I began teaching almost thirty years ago because I love helping people develop the knowledge and skills they need to enjoy happy, healthy, and productive lives.
As an EFL teacher, I enjoy helping my students achieve the English language goals they have set for themselves – whether they would like to gain employment in an English-speaking company, enter an English-speaking university, or simply achieve a specific CEFR level.
I want my students to feel empowered by their learning and use of English – to know that they can accomplish whatever they wish with dedication and proper training.
My classroom is student-centered. I believe students learn best through exposure to real-world materials and interactions with others. My job is to facilitate their learning by providing the proper resources, experiences, and feedback on their progress.
My classroom is a safe environment. I work to create genuine rapport with my students through my easygoing and supportive personality. I don’t want my students to be afraid of making mistakes because mistakes are part of the learning process. I want my students to feel confident and to challenge themselves beyond what they think they can achieve.
I bring into the EFL classroom many years of experience teaching a variety of learners with diverse backgrounds, including learners with disabilities. I also have a great deal of expertise teaching with technology, preparing learners for testing, and making learning interesting and fun – especially learning grammar.
In the musical “The Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man are on a journey to the Emerald City to see the Wizard. Along the way, they enter a dark forest. Dorothy asks about the wild animals they might meet, and the Tin Man informs them that they might meet lions, tigers, and bears. Dorothy responds, “Lions and tigers and bears, Oh my!” They begin skipping through the forest, repeating Dorothy’s phrase. Suddenly, they encounter a lion.
Nothing sounds scarier to non-native users of English than the three words participles, gerunds, and infinitives. We call them “verbals.” They look like verbs, but they aren’t verbs. Yes, they can be tricky, which can make them a little scary, but in this post, we will discover that they aren’t as scary as they seem. Just as Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man were at first afraid of the lion, once they got to know him, they discovered he wasn’t so scary after all. He was actually a big coward. So let’s get to know these lions and tigers and bears of grammar, shall we?
Participles
In English, we have the present participle and the past participle. These are parts of verbs. You learn these when you learn the principle parts of verbs. For example, let’s take the verb “to inspire.” This verb means to fill someone with the ability to feel something or the desire to do something, especially something creative.
The principle parts of this verb are as follows: Present: inspire(s) Present participle: inspiring Past: inspired Past participle: inspired
We use the present participle to create the continuing tenses with the auxiliary verb “to be.” For example, “His words are inspiring me to change my life” (present continuing tense). We use the past participle to create the perfect tenses with the auxiliary verb, “to have.” For example, “His words have inspired me to change my life” (present perfect tense).
The present and past participles are used for more than just creating these verb tenses. They are also used all by themselves as adjectives.
The present participle – characteristics
The present participle is used to create adjectives that describe the characteristics of a person, place or thing. I can use the word “inspiring” to describe a movie I saw. For example, “The NeverEnding Story was a very inspiring movie.”
Now, it’s your turn. What person, place, or thing did you find inspiring?
The past participle – feelings
The past participle is used to create adjectives that describe a person’s feelings. I can use the word “inspired” to describe how I felt about the movie. For example, “After I watched The NeverEnding Story, I felt inspired to read more books.”
It’s your turn again. How did that inspiring person, place, or thing make you feel?
Gerunds
Gerunds are a special type of present participle that act as nouns. Examples of gerunds include walking, swimming, running, studying, drinking, and sleeping. As you can see, they are all words that express things people do – or activities. An activity is a noun. Gerunds name activities; therefore, gerunds are nouns.
Gerunds can be used by themselves. For example, “Swimming is my favorite form of exercise.” Gerunds can also begin noun phrases. For example, “Swimming in the river is my favorite form of exercise.” Now, the gerund is followed by “in the river” – an adverb prepositional phrase telling “where.” The gerund plus the prepositional phrase that follows it makes a gerund phrase. In these two examples, the gerund or gerund phrase is the subject of the sentence.
Okay, it’s your turn! What is your favorite form of exercise? Where do you like to exercise?
Gerunds and gerund phrases can also function as objects in sentences. For example, “I like swimming” and “I like swimming in the river.” Give it a try! What do you like doing? Where?
In addition, gerunds are often used as the objects of prepositions, such as in this sentence: “I like to wear shorts and a tank top for swimming.” What do you like to wear for your favorite activities?
What can be tricky is that sometimes a gerund can look like part of a continuing tense verb. Check out this sentence: “Your favorite hobby is reading.” The two words “is reading” look like the present progressive tense, doesn’t it? But is the word “reading” part of an action word, or is the word “reading” simply naming an activity?
Is your favorite hobby off reading somewhere? No, of course it’s not. Hobbies can’t read.
Infinitives
Infinitives are the root form of a verb preceded by the word “to.” Examples of infinitives are as follows: to run, to stop, to swim, to eat, to sleep, and to walk. Infinitives can function as adjectives, adverbs, or nouns. They can work alone or in phrases. Some examples follow.
“I have things to do.” The infinitive is an adjective describing the noun “things.” “I went home to get my passport.” The infinitive phrase is an adverb telling why. “I planned to go on a picnic, but it rained.” The infinitive phrase is a noun (the direct object).
Do I use a gerund or an infinitive?
This is the trickiest part when it comes to gerunds and infinitives. There are rules to follow (“to follow” is an infinitive functioning as an adjective 😊).
Use gerunds as subjects. Infinitives aren’t used as subjects very often – especially in verbal language. You might see them used as subjects in formal writing or in poetry. For example, in his play Hamlet, Shakespeare wrote, “To be or not to be – that is the question.”
When using gerunds or infinitives as objects, the meaning changes with some verbs. “I stopped smoking” has a very different meaning from “I stopped to smoke.” The first expresses an action not happening anymore. The second expresses an action stopped to do something else. Below is a table containing more verbs that change meaning depending on whether a gerund or infinitive follows.
Table A: Verbs that change meaning
Some verbs are followed by infinitives. For example: “I needed usingto use the restroom, so I waited enteringto enter a stall.” Below is a table with more verbs usually followed by infinitives.
Table B: Verbs usually followed by an infinitive
Some verbs are followed by gerunds. For example: “You should consider to taketaking a break since you practiced to playplaying the piano for over an hour.” Below is a table with more verbs usually followed by gerunds.
Table C: Verbs usually followed by a gerund
Infinitives follow adjectives.
For example: “It’s not easy learningto learn a language.” Since “easy” is an adjective, an infinitive must follow. Here is another example: “John wasn’t tall enough reachingto reach the apple.” Since “tall” is an adjective (“enough” is an adverb modifying “tall”), an infinitive must follow.
Infinitives are used after certain verbs when a personal pronoun is the object.
For example: “We asked her givingto give us money.” Below is a table with more verbs followed by infinitives when a personal pronoun is the object.
Verbs that take an infinitive after an object pronoun
Use gerunds as objects of prepositions.
Gerunds are generally used as objectives of prepositions. For example: “He uses a cane for to walkwalking.” However, infinitives can be used after some prepositions. For example: “The show is about to start.”
Are you still scared?
I hope that this post has taken some of the scariness out of this tricky area of grammar. As with all areas of tricky English, the more you practice using participles, gerunds, and infinitives, the more comfortable you will feel. The charts in this post do not include all of the verbs in the English language that belong in each category. You will learn additional verbs for each as you become more experienced with the English language. Remember that learning another language is a journey. Try to relax and enjoy it!
This is one of the trickiest homophone trios in the English language. It’s so tricky that even English speakers with high levels of education mess this up. Wouldn’t you like to know better grammar than even some native English speakers with high levels of education?
Check out this video!
For more practice with this tricky homophone trio, check out my Darts Quiz.
Don’t worry – British English and American English are very similar. There may be many variations in vocabulary and idiomatic expressions, but there are only a few differences in structure and spelling rules. Being familiar with these differences can keep you from getting tripped up, especially when you take a listening test. In this post, we will take a look at some of main differences between the two.
Present perfect
The British use the present perfect to refer to past actions related to the present. Americans use the past tense. For example, the British will say, “She’s just gone to the store” whereas Americans will say, “She just went to the store.” The British will say, “Have you finished your homework yet,” but Americans will say, “Did you finish your homework yet?”
Got and gotten
For the British, the past participle of “to get” is “got.” For Americans, it’s “gotten.” For instance, the British will say, “He’s got taller,” but Americans will say, “He’s gotten taller.” However, Americans will use “got” instead of “gotten” when they are talking about something needed. They will say, “I’ve got to get some cash,” but the “got to” sounds like “GOT-ta.”
Collective nouns
The British freely treat collective nouns as either singular or plural, but they are commonly treated as plural. For Americans, it depends on the context. For example, the British will say, “The team are in the championship.” Americans will say, “The team is in the championship.” In this context, they would think of “team” as a single unit. In contrast, Americans will say, “The team are having physicals today.” In this context, they would think of “team” as plural because each team member is getting a physical.
Have and take
The British use the word “have” with nouns related to washing and resting. Americans use the word “take.” For example, The British will say, “I’m going to have a shower,” but Americans will say, “I’m going to take a shower.” The British will say, “Let’s have a break,” but Americans will say, “Let’s take a break.”
Shall
The British use the word “shall” to offer to do something. Americans rarely use “shall.” They use a phrase like “Do you want me to ….” For instance, the British will say, “Are you cold? Shall I close the window?” Americans will say, “Are you cold? Do you want me to close the window?” The British also use “shall” to make a suggestion, but Americans will say, “How about … instead?” For example, The British will say, “It’s raining. Shall we have the picnic indoors?” Americans will say, “It’s raining. How about having the picnic indoors instead?”
Spelling
There are a few key differences in spelling. First, words that end in “-or” in American English often end in “-our” in British English (color and colour). Next, words that end in “-er” in American English often end in “-re” in British English (center and centre). Finally, words that end in “-ize” in American English might be spelled the same way in British English or with “-ise” instead (realize or realise).
Welcome to my first Tricky English Post. One of my biggest grammar pet peeves is when people use apostrophes when an apostrophe is not needed. If English is not your native language, and you find apostrophes confusing, you are not alone! I have often seen well-educated native speakers of English misuse apostrophes.
It’s Tricky English!
Check out the video to learn more about this common mistake and how to avoid it.
Acorn Test Prep 