Lately, I have made a change to how I teach Gerunds and Infinitives to low intermediates.
The problem I have found the past few times I have taught it is the difficulty of the verbs. See if you agree with the changes I made.
Gerunds and Infinitive lessons are famous for the 3 lists of verbs:
- Verbs followed by gerunds
- Verbs followed by infinitives
- Verbs followed by both
Verbs like admit, threaten, deserve, deny, or intend are always on the lists. The problem is I spend most of my time teaching the verb definition and not practicing the grammar point.
Of course these verbs are important, and some are easy to teach, but I find too much time is spent teaching them. In the past, my Gerunds and Infinitive lessons turned into vocabulary lessons.
The problem with this is it goes against a basic rule of teaching grammar: Do not explain a new grammar rule with examples using new vocabulary.
For example, think about a simple past lesson with examples:
Yesterday, I went to the the park.
Yesterday, I went to the tanning salon.
Clearly, the students would not understand tanning salon, and the point of the example would be lost. This concept should also apply to gerunds and infinitives.
Due to this, I have cut down my list of verbs and have found more success.
Here is the new list, which really only has verbs that intermediate students already know.
Verbs Followed by Gerunds
avoid
can’t help
complete
discuss
dislike
|
don’t mind
enjoy
finish
keep
miss
|
practice
quit
recommend
understand
|
Verbs Followed by Infinitives
agree
ask
choose
decide
fail
|
happen
hope
know how
learn
prepare
|
promise
volunteer
wait
want
wish
|
Verbs Followed by Both
begin
can’t stand
continue
expect
forget
|
go
hate
like
love
plan
|
prefer
remember
start
stop
try
|
Gerunds and Infinitives
Gerunds and Infinitives Test
Gerunds and Infinitives Test
Gerunds and Infinitives Test
