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Error Analysis Report
from
THE GOOFICON
A Repair Manual for English
Chapter 5.3: Problems with Infinitives and Gerunds (page 85-94)
by Marina K. Burt and Carol Kiparsky
reported by:
Ika Saraswaty Febianina
(A1B208050)
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
LAMBUNG MANGKURAT UNIVERSITY
2011
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PROBLEMS WITH INFINITIVES AND GERUNDS
1. Leaving Out the Subject
The subject of the embedded or subordinate clause can be omitted if it is a repetition of the subject of the first clause.
For example:
The club plans the club will have a movie Tuesday.
Since the second “the club” is repetitious, it is omitted. We can change the sentence above to infinitive form:
The club plans to have a movie Tuesday.
However, the students sometimes leave out the subject even when it is different from the subject in the main clause.
For example:
A.
There are two clauses:
1. I couldn’t walk yet after the baby was born.
2. The doctor didn’t want I would go home.
When they combine the two clauses above, they also omit the subject "I" and change it to infinitive form:
I couldn’t walk yet after the baby was born, so the doctor didn’t want to go home.
B.
There are two sentences:
1. Daddy has a lot of work.
2. Mother expects he will stay at his office late.
Students also leave the second subject “he” and change it to infinitive form:
Daddy has a lot of work. Mother expects to stay at his office.
In two cases above, students combine them without convey the meanings of the sentences. So, to avoid misunderstood sentences, the teacher can remind the students that only when the subject of an embedded sentence is the same as the subject of the main clause should it be omitted. So, the correct sentences:
A. I couldn’t walk yet after the baby was born, so the doctor didn’t want me to go home.
B. Daddy has a lot of work. Mother expects him to stay at his office.
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2. Misformations with Non-nominative Subjects
Students sometimes put a non-nominative subject together with an infinitive or gerund in a wrong formation.
For example:
1. Him to be so rich is unfair.
2. No one regrets them going away.
3. He voting that way was terrible.
Students often don’t know that the subject of an infinitive is preceded by for, and that the subject of a gerund is in the possessive form. Teacher must give the students the rule in using non-nominative subject together with an infinitive or gerund:
Subject predicate For him to be infinitive His voting gerund |
So, the correct sentences:
1. For him to be so rich is unfair.
2. No one regrets their going away.
3. His voting that way was terrible.
3. Misformations without Subjects
When the students make a sentence contains an infinitive without a subject, they tend to use no other inappropriate prepositions besides for.
For example:
1. It is impossible for to leave right now.
2. For to catch the bus, go to the next corner.
To avoid the errors above, students can be reminded that an infinitive without a subject is simply preceded by to. So, the correct sentences:
2
1. It is impossible to leave right now.
2. To catch the bus, go to the next corner.
4. Special Problems with LET, MAKE, FIND and HAVE
