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A walk that lasted 24 hours: stop, remember, forget and try with to or -ing

This B1 ESL lesson plan teaches stop to vs stop -ing, along with remember, forget and try, set around the 24-hour walk that grew into Relay For Life.

Grammar
Four verbs whose meaning changes with to or -ing: stopped to tie vs stopped walking, remember to drink vs remember walking, forgot to scan, try to vs try walking.
Topic
Dr. Gordy Klatt's 24 hours on a Tacoma track in 1985 and the team events that followed, with words such as sponsor, wristband and fundraiser.
Activities
A feature to read, a night charity walk and a listener's message to hear, self-checking drills, a planning chat and the steps of a sign-up post.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: lace up your sneakers!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: a charity walkVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: one man, one track, 24 hours

    • Look at the photo: a track at sunrisePictureUnlock
    • Read Darius's story on the show's websiteArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: a long night on the track

    • Listen to Darius and AbigailListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Listener's Take: Chester's messageListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: stop to rest or stop walking?

    • Study the scheme: stop, remember, forget and tryGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use to + verb or the -ing formFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: use to + verb or the -ing formFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: what does it mean?QuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: plan a charity walk

    • Choose the right replies: plan a charity walkChatTry it
    • Put the parts of Abigail's plan in the correct orderDrag and dropUnlock
    • Sort the phrases into the correct columns: our sign-up postSort into columnsUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: our sign-up postChoose the optionUnlock
    • Open a box and answer: plan your charity eventOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use to + verb or the -ing formFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which sentence is correct?QuizUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Priscilla's sign-up postChoose the optionUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Darius answers ChesterDrag and dropUnlock

34 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

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

  • fundraiser
  • surgeon
  • organizer
  • shoelace
  • wristband
  • floodlight
  • megaphone
  • paper cup
  • energy bar

Grammar: stop, remember, forget and try + to or -ing

After verbs like keep or agree, the form is fixed, but stop, remember, forget and try take both, and the form changes the meaning. A night charity walk gives each verb a clear setting: a stop to tie a shoelace, a reminder to drink water, a memory of the first lap and a test of walking backward.

stop, remember, forget and try + to or -ing

These verbs can take to + verb or verb-ing, but the meaning changes.

Stop + -ing or stop + to?

Stop + -ing means the action ends: At 7 a.m., we stopped walking. Stop + to means you stop one thing in order to do another: He stopped to tie his shoelace. Ask which action ends: in Darius stopped to eat, the walking ends and the eating begins.

Two forms, two meanings

Verb+ to + verb+ verb-ing
stopstop one thing in order to do another: He stopped to tie his shoelace.the action ends; you don't do it anymore: At 7 a.m., we stopped walking.
remembera job for later: first remember, then do it. Remember to drink water!a memory: first do it, then remember it. I remember walking the first lap.
forgeta job: I forgot to scan my wristband (I didn't do it). Don't forget to register!never forget + -ing = a strong memory: I'll never forget walking there last May.
trymake an effort; it's hard, and maybe you can't: I tried to stay awake, but I couldn't.do it as a test, to see what happens: Try walking backward. Is it faster?

stop: what stops?

stop + -ing: that action ends. Darius stopped walking (no more walking). stop + to: you stop what you are doing in order to do the next action. Darius stopped to eat (he stopped walking, and then he ate).

Remember to or remember -ing?

Remember or forget + to is a job: Remember to drink water! I forgot to scan my wristband. Remember or never forget + -ing is a memory: I remember walking the first lap. Time words give it away: last May for a memory, by Friday for a job.

remember to or remember -ing?

remember to = first remember, then do

  • Remember to bring a jacket tonight.
  • I remembered to scan my wristband. (I scanned it.)
  • Don't forget to register = Remember to register.

remember -ing = first do, then remember

  • I remember walking with my mom when I was ten.
  • Abigail remembers seeing Riley with a megaphone.
  • I'll never forget running in the rain last May.

Look for the time words

Past time words (last May, when I was ten, two years ago) show a memory: remember / never forget + -ing. Future words and orders (tonight, tomorrow, by Friday, Don't…) show a job for later: remember / don't forget + to.

