Which One: Gerund or infinitive?

Most verbs in English always take either the gerund or the infinitive. You need to learn which one is correct, and then always use that form. Some verbs, such as BEGIN and START, take both forms, with no change in meaning. These two verbs, REMEMBER and FORGET, belong to the group of verbs that can be followed by a gerund or an infinitive, but the meaning changes. You need to make sure you use the correct structure or you will end up saying something that you do not mean!

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Take a look at these examples, where the verbs are followed by the INFINITIVE:

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1. I forgot to take my front door key this morning and now I am locked out of my house.

2. I didn’t remember to take my key this morning and now I am locked out of my house. (note: in examples 1 and 2, the infinitive is ‘to take’.)

3. “Did you remember to water the plants before going on holiday? “

“No, I forgot to water them! They will be dead by the time I get home again!” (note: in example 3, the infinitive is ‘to water’.)

4. Fortunately, I remembered to pack an umbrella because it is raining now. (note: in example 4, the infinitive is ‘to pack’.)

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In examples 1 – 4, the actions in yellow highlight happened first, and the actions in green highlight happened second. So the order is:

.….1…. ….2….

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So the action in the INFINITIVE happens AFTER the act of remembering or forgetting.

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Now let’s look at how to use the verbs followed by the GERUND:

Teaching English Grammar Using English Songs

Src: Harmonimakna

If you work as a teacher and you need a new method to teach Tenses to your student, You can use a music to teach them. Here are the list of some songs that you will find it very useful resource. I got this from Songs For Teaching English Grammar on TEFLtunes


Songs for teaching present simple
Eric Clapton / Wonderful Tonight (lyrics)
The Beatles / She Loves You (lyrics)
Bette Middler / From A Distance (lyrics)


Songs for teaching present continuous
Fool's Garden / Lemon Tree (lyrics)
Rod Stewart / Sailing (lyrics)
Suzanne Vega / Tom's Diner (lyrics)


Songs for teaching past simple
The Beatles / Yellow Submarine (lyrics)
Gloria Gaynor / I Will Survive (lyrics)
Celine Dion / Because You Loved Me (lyrics)


Songs for teaching past continuous
John Lennon / Jealous Guy (lyrics)
Oasis / Champagne Supernova (lyrics)
Aerosmith / Cryin'

How To Teach Ordinal Numbers

What Students Need To Know About Ordinal Numbers

Obviously, the first things students need to know are the forms “first”, “second”, “third”, etc. In the rare cases when they already know some fractions, in can be useful to tell them that the ordinal numbers are almost the same (e.g. fifth/a fifth). They might also be aware of the use of ordinal numbers in dates without ever making the mental connection to other uses, or have seen the forms 1st, 2nd, etc without ever having thought about how to pronounce them.

Students who have no problem with “first” and “second” sometimes still say “twenty oneth” and “twenty twoth” for “twenty first” and “twenty second”, so it’s worth going up to at least 40th to show them the regular patterns and to cover everything they will need to understand dates. Other students might pronounce them correctly but try writing short forms like 31th and 42th.

When ordinal numbers are and aren’t used can be an issue, with the English use of ordinals in the names of kings and queens (e.g. Henry the Fifth) and dates not being true in many languages.

Ordinal numbers often take “the”. This ties in with the general meaning of “the”, as there is only one “the first person on Mars” and only one “the third time I went there”. “The” also helps distinguish the fraction “a fifth” from the position/date “the fifth”.

The most challenging thing about ordinal numbers is their pronunciation. Minimal pairs that could cause problems include: