Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Yu_Bum_suk]

"A new variation among American baseball players is to bump elbows with teammates, and american football players have taken to bumping their helments."

Why in the second clause of the sentence is it not 'to bump their...'?

I understand why it 'sounds' right, but how would you explain it to Koreans?

[RACETRAITOR]

[CoDeReBeL]

Any time you "take to" doing something, you take to doING it. You never, for instance, "take to drink beer," or "take to walk a lot." You "take to drinking beer," or you "take to walking a lot." You can UNDERtake to drink beer or undertake to walk a lot, but if it's just take you're gonna need the "ing" at the end of the verb. Don't ask me why. I didn't invent the language, and I'll be the first to admit that English is pretty much all fucked up.

[Fat_Elvis]

My guess is it's a gerund phrase, because an action is the object of the clause. It's similar to start +ing

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Thanks - and sorry for posting this in the wrong forum. Feel free to move it, mods.

[yawarakaijin]

double post

[yawarakaijin]

The way I see it is that "taken to" is a phrasal verb. While it is in fact a verb the prepostion part retains its...hmmmm prepositioness and therefor needs to be followed by a noun. The phrasal verb in question needs an object and therefore a gerund is used in place of a proper noun.

Try it you will see. Some phrasal verbs, like some regular verbs require an object. In lieu of a proper noun the gerund is used. We all know gerunds can be nouns right?

Phrasal verb. They put off go to the party. (X)
They put off going to the party. (correct)



This also throws many students into confusion as in most cases when you have a verb plus an infinitive it is generally understood that the infinitive happens after the main verb.

example: I want to go to the party. First you want then you go

Gerunds are typcially taken as having happened first.

example. I enjoyed watching the movie
First you watched the movie then you were able to say you enjoyed it.

Phrasal verbs throw this general rule of thumb into dissaray.

example I look forward to meeting you.

Obvioulsy you are "looking forward to" before you actually "meet". This messes up a lot of students. I just explain that the prepostion (particle) of the phrasal verb requires a noun to follow and therefore the gerund is used instead. You can easily illustrate to them how " I am looking forward to to meet you is incorrect.

So long answer short, hehe. Phrasal verbs need to be followed by the gerund. There's the rub. How do students know if its a regular verb followed by a prepostion or if the verb and preposition have come together to form a phrasal verb. That's another lesson. [quote