Try to or try + -ing?

Try to + verb is an effort that may fail: I tried to stay awake, but I couldn't. Try + -ing is an easy test, to see if it helps: I tried closing some apps. It worked!

try: hard work or a test?

try to + verb: the action is hard, and maybe you can't do it: I tried to lift the box, but it was too heavy. try + -ing: the action is easy, and you do it to see what happens or if it helps: My phone was slow, so I tried closing some apps. It worked!

At the night walk

The examples follow Darius around the track: Darius, stop racing! It's a walk, not a race. He tried walking backward. It was much slower! Forgot to scan means the scan never happened, and never forget walking means the walk is a strong memory.

  • Remember to drink some water, Darius!
  • Darius, stop racing! It's a walk, not a race.
  • Darius stopped to tie his shoelace.
  • He tried walking backward. It was much slower!
  • He forgot to scan his wristband on three laps.
  • He'll never forget walking the first lap with Riley cheering.

Common mistakes

  • Don't forget signing up by Friday.

    Don't forget to sign up by Friday.

    a job for later: forget / remember + to

  • He was tired, so he stopped to run.

    He was tired, so he stopped running.

    the running ended: stop + -ing

  • I remember to walk the first lap with Riley.

    I remember walking the first lap with Riley.

    a memory of the past: remember + -ing

  • His shoelace was loose, so he stopped tying it.

    His shoelace was loose, so he stopped to tie it.

    stop in order to do something: stop + to

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

Try the stop to vs stop -ing exercises

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

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 20 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • tell stop + -ing from stop + to: At 7 a.m., we stopped walking. He stopped to tie his shoelace.
  • use remember and forget + to for jobs: Remember to drink water! I forgot to scan my wristband.
  • share memories with remember or never forget + -ing: I remember walking the first lap. I'll never forget running in the rain last May.
  • use try to for a hard effort and try + -ing for a test: I tried to stay awake, but I couldn't. Try walking backward.
  • plan a charity walk and complete its sign-up post: Don't forget to register by Friday!

Lesson 27 is the third lesson of Volunteers and changemakers, unit 7 of English B1.2 · Changemakers. It builds on lesson 25, where each verb had one fixed form, on lesson 26's -ing after prepositions, and on A2.1 lesson 29, where try came with to only. Lesson 28 compares prefer, would rather and would prefer. A long night on a track is full of stops, reminders, memories and things to try, so every verb gets a real setting.

Students spin a wheel of questions about long walks, good causes and things they forget, then learn twelve words, from sponsor and scan to energy bar, with pictures and audio. They read Darius's feature on Dr. Gordy Klatt's 24 hours on a track, then hear Darius at a night charity walk with Abigail, the organizer, and a message from Chester in Washington State, both AI-voiced. The grammar chapter has the scheme and four drills that mark themselves, among them a quiz on what each sentence means. The speaking chapter plans a charity walk: Abigail's chat, her plan in order, a column sort and a sign-up post with gaps, then open boxes.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a word match, an anagram, a word gap-fill and a memory game, then a choice of forms in new sentences, gaps with to or -ing, word order, a quiz on the right sentence, Priscilla's sign-up post and Darius's reply to Chester with words to drag.

Grammar:
stop + to or -ing · remember to / remember + -ing · forget to / never forget + -ing · try to / try + -ing · verbs that change meaning with to or -ing
Topic:
Relay For Life · Gordy Klatt · Tacoma · Washington · charity walks · fundraising · volunteering · Stories That Travel

Teaching tips

  • Act out stop with the whole class: students walk around the room; on Stop to tie your shoe! they pause and mime it, and on Stop walking! they sit down. Then ask what each order meant.
  • Before the feature, ask for a guess: how many miles can one person cover in 24 hours? The feature's answer is more than 83, which is more than three marathons.
  • Split memories from jobs on the board: after the night-walk dialogue, students write each remember or forget sentence in one of two columns, with its time phrase: on the first lap, after every lap.
  • Let groups pitch their own event: after the sign-up steps, each group presents a charity event aloud with Don't forget to…, Remember to… and Try to…, and the class votes for one to join.

