But why? And why cant we say, She wanted going?
The simplest answer is, because there are certain rules we have to follow. Some verbs must be followed by gerunds.
Thus, we say Kudjo enjoys doing jigsaw puzzles. and we can never say He enjoys to do puzzles.
The list of the verbs that are followed by gerunds is not so big. The most common are:
love, like, dislike, hate, enjoy, prefer, finish, avoid, admit, confess to, consider, continue, deny, discuss, keep (=continue), look forward to, feel like, cant help, imagine, fancy, miss, mind (in questions and negative sentences), cant stand, object to, quit, pracrise, risk, spend, suggest, understand, etc.
EXERCISE 1
Find the proper verb and put it into the form of gerund: chat, take, get up, eat, get, look for, see, go, follow, gossip, stay, lie
1 Kudjo and Chilly spent all the morning ***** the boarding house.
2 Luna enjoys ***** and the girls spent all the night *****.
3 In the morning Cuba felt like ***** in bed till the evening.
4 But she couldnt help ***** to join Luna for breakfast.
5 She knows Luna cant stand ***** alone.
6 After breakfast Cuba and Luna were looking forward to ***** Kudjo and Chilly but they didnt come.
7 Cuba found the message from Chilly, where he admitted ***** to the boarding place without them.
8 Luna and Cuba objected to ***** at home while the boys were having an adventure in the boarding house.
9 Luna suggested ***** Kudjo and Chilly.
10 Luna and Cuba will risk ***** into trouble if they go to this place on their own.
11 They prefer ***** a risk to feeling bored at home.
EXERCISE 2
Make up the sentences about our main characters using given verbs followed by the gerund:
For example,
Luna / cant stand Luna cant stand having rows with Kudjo.
1 Kudjo / risk
2 Chilly / look forward to
3 Cuba / admit
4 Luna / enjoy
5 Lunas parents / dont mind
6 Lunas ancestors / avoid
7 Kudjo and Luna / cant help
8 Kudjo and Chilly / object to
9 Chilly and Cuba / prefer