I am afraid that, as the EngVid page on Gerunds and Infinitives listed by FumbleFingers says, this is simply an arbitrary rule of usage.

I disagreed with some of the statements you posted on my blog. If you like a fact or the content, what are you going to do? I disagree with its general point and many of the specific classifications given there, and i can’t advance any systematic criterion for which verbs take an infinitive, which take a gerund, and which can take either. What are the patterns found in the history of words?

On specific verbs, the page lists “abhor” as requiring a gerund (“He abhors playing soccer. He does not know the difference.” Can also, albeit less commonly take an an infinitive (“He abhors to use the passive voice. “Appear”

in the sense “seem” takes an infinitive “This appears to be a rule without a reason. As such, if this appears to be done immediately, so that these are unlikely to get lost”, the meaning “appear” immediately becomes “appar” (emphasize/appear” or “seem to”, respectively). “shows up” and “becomes visible” can take a gerund. “At the start of the show, she appears playing a flute in brown costume. In Hamlet the ghost appears walking the battlements of the castle. Suggest about each to meet him? “)

“Chance” is listed as taking an infinitive, but such a sentence as “I can’t chance leaving the problem unsolved.” seems perfectly natural to me.

How do I determine the exact rule for a given verb?