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The whole course: English B1.2 · Changemakers

32 lessons for adults at B1 in American English, about people and ideas that changed things: start-ups, future cities, food, memory, customs, art, volunteers and adventure. The podcast team of English B1.1 is back for a season called Changemakers. Learners use the second conditional, the passive, reported speech, the past perfect, relative clauses and verb patterns, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Start-up stories

    the second conditional, If I were you, the first vs the second conditional, also, too, as well and besides

    1. Lesson 1The garage where Silicon Valley beganThe second conditional for imagined situations
    2. Lesson 2Would you sell lemonade to save bees?Second conditional questions and If I were you
    3. Lesson 3Pitch it to the Sharks!First vs second conditional: a real plan or a dream?
    4. Lesson 4A bakery that hires anyone?Adding ideas: also, too, as well, either and besides

  2. Unit 2 Cities of tomorrow

    the passive in the present simple and the past simple, with modals, and in the present perfect and present continuous

    1. Lesson 5Can you cross a city without going outside?The present simple passive
    2. Lesson 6A park on top of a freeway?The past simple passive
    3. Lesson 7Can a desert city catch the rain?The passive with modals
    4. Lesson 8Can an old railroad become a park?The present perfect and present continuous passive

  3. Unit 3 Food for the future

    comparative and superlative adverbs, the future passive, verbs with prepositions, phrasal verbs with up, away and out

    1. Lesson 9Why did Carver tell farmers to plant peanuts?Comparative and superlative adverbs
    2. Lesson 10Lettuce from space?The future passive with will be
    3. Lesson 11Why do corn, beans and squash grow together?Verbs with dependent prepositions
    4. Lesson 12What happens to dining-hall leftovers?Phrasal verbs with up, away and out

  4. Unit 4 Memory and learning

    reported statements with say and tell, tense changes, time and place words, reported questions, requests and commands

    1. Lesson 13Can you train your memory?Reported statements with say and tell
    2. Lesson 14He got better but never rememberedReported statements about the past
    3. Lesson 15Can a TV show teach the alphabet?Reported questions
    4. Lesson 16Can you learn a new skill at 70?Reported requests and commands

  5. Unit 5 Customs and manners

    degree adverbs such as quite and pretty, the past perfect, the past perfect vs the past simple, make vs do

    1. Lesson 17To tip or not to tip?Adverbs of degree before adjectives and adverbs
    2. Lesson 18They'd already started without me!The past perfect: had + past participle
    3. Lesson 19What should you do at a powwow?Past perfect vs past simple
    4. Lesson 20How do you accept a lei?Make vs do: collocations to learn

  6. Unit 6 Art and design

    relative clauses with whose, non-defining relative clauses, relative clauses without a pronoun, when and why

    1. Lesson 21Art that moves in the airRelative clauses with whose
    2. Lesson 22A heart that sells a stateNon-defining relative clauses
    3. Lesson 23What would you paint on a city wall?Relative clauses without who, which or that
    4. Lesson 24Why does the sign say Hollywood?Relative adverbs: when, why and where

  7. Unit 7 Volunteers and changemakers

    verb + -ing or to, -ing as a subject and after prepositions, stop, remember, try and forget, prefer and would rather

    1. Lesson 25A day on, not a day off?Verb + -ing or verb + to
    2. Lesson 26The house that welcomed a neighborhoodGerunds as subjects and after prepositions
    3. Lesson 27 · you're hereA walk that lasted 24 hoursStop, remember, forget and try + to or -ing
    4. Lesson 28Head, heart, hands and healthPrefer, would rather and would prefer

  8. Unit 8 Adventure and challenge

    possessive 's vs of, must and can't for deduction, might, may and could for possibility, the meanings of get

    1. Lesson 29Could you climb a fourteener?Possessive 's, s' or of
    2. Lesson 30It must be here somewhere!Must and can't for deduction
    3. Lesson 31How did Houdini get out?Might, may and could for possibility
    4. Lesson 32A capital with no road inThe meanings of get

