Verbs
+ ing

Presentation

The things you love doing!!

Spare time is for many of us an opportunity to do the things we love. It is worth to use our free time to do the activities you really enjoy doing. Talking about the things you like doing is one of the most common ways of getting people to know you. So it is essential for you to be able to use the appropriate vocabulary and structure to communicate with others.

With this topic, you are going to practice the verbs that are followed by a gerund to talk about the things you like doing.

Objective
By the end of this topic, you will

  • Be able to express your preferences or dislikes using like, love, hate, enjoy, find, dislike proceeding from the ending –ing. In this way, you will become familiar with the preferences and hobbies of people who live in English-speaking countries and compare them with your own.

As we mentioned before, expressing likes and dislikes requires specific construction. You can use either doing (gerund) or to do (infinitive) after the verbs: like, hate, prefer or dislike.

We use the gerund if you refer to an experience which is part of your life already. Whereas, you use an infinitive if it is an experience you would rather have if you had had the option.

In this lesson, you will first learn the vocabulary used to talk about things you prefer or not like doing in your free time.

You will see in the following video how the lady uses both. This video allows you to know that when you want people to know about, you have to include the things you like doing and why is it that you enjoy them so much.

Rouse, C. (2009). Things I love doing in my two minutes of spare time. Princeton Campus Life. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oun5vqax1I0. [Accessed 18 Oct. 2016]

Let’s get started!!!

To begin with, you will need some vocabulary to talk about the things you love doing. Here you will get the chance to identify the meaning of verbs that will help you along with the topic.

Exercise 1
Get familiar with the verbs

Knowing that using gerunds is important, you need to match the following verbs to their meanings.

Exercise 2
Great work so far!

Now you will be able to focus on the verbs that are always followed by a gerund. This will help you to share with others information about the things you really love or loathe doing.

From the following verbs there are 13 of them which can’t be followed by a gerund. Select the ones you consider or have heard they can take a verb with –ing and drag it to the -ing basket to see if you are correct.

Let's use the vocabulary you just worked with!

Now that you have the vocabulary you will know what you need to take into account for this the structure.

Nancy
subject +

loves
verb +

swimming
gerund

You will remember how to make gerunds, so pay attention to the following video.

One more little detail that we have to pay attention to. How to make gerunds! Remember the rule? And the exception?

Check the following presentation on the rules about gerund spelling.

They will make your life much easier!!!

  • General Rule

    The general rule when changing a verb into its gerund form is only to add -ing:

    • watch  -  watching
    • sleep  -  sleeping

    Example:

    • My sister loves watching movies, I’m sure she’ll come with us.
    • Natalie can’t bear sleeping late, she probably fall asleep already.
  • Exception 1

    If the verb ends in an E we remove the E and add –ing.

    • Come - Coming
    • Arrive - Arriving

    Example:

    • Denisse hates coming early to work, that’s why she has the second shift.
    • I prefer arriving home earlier than when it’s already dark.
  • Exception 2

    If the verb ends in a consonant + vowel + consonant, we double the final consonant and add -ing.

    • Get   -  Getting

    Example:

    • I don’t mind getting there late, don’t worry, finish your meal.

Exercise 3
Let's practice

Now you're ready! Let's practice with gerunds. Try the following exercises.

Exercise 4
Scrambled Sentences

Let's see if you remember the correct order.


Reading

Activity 1

People who love spending time with their pets

Among all the activities people love doing there is one that might not be only a hobby but a life lesson.
Read the following statement and state if you agree or not with it.

“Having a pet helps people to develop empathy.”

Think about these situations:



Reading

Activity 2

Reading about it

Now you will read the following article.

Only a hobby? Or a life lesson as well?

Click here to see the text.

German Shepherd

Marcus, Y. (2017). Pastor Alemán. Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/es/pastor-alem%C3%A1n-cabeza-perro-idioma-2039840/

Your experience

Do you still think in the same manner as in activity 1?
Write a 30 to 40 word- paragraph with your answer.

Would you adopt a pet and treat it like a member of your family?

Do you like or dislike dogs?


Listening

Activity 3

Are you ready to listen to things people love doing?

You should know, there are many kids, teens and even adults who share information about themselves on the net through blogs or web pages. You can find many videos about the things they do in their spare time.

Men

Listen to a guy talking about what successful people like doing. Choose True or False according to what you hear.

Listening what people share:





Writing

Activity 4

Thinking for writing

Pretend you are going to upload your own video to a web page about the 5 top activities you love doing. You need to follow these tips to write what you would like to say in the video.

Tip #1 Brainstorm.

Write the 10 top activities you like doing. You must use:

  • Different verbs to express your likes and dislikes.
  • The verb + ing structure.

Tip #2 Now, put your ideas in order.

Choose the five that you would say are your top 5. Do not forget to include 3 keywords of why do you like them so much. Try to use the vocabulary you have learned in the lesson.

Tip #3 Your five top!

Write at least 5 paragraphs, each of them has to contain the following elements:

  • The sentence that expresses what you like doing.
  • The explanation of why you want it, using the keywords you wrote.
  • The length should be between 30 to 40 words.

Once you finished, evaluate yourself using the checklist. You have to select the correspondent degree of achievement, according to your accurate perception. At the end of the activity, you can check your score.


Speaking

Activity 5

Reading some facts

For some people, the key to success in business is doing what they really love.

Read the article 4 myths about doing what you love for work.

Analyze each myth and for each of them record the following aspects.

  • Explain if you agree or not with it.
  • Mention if you have heard about it (include from who and what did the person mention)
  • Your personal opinion about the myths.

Use the following link to do your recording. Save it, you will use it in the next activity.




happy

Marcus, Y. (2017). Pastor Alemán. Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/es/pastor-alem%C3%A1n-cabeza-perro-idioma-2039840/

Self-assessment

Correct gerund

Now you will get the chance to see if you are using the gerund correctly.

Complete each sentence with a verb from the box that best suits the context. Remember to use the gerund (-ing) appropriately.

References

Basic references

  1. Perfect English Grammar.com gerunds and infinitives [online] Available at: https://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/gerund-vs-infinitive-practice
  2. Guide: to Grammar and Writing. Available at: https://guidetogrammar.org/grammar/index.htm
  3. uOttawa. Available at: https://arts.uottawa.ca/writingcentre/en/hypergrammar
  4. Grammar Bites. Available at: https://www.chompchomp.com/menu.htm