By Enrique
Rojas R.
What English teacher hasn’t had problems presenting the combination of one
verb following another, particularly to speakers of Spanish? You have to tell
your students that some verbs are necessarily followed by an infinitive while
others are ineludibly tailed by a gerund. The trouble is if you have analytical
learners within your pupils who ask what the criterion is to decide which verbs
take one or the other, you have to confess that you have no idea. In fact,
nobody in the world seems to know that. There is a list and you just have to
learn it and use it. Not an answer full of logic.
But the conumdrum doesn’t end there. It turns out that certain
magnanimous verbs allow you to take your pick of infinitive or gerund without
changing their meaning, while others, quite more sternly, provide different
meanings when followed by an infinitive or a gerund.
And to make matters even worse, some verbs are followed by infinitive
with to, some others without to, some others by a gerund but with an object
pronoun in between the verb and the gerund, then the gerund becomes infinitive (required
writing / require her to write)
Not in vain our colleague blogger from Spain, Cristina Cabal has said
about it: “I always claim that
English grammar is easy, especially when compared to the Spanish or French grammar,
but it gets a bit messy when it comes to verbs followed by infinitive or
gerund.” (Cabal).
The use of the gerund has some basic differences
in English and Spanish. In cases in which in English you can use an infinitive
or a gerund interchangeably, in Spanish only an infinitive is possible. In the
language of Shakespeare both, the infinitive and the subject take the function
of a noun although they retain their verb meaning and so, they can be subjects
of sentences (Exercising / To exercise
is healthy) or direct objects (My mother wanted me to call her / I enjoy driving).
In the language of Cervantes only the infinitives (or subjunctives) are
appropriate for that purpose. And that is the reason why your students tend to
overuse the infinitives in English.
Then the only solution appears to be giving your
pupils the wearisome lists of verbs
followed by infinitives / gerunds, etc. to be memorized by them on their
own, that it constitutes for them a huge, lifeless and humdrum job. But we
figure that is the textbooks’ fault that this is a topic that teachers have to
deal as one whole big chunk. As a rule of thumb, the natural way is usually the
best way. And the manner in which native speakers learn this is not memorizing
lists, but as collocations. They listen to it, they learn it and then they use
it. For this purpose they don’t even have to know what a gerund or infinitive
is.
We
think that if we don’t focus on teaching the grammatical process but just in
associating the use of certain verbs with gerunds or infinitives, we don’t have
to wait until the intermediate level. They can start as basics with verbs such
as like, enjoy, adore, hate, can’t stand to learn activities, sports, foods and
others, and work their way up with more complex verbs maybe to express
opinions, for instance. The important thing would be to make the collocations
memorable and you achieve this through extensive practice of these structures.
For that you can use fill the blank
exercises, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning as the
first, etc. Although we prefer oral practice, like, for example you ask the
first student: “What do you like doing in the evenings?” He/she answers and
then asks the next student: “What do you like doing on weekends?” and so on.
Some may think that this is drilling and dream
negative reminiscences of audio-lingual practices, but put your mind at rest!
Not all drilling has to be bad, especially if students are communicating what
they really do or like, etc. Remember that two factors spur the memory: interest and repetition. Just try to do the reiteration as enjoyable as
possible. For this very purpose you can use stories, bingo, dominoes, hobbies
cards, multiple answers with flashcards and other resources that have been
specially designed to teach this and you can find in the internet free of
charge
REFERENCES
Cabal C. Grammar for Intermediate Level: Gerunds and
Infinitives
Cabal, C. Some Activities to Teach
Gerunds and Infinitives. C. Blog de Cristina
Gerunds and Infinitives
Gerund
and infinitive Dominoes. TEACHTHIS. EFL/ESL Resources https://es.scribd.com/document/340843349/Gerund-and-Infinitive-Dominoes
Gerund and infinitive Master. TEACHTHIS. EFL/ESL
Resources
Gerunds
and Infinitives Worksheet
How to Teach Gerunds and Infinitives to ESL Students
Without Confusing Them. FluentU English Educator Blog.
Infinitives and Gerunds. Grammar
and Beyond Communicative Activities © Cambridge University Press 2012 http://www.cambridge.org/grammarandbeyond/wp-
Joyce B. I Like Swimming. 3 Tremendous Techniques for Teaching Gerunds
and Infinitiveshttp://busyteacher.org/10729-teaching-gerunds-infinitives-3-tremendous.html
Some Activities to Teach
Gerunds and Infinitives
Song Worksheet: Gerunds or Infinitives?
Trusler, T. Gerunds and Infinitives: Helpful Teaching Tips
http://blog.esllibrary.com/2013/02/21/gerunds-and-infinitives-helpful-teaching-tips/
Use
of gerunds in Spanish
BIOGRAPHICAL DATA
Graduated in
Journalism at the PUCP, Peru, Enrique Rojas R. holds a MA in Journalism and MA
in Inter American History from Southern Illinois University, USA; an MA in
Literature from University of the Americas, Puebla, Mexico, all the coursework
for a MA in TEFL at Universidad de Piura, Peru and BA in Education from
Universidad Federico Villarreal. He has also obtained Certificates of
Proficiency in English both from Cambridge University and the University of
Michigan and the Diploma for EFL Teachers from Universidad del Pacifico. He is
an Oral Examiner for the Cambridge University exams and has been awarded the
title Expert in E-Learning from Asociacion Educativa del Mediterraneo and
Universidad Marcelino Champagnat. He has worked as a professor in universities
in Peru, Mexico and the United States; as a newscaster and a producer in radio
and television stations in the United States and Mexico, and as a writer and
editor in daily newspapers of the same countries. He has been in the staff of
CIDUP for 18 years teaching English and Spanish specializing in International
Exams, English for Business, ESP and Teacher Training. He has been a speaker in
every Congress of English for Special Purposes organized by Centro de Idiomas
de la U.P. He is also a member of its Research Area.
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