EFLshorts

1. There are a number of verbs such as ‘love‘, ‘hate‘, ‘admit‘, ‘stop‘, keep (on)’, ‘begin‘, ‘start‘ and ‘finish‘ that can be followed by a gerund (= verb+ing). For example, at the end of an exam, you might hear this: ‘Stop writing and put your pencils down.‘ In this example, the verb ‘stop‘ is followed by the gerund ‘writing‘.

2. Look at this extract from The Cook (Chapter 9) and find the ‘verb + gerund’ phrases in it.

That night, she found it difficult to sleep. She kept thinking about Billy Pugman. ‘Did it work?’ she kept wondering. ‘Did I use enough of my formula? ’ Finally, the morning came and she got up early and went to the school.

3. Look at these sentences and choose an appropriate gerund from the list to complete them.

going    driving    practising    forgetting    doing    making    

a. “Have you finished ______ your homework?”   “Not yet – I still have three pages to read.”

b. Stop ______ mistakes and concentrate!

c. I love ______ to the cinema, but it’s quite expensive these days.

d. I’m sorry. I keep ______ your name. What is it again?

e. I hate ______ in rush hour traffic  – it’s really stressful.

f. She loves ______ her English – that’s why she learns words quickly.