Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Dawn]

So, I made the mistake of introducing infinitive phrases to my TOEFL-prep class tonight and, in return, got hit with a question that two degrees in English didn't equip me to answer:

Why is it that some verbs in English require a gerund as an object, others require an infinitive, and still others can use either one?

For example ...

She enjoys swimming.
He wants to walk.
She likes walking.
He likes to walk.

Standard English usage requires a gerund in the first sentence, requires an infinitive in the second, and permits either in the third and fourth. One of my Korean co-workers said he had been taught that object choice depended on verb tense, but the four examples above all make use of the same verb tense, so that explanation doesn't seem to jive.

[the_beaver]

Had a discussion about this with my boss just the other day. Same thing I told here:

Language isn't science and even at it best grammar is just a bunch of ideas which point at common occurances in a language but don't cover everything.

[Ekuboko]

The answer you want is "JUST BECAUSE".
I have never been afraid to tell grammar-anal students (searching for concrete explanations) this, regardless of what they may have been taught!

Some verbs take a gerund and some an infinitive.
Some take both - which may or may not change the meaning: -

She enjoys swimming
enjoy + gerund

He wants to walk
want + inf

He likes to walk
He likes walking
like + inf / ger (same meaning)

He stopped to smoke
He stopped smoking
stop + inf
stop + ger
(meaning changes)

[Dawn]

[redbird]

And, we sometimes even cut the verb off after "to":

"Why is he going to Korea?" "Because he wants to."

I've looked at language grammars as one of my hobbies and I doubt there are many other non-Germanic languages that do something similar. Sadly for non-native speakers who have an aptitude for grammar, English is a language that abhors simple rules (like rational spelling, for instance). The good thing about English is that its chaos makes it easy for words and phrases from other languages to enter English.

I have a lot of respect for a non-native speaker who can actually master English.

[Badmojo]

[globalnomad]

As to WHY the rule is like it is..."Just because"(though I believe it comes from Middle English when declensions were used in English)...but I think the important thing to point out, and you can find lists of these verbs, is to point out the verbs that ONLY take an infinitive...or...ONLY a gerund....those that accept "Both" and the meaning of the sentence stays the same...and there is a list of Verbs that accept "Both"....but the meaning of the sentence changes with the use of the infinite vs use of the gerund.

In Adv. Composition classes it's worth pointing out the use of the gerund as a "Subject" vs "Direct object" and the advantages and reasons for doing so. And for TOEFL purposes how use of the gerund or infinitive MUST agreed if more than one is used in the same sentence.

[Che]

Verbs such as like, love,hate and prefer can be followed either by a to-infinitive clause or by an -ing clause......

She likes/loves/hates to give parties.
giving parties.
partying.
While other verbs (enjoy,dislike, and loathe only take -ing clauses :
He enjoys/dislikes /loathes partying.
Leech & Svartvik "A Communicative Grammar of English."

[gypsyfish]

There are rules; we just don't know or take time to learn them (or look them up).

See Practical English Usage by Michael Swan pages 283 - 287.

If you teach TOEFL, you need this, or some other grammar, book.
Second time tonight I've recommended this book.

[tomato]

Hello, Dawn!

Bolinger might be of help to you. He tells us that the infinitive tends to express something "hypothetical, future, unfulfilled," whereas the gerund tends to express something "real, vivid, fulfilled."

If you "remember to lock the door," you remembered first and then locked. If you "remembered locking the door," you locked first and then remembered.

If you "stopped to smoke," you paused in your daily schedule and took a smoke break. If you "stopped smoking," you smoked first and then kicked the habit.

If you "tried to close the window," you were unable to close the window because it was stuck. If you "tried closing the window," you closed the window, but the room was still cold.

If you "started to read a book," you were probably interrupted by a phone call. If you "started reading a book," you most likely finished reading it.

There is only a shade of meaning between "I like to camp" and "I like camping," but the first has a more remote connotation.

(Bolinger 1968 quoted in C-M & L-F 1983, 434-436)

Kartunnen might also be of some help. He speaks of positive implicative verbs and negative implicative verbs. Examples of the former are manage, get, remember, hasten, bother, venture, condescend, and happen. Examples of the latter are fail, forget, neglect, and decline.

Here, the double negative rule applies. With the positive verbs, a single positive ("I managed to get the loan.") is fortunate. A single negative ("I didn't get to go on the trip.") is unfortunate. With the negative verbs, a single negative ("I failed to get the job") is unfortunate, whereas a double negative ("I didn't forget to turn out the lights.") is fortunate.

I could also add have as a negative implicative verb. Whether you "get to go to Fukuoka" or "have to go to Fukuoka" depends on how you feel about visa runs.

There are Kartunnen's rule. "I wanted to go to Europe" and "I tried to lose weight" use positive implicative verbs, but they imply unfulfillment. There are also at least two negative implicative verbs which take gerunds: avoid and refrain from.

(Kartunnen 1971 quoted in C-M & L-F 1983, 438)

Ilana Graff has another goodie. She notices that optimistic verbs tend to take the infinitive, whereas pessimistic verbs tend to take the gerund. Examples of the former are hope, want, like, and love. Examples of the latter are dislike, avoid, hate, and deny.

I realize that this may seem to contradict Kartunnen's rule, so you might have to do some thinking to reconcile the two.

(quoted in C-M & L-F 1983, 441 with no bibliographic reference. Apparently a friend of theirs.)

I realize that this doesn't cover all the bases, but I hope it's enough to get your students through TOEIC.

Lucky I held onto my advanced grammar textbook!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bolinger, D. 1968. Entailment and the meaning of structures. Glossa 2:2, 119-127.

Celce-Murecia, M. & Larsen-Freeman, D. 1983. The grammar book: An ESL/EFL teacher's course. Booston: Heinle & Heinle.

Kartunnen, L. 1971. Implicative verbs. Language 47:2, 340-358.

[tomato]

In that class, each of us had a foreign student as a pen pal whom we were all to meet at a party at the end of the semester. After every class, we read letters from our pen pals and wrote letters in return.

After writing my letter, I went up to the professor and said, "My pen pal says, 'I'm looking forward to meet you.' Why is that wrong?"

The professor said, "Aha! You tell me!"

Here is it, five years later, and after reviewing the chapter, I still don't know.

Can anyone help me?

[Badmojo]

[agraham]

Something like "I'm looking forward to to ski"?
Well if you google for "i'm looking forward to to" all you get is mistakes. I think that construction is just too akward to arise.

[hypnotist]

[Badmojo]