student asking question

How is “stop -ing” different from “stop to [verb]”?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Although the word "stop" is a verb, it can be paired with a present participle form of another verb to describe stopping the process of an action. Ex: Stop making noise, you're going to wake up the neighbors. Ex: Stop picking around your food and just eat it! "Stopping" turns the verb "stop" into a present participle and can be used to describe the process of something being stopped. It is usually paired with "to". Ex: We are stopping to get lunch. Ex: She is stopping by the store to say hello to her friends.

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