{"id":94,"date":"2013-02-27T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-27T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/monkeygrammar.org\/index.php\/2013\/02\/27\/gerund-or-infinitive-2\/"},"modified":"2020-04-15T14:36:55","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T14:36:55","slug":"gerund-or-infinitive-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/gerund-or-infinitive-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Gerund or Infinitive 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n

Is English your <\/span>mother tongue<\/span>? When you talk to your coworkers or friends, do you <\/span>speak fluently<\/span>? <\/span><\/span><\/b>Or, do they (who are foreigners) <\/span>understand what you say<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>
\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>If not, you probably have to know the difference between <\/span>two things<\/span>. <\/span>Which two? ‘<\/span><\/span><\/b>TO<\/span><\/span> versus<\/span> <\/span>ING’. <\/span>Still don’t get it? <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Read the two sentences: <\/span><\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

1<\/span>    <\/span><\/span>I have learned <\/span>to post<\/span> on Google+<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2<\/span>    <\/span><\/span>I have learned<\/span> posting<\/span> on <\/span><\/span>Google+<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Are they <\/span>the same<\/span>? <\/span>No<\/span>, they are not.  But the subtle (small, tiny) difference between 1 & 2 may <\/span><\/span>embarrass<\/span> you (in front of others), or <\/span>make your coworkers <\/span>misunderstand<\/span> you.<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\nWhat<\/span> are the <\/span>differences<\/span>? <\/span>One of the <\/span>big things<\/span> about people speaking English is that they want to know <\/span>if something is done <\/span>or <\/span>not<\/span>. <\/span>In other words, is the thing<\/span> done<\/span>?  Or is it still <\/span>ongoing<\/span>?<\/span><\/span>
\n
\n<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n<\/b><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
DONE<\/span> versus <\/span>ONGOING<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span>
\n(In some horrible terms of grammar, this is called <\/span>aspect<\/span>.) <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/b>
\n————————————————————————<\/span>
\nSo go back to sentence (1).  Can you tell <\/span>if the action<\/span> of \u2018to post\u2019 is <\/span>done<\/span>?  Or is it still <\/span>ongoing<\/span>? <\/span>Usually <\/span>when you use \u2018<\/span>to + verb<\/span>\u2019, it is about something to be done.  <\/span><\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/a>For example (<\/span>at your presentation<\/span>), you may say something like: <\/span>My aim is <\/span>to enhance<\/span> our corporate image<\/span><\/span>.<\/span>
\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u2018To<\/span> enhance\u2019 means something that is <\/span>not done<\/b><\/span>, and that you are <\/span>going to<\/span> enhance the corporate image.  <\/span>In other words, <\/span>when<\/span> are you going to enhance it?  In the future, right?  So the thing is <\/span>not done<\/span>.  <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n————————————————————————  <\/span>
\nYet, when you say \u2018I have learned <\/span>to post<\/span>\u2019, it is just the <\/span>opposite<\/span>. <\/span>It means that you have learned it <\/span>already<\/span>. <\/span>So you may make sentences such as:<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

I <\/span>have learned<\/span>  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>
\n to be <\/span> <\/span> <\/span>a CEO<\/span>
\n <\/span> <\/span> <\/span> <\/span>to manage<\/span> <\/span> my team members<\/span>
\n <\/span> <\/span> <\/span> <\/span>to play<\/span> <\/span> <\/span> office politics<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/b>
\nAll the above sentences show that<\/span> the actions<\/span> (to be, to manage, to play) <\/span>are done<\/span>.   <\/span>
\n<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

————————————————————————<\/span>
\nSo what about sentence (2), \u2018I have learned<\/span> posting<\/span> on Google+<\/span>\u2019? <\/span>Have you learned it or not? <\/span>Or is the action \u2018posting\u2019 <\/span>ongoing<\/span> or<\/span> done<\/span>? <\/span>To your surprise<\/span>, it is about something that is <\/span>still ongoing<\/span>.   <\/span>Although \u2018have learned\u2019 (<\/span>Present Perfect<\/span>) indicates that the action is done, this is only the<\/span> first <\/span>part of the story. <\/span>The <\/span>second<\/span> part of the story is \u2018<\/span>ING<\/span>\u2019.   <\/span>\u2018ING\u2019 means something is still <\/span>ongoing<\/span>, and the action is <\/span>not done<\/span>.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

———————————————-<\/span>
\nSo the <\/span>F<\/span>ee<\/span>l G<\/span>oo<\/span>d<\/span> tips are:<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. have learned  <\/span> <\/span>to + verb<\/span><\/span> <\/span> <\/span>= <\/span>DONE<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. have learned   verb+<\/span> i<\/span><\/span>n<\/span><\/span>g<\/span><\/span> <\/span>= <\/span>ONGOING<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \n<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

    \n<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

    \n<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

    \n<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

    \n<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

    Pic sources:<\/span><\/span>
    \nhttp:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/sarahdeephotography\/4148215487\/sizes\/m\/in\/photostream\/<\/span>
    \nhttp:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/eldh\/5858249526\/sizes\/q\/in\/photostream\/<\/span>
    \n
    \n<\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n

    \n<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    <\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Is English your mother tongue? When you talk to your coworkers or friends, do you speak fluently? Or, do they (who are foreigners) understand what you say. If not, you probably have to know the difference between two things. Which two? ‘TO versus ING’. Still don’t get it? Read the two sentences:  1    I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":704,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/FreeGreatPicture.com-28685-interesting-material-of-commerce.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":761,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions\/761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}