English Podcast · Episode 4 · May 16, 2019

Gerunds and infinitives, and swimming vocabulary

This week I chat to Jane about open water swimming all over the world, from Italy to Turkey to the Indian Ocean. We talk about jellyfish, swimming with 1600 other people, and what to do if you turn blue! The grammar point is gerunds and infinitives. Why do we say “I want to do”, but “I enjoy doing”?

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Swimming Vocabulary
Two people recording a podcast with headphones and microphones

Gerunds and infinitives, and swimming vocabulary

This week I chat to Jane about open water swimming all over the world, from Italy to Turkey to the Indian Ocean. We talk about jellyfish, swimming with 1600 other people, and what to do if you turn blue! The grammar point is gerunds and infinitives. Why do we say “I want to do”, but “I enjoy doing”?

Listen to this episode

The scripts

To get on board – Is everyone on board with this idea?

Definition: In agreement   with;   ready  or  willing  to  participate.

A jellyfish

To sting (sting-stung-stung)

A nettle (a type of stinging plant)

A reef (e.g. a coral reef)

Gerund or Infinitive?

Gerund (-ing):

I enjoy swimming
Do you feel like going out later?
I finished working at 6pm

Infinitive:

I want to go
I hope to see her next year
I decided to go for a swim

Gerund OR infinitive with no difference

I prefer swimming / to swim
I like to swim at the weekend / I like swimming at the weekend

Gerund OR infinitive with a difference

I remembered to get some milk (= I didn’t forget)
I remember getting my first bike when I was a child (this is one of my memories from the past)

I stopped smoking

I stopped to smoke

Always -ing after a preposition

I’m thinking of going out
I’m interested in doing that

Music, as always, provided by NouveauNoise.

Listen to all episodes of the Everest podcast here.

Glossary

Eleven words and phrases.

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  • to get on board — to agree with an idea and be willing to take part in it
  • a jellyfish — a soft sea animal with long tentacles that can sting you
  • to sting — to hurt your skin with a sharp burning pain, the way a jellyfish or a nettle does
  • a nettle — a wild plant whose leaves sting your skin when you touch them
  • a reef — a ridge of rock or coral just under the surface of the sea
  • a gerund — the -ing form of a verb used as a noun: I enjoy swimming
  • an infinitive — the to form of a verb: I want to go
  • to remember to do something — not to forget to do it
  • to remember doing something — to have a memory of having done it
  • to stop doing something — to end an activity you were doing
  • to stop to do something — to pause in order to do something else

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