Questions about this lesson

What's the difference between stop to and stop -ing?
With stop, -ing means the action ends, and to means a pause. At 7 a.m., we stopped walking means no more walking. He stopped to tie his shoelace means he stopped walking in order to tie it. So a tired runner stopped running, not stopped to run. The B1 lesson A walk that lasted 24 hours on edio.ai sets both at a night charity walk.
What's the difference between remember to and remember -ing?
Remember to + verb is a job: first you remember, then you do it: Remember to bring a jacket tonight. Remember + -ing is a memory: first you did it, now you remember it: I remember walking with my mom when I was ten. Words like tonight or when I was ten show which one fits. A walk that lasted 24 hours, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, compares them in its scheme.
What does "forget to" mean, and what does "never forget" + -ing mean?
Forget to + verb means the job didn't get done: I forgot to scan my wristband, so there was no scan. Don't forget to register! is a reminder for later. Never forget + -ing is a strong memory of something you did: I'll never forget walking under the floodlights last May. In A walk that lasted 24 hours, Darius does both on one night.
What's the difference between try to and try -ing?
Try to + verb is an effort at something hard that may not work: I tried to stay awake, but I couldn't. Try + -ing means doing something easy as a test, to see what happens: Try walking backward. Is it faster? In the lesson A walk that lasted 24 hours on edio.ai, Darius tests it on the track and finds it much slower.
Is it "Don't forget to sign up" or "Don't forget signing up"?
It's Don't forget to sign up: a job for later. Reminders take to: Remember to bring water. Don't forget to register by Friday. The -ing form after forget is for a memory, usually with never: I'll never forget running in the rain. The chat in A walk that lasted 24 hours offers Don't forget registering by Friday! as a wrong reply.
How did Relay For Life start?
It started with one surgeon's 24 hours on a track. In May 1985, Dr. Gordy Klatt ran and walked around the track at Baker Stadium, at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. He covered more than 83 miles and raised $27,000 for the American Cancer Society. On the track, he pictured teams in a 24-hour event, and in 1986, 19 teams held the first one and raised $33,000.
What happens at a Relay For Life event?
At a Relay For Life event, people take turns walking around a track or a path at a school, a park or another place in a community, and an event can last up to 24 hours. The American Cancer Society runs it today and calls Pat Flynn the “Mother of Relay” for her team-building work on the first team event, held in Tacoma's Stadium Bowl in 1986.
How do I teach stop, remember, forget and try to B1 students?
Teach one verb at a time, always in a scene: a stop on a walk, a reminder before an event, a memory with a past time word. Then put each pair side by side and ask what happened first. A walk that lasted 24 hours on edio.ai moves from a feature and a night-walk dialogue to the scheme, then a quiz that asks what each sentence means.
What's a good game for verbs that change meaning with -ing or to?
Mime the difference and let the class guess: one student acts out He stopped to drink or He stopped drinking, and the others say which one they saw. The lesson's open boxes add a speaking round, with prompts like Tell us about an event you'll never forget going to and What do people often forget to bring to a long event?
What's good homework for remember to and remember -ing?
Choose sentences whose context decides the form: The walk is tomorrow calls for Remember to bring your wristband, while a memory from last year calls for I remember sponsoring my cousin's run. The ten homework tasks in A walk that lasted 24 hours on edio.ai all check themselves, ending with a sign-up post and Darius's reply to Chester.
How do you practice stop, remember and try one-to-one?
Plan an event together and swap memories: the teacher asks What should people remember to bring? and What do you remember doing at your first race?, and the student answers each with the right form. The chat in A walk that lasted 24 hours on edio.ai works alone too: Abigail helps the student plan a walk for the school library.
Are there interactive exercises for stop to vs stop -ing?
Yes: gap-fills and a planning chat that mark every answer. With no account, this page plays three parts of the B1 lesson A walk that lasted 24 hours on edio.ai: Darius and Abigail at the night walk, a gap-fill with to + verb or the -ing form, and Abigail's chat about a charity walk. The other exercises open with an account.
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