getting to know colleagues

  2. Unit 2 The daily standup

    updates and blockers: the present simple and continuous, just, already and yet, have to and need to

    1. Lesson 4Why is it called a scrum?Present simple vs continuous and state verbs
    2. Lesson 5Done, not done yetPast simple, present perfect and going to for updates
    3. Lesson 6Help, I'm blocked!Have to, need to, don't have to and can't

  3. Unit 3 Bugs and tickets

    clear bug reports: the past continuous, imperatives and the zero conditional, quantifiers

    1. Lesson 7The first actual bugPast simple and past continuous for bug stories
    2. Lesson 8Steps to reproduceImperatives and the zero conditional for bug reports
    3. Lesson 9The email that couldn't go 500 milesQuantifiers in bug tickets

  4. Unit 4 Code review

    kind, useful comments: -ed and -ing adjectives, modals for suggestions, the first conditional

    1. Lesson 10What's a nit?-ed and -ing adjectives in review comments
    2. Lesson 11Could we maybe…?Modals for suggestions in code review
    3. Lesson 12Your first pull requestThe first conditional and unless in code review

  5. Unit 5 How it works

    explaining systems step by step: time clauses, the passive, relative clauses

    1. Lesson 13What happens when you type a URL?Time clauses with as soon as, until and once
    2. Lesson 14How is a barcode read?The present and past simple passive
    3. Lesson 15Draw it, then say itDefining relative clauses

  6. Unit 6 Remote and async

    chat, email and time zones: polite requests, future forms, the present perfect continuous

    1. Lesson 16Just say what you needPolite requests and indirect questions
    2. Lesson 17Your 9 a.m. is my noonFuture forms for plans across time zones
    3. Lesson 18Write it downPresent perfect continuous for status updates

  7. Unit 7 Users and clients

    user stories and plain explanations: verb + to or -ing, reported speech, comparisons

    1. Lesson 19 · you're hereAs a user, I want…Verb + to or verb + -ing
    2. Lesson 20"The client said it was broken"Reported speech for client calls
    3. Lesson 21Explain it in ten hundred wordsComparisons for plain explanations

  8. Unit 8 Your next job

    resumes and interviews: used to, the past perfect, the second conditional

    1. Lesson 22A resume that shows resultsUsed to for your career path
    2. Lesson 23Tell me about a time when…The past perfect for STAR stories
    3. Lesson 24What would you do if…?The second conditional for interviews

Questions about this lesson

What are gerunds and infinitives?
A gerund is a verb with -ing used like a noun, and an infinitive is the base verb, often with to. In She avoids doing refunds on her phone, doing is a gerund; in I want to export my payments, to export is an infinitive. Some verbs take one, some the other, and a few, such as try and forget, take both with a change in meaning.
How do you know when to use a gerund or infinitive?
Whether you use a gerund or an infinitive depends on the verb that comes before it. Want, need, would like, plan, decide and hope take to + verb: We decided to add link names. Avoid, enjoy, suggest, mind and keep take -ing: He kept tapping the wrong icon. After a preposition, always use -ing: after testing the prototype. The B1 lesson As a user, I want… on edio.ai drills both with notes from a user test.
Is it "avoid to do" or "avoid doing"?
It's avoid doing: avoid always takes the -ing form. Many users avoid logging in on small phones, not avoid to log in. The owner avoids doing refunds on her phone. Keep, suggest, mind, enjoy, finish and consider work the same way: I suggest adding a filter, not I suggest to add. In user stories, so that I can avoid making mistakes is a typical reason.
Why is it "instead of typing", not "instead of type"?
A verb after a preposition takes -ing, so it's instead of typing. Instead of, before, after, by, without, about and of are all followed by verb-ing: She sends a file instead of typing the numbers. I want to check the order before confirming a refund. I can help customers without opening my laptop. The same goes for afraid of: She's afraid of refunding the wrong order.
What is a user story?
A user story is a short note on what a user wants from the software, written from the user's side: who, what and why. As a shop owner, I want to reuse my QR payment links, so that I don't create the same link every day. Teams add acceptance criteria and talk it through. In As a user, I want…, a B1 English for IT lesson on edio.ai, learners turn beta feedback into stories like this.
What is the user story template?
The standard user story template is As a…, I want…, so that…: the type of user, what they want to do and the reason. The middle part usually takes I want to or I need to + verb: As a new shop owner, I need to understand words like payout, so that I can read my reports. Wording varies: I'd like to and I can also appear. The template is a thinking tool, not a strict rule.
Why does a user story need "so that"?
The so that part gives the reason, which helps the team choose what to build. As a shop owner, I want to do refunds on my phone could lead anywhere; so that I don't refund the wrong order points to a check screen with the order and the amount. In the B1 English for IT lesson As a user, I want… on edio.ai, the listening is a hunt for that reason.
What are acceptance criteria?
Acceptance criteria are the checks that show a piece of work is done. Teams write them under a user story as short statements: the file opens in any spreadsheet app, and it includes refunds, or I can save a link with one tap, and I can find it again in two taps. To ask for them in a review, say Could we add acceptance criteria before Wednesday?
How do I teach verbs with to or -ing to B1 professionals?
Give the patterns a real job: writing user stories. Learners describe what users do now (they keep scrolling, they avoid typing) and what they want (I want to filter my payments), so both forms come up naturally. Sort the verbs into two columns, then drill the traps: suggest to add, instead of type. With in-company groups, take the stories from their own backlog.
What's good homework for practicing verbs with to or -ing?
Good homework is three user stories for an app learners use, with -ing at least twice after avoid, keep, instead of, without or before. In As a user, I want…, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, a quiz that fixes broken stories and an anagram check themselves first; then students write the three stories and record one as if at a backlog review, and the teacher reviews both.
Are there interactive exercises for verbs with to or -ing?
Yes: dropdown drills and chats check each choice of to or -ing at once. This page plays four parts of As a user, I want…, a B1 English for IT lesson on edio.ai, without an account: Beatriz's post with three draft stories, her call with Wes about the so that, a drill on notes from a user test (wanted to try, kept tapping) and a chat with a shop owner. Everything else is locked.
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