Learning English

Love, like, hope…

In her vlog, Sunny used a lot of different verbs like try, enjoy, hate, hope and like. But what came after them? How much can you remember?

In this game, you’re going to match the beginnings and endings of her sentences.

试试这个练习

Good job! Now let's look at those sentences more closely.

Grammar

In all the sentences, the first verb was followed by either:

• A gerund (base verb-ing: looking, singing, swimming)
• An infinitive with 'to' (to + base verb: to study, to be)

Gerunds and infinitives can be confusing in English, because they look like verbs, but they sometimes work like nouns. Some learners of English find it difficult to decide when to use a gerund after a verb, and when to use an infinitive with 'to'.

So, which should you use, and when? Don't worry, you're going to find out in this unit. We'll start with a counting exercise. Have another look at Sunny's vlog (or read the transcript) and answer these questions:

• How many verbs followed by gerunds are there? (example: tried looking)
• How many verbs followed by infinitives are there? (example: decided to study)

Transcript

My name's Sunny – I'm from China.

Hi! So… I'm looking for a job. The problem is, I don't know what to do – and I've tried looking everywhere. So… my career advisor told me to think about what I like doing.

I love dancing… I really, really, really like travelling. I enjoy singing and performing… I guess that's why I decided to study drama at university…

Keeping fit! I always try to keep fit, though I hate swimming! I suppose I just hate to be bored. I even tried to learn juggling and ukulele.

I hope to be famous one day! But for now – I need a job. What do you guys think I should do? Message me!

Next

So, Sunny used seven verb-gerund combinations:

tried looking
like doing
love dancing
like travelling
enjoy singing and performing
hate swimming
learn juggling

She used five verb-infinitive combinations:  

decided to study
try to keep
hate to be
tried to learn
hope to be

More on that in session 2. Now, it's time for 6 Minute Vocabulary. Neil and Sophie take a good look at some of the suffixes we use in job names, like actor, politician and receptionist.