opt to verb"ing" or opt to verb

Question

can you please help if I need +"ing" after "opt to" My sentence is as below:

User can also opt to not providing shear reinforcement

was that correct? or the below is correct

User can also opt to not provide shear reinforcement

Thank you.

Answer 1

Option 1 is incorrect.

Option 2 is correct. This example uses a "split infinitive", which I think is OK. (Some people disagree with me about that.) The example would be even better with an article (or other determiner) before "user". For example:

A user can also opt to not provide shear reinforcement

or

The user can also opt to not provide shear reinforcement

The "to <verb>" phrase is English's version of an infinitive. It is often used after a helper verb, like "opt".

It is unusual to have "to <verb>ing" in a sentence. One such situation is when the word "to" is used link gerunds. For example, "I wanted to speed up, so I switched from walking to running."

Answer 2

The correct form is : "User can also opt not to provide shear reinforcement".

Opt not to is the correct form, by the way as expressed in the other answer, you don't have to use ing-form of the verb here.