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I know that this is correct:

Jack left teaching last year.

What about other verbs?

Jack left reading the book.

Jack left loving her.

Jack left visiting his friend.

I am trying to figure out if there are only some verbs of certain semantics can be used here.

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  • please share your research with the community. Did you look up the term "leave"? See Collins entry, definition 2. If you leave an institution, group, or job, you permanently stop attending that institution, being a member of that group, or doing that job.*
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jun 24, 2023 at 9:00

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Jack left teaching last year means that he left (departed from) the teaching profession, not that he ceased to teach. You can use the phrasal verb leave off to mean 'stop doing something', but not leave on its own.

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  • It's true that Jack left teaching means he left the profession. But we'd normally understand that to imply he ceased to teach in any capacity, so I expect that's why someone downvoted your answer. Perhaps you should edit to clarify the point (that to leave [gerund] specifically and only works with gerunds that represent "professions, careers" or similar; we can't say Jack left loving his wife).
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jun 24, 2023 at 11:04

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