Are there lots of gossip around your office? Does Mr. or Ms. Nosy always talk about you? How can you get rid of him/her? Well, I don’t have answers to them.
Yet, what I have is to discuss grammar with you regarding gossiping. In other words, gossiping can help you learn spokenEnglish. How? Read the following sentences:
a. I don’t like speaking behind Mr. Nosy’s back.
b. I don’t like to speakbehind Mr. Nosy’s back.
b. I don’t like to speakbehind Mr. Nosy’s back.
The only difference between the two sentences is the words in blue. So the question is: ‘SPEAKING’ or ‘TO SPEAK’.
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There are two things to talk about here. First, concerning meaning, are they the same?
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‘I don’t like speaking …’ is much more general. What do I mean by ‘general’? Well, ‘I don’t like speaking…’ applies to everyone. That is, your boss, your senior and junior coworkers, and including YOU yourself.
Yet, ‘I don’t like to speak …’ is much much much less general that it is only about one person. Who is that person? You may make a guess. Three letters, not four. Which three? Y-O-U.
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So the Feel Good tips are:
When you say ‘I don’t like to speakbehind Mr. Nosy’s back’, you talk about how good you are. It is only about YOU.
When you say ‘I don’t like speaking behind Mr. Nosy’s back’, you refer to EVERYBODY in your office, which includes you.
(Which one is you?)
Picture sources
http://www.flickr.com/photos/76029035@N02/6829422155/sizes/m/in/photostream/
