An activity with gerunds and infinitives

I found a great activity on gerunds and infinitives. There is no good, easy rule your students can learn so they know when they must follow a verb by a gerund and when it must be followed by an infinitive.

For example:

I like water skiing.
I like to water ski.
"Like" can be followed directly with either a gerund or an infinitive.

I quit smoking.
I quit to smoke. XX - This is a verb that, if followed directly by a verb, must be followed by a gerund.
"Quit" can only be followed directly by a gerund.

She offered to bake a cake.
She offered baking a cake. XX
If "offer" is followed directly by a verb, it must be an infinitive.


If you want a good list of which verbs are followed by which, check out Profesor Moya's excellent book, units 12 and 13. --He does make an occasional mistake, but for the most part I like his book, it's jam-packed with info, exercises, lists. It's great reference material.

I just caught one of his mistakes. He has "forget" as one of the verbs that can only be followed directly with an infinitive. It can be followed by a gerund. However, this actually changes the meaning of the sentences. Compare:
I forgot to turn off the stove.
I forgot turning off the stove.


Activity

To start with, ask your students to give several examples each of gerunds and infinitives. Be sure your students know the difference between a gerund and a present participle first. Write down all the words on board (probably around 10-15). I have my private students give me 5 gerunds and 5 infinitives.

Next, ask them to make sentences with each word to introduce them to the application. When they are done, initiate open discussion in the class to review and rectify flaws.

When this hurdle is crossed and your students are familiar with the usage of the ten words, involve your students in sorting out the verbs according to their usage. Ask them to divide the words under three heads -

1. Verbs used with gerunds only
2. Verbs used with infinitives only
3. Verbs used with both gerunds and infinitives.

Assist your students' progress by adding new verbs in each category.

Repeat the whole course of action as many times as you like. Your students will benefit from this practical method of teaching Gerunds and Infinitives English.

It's suggested not to use this activity with groups of more than 10 students.

This is where I found the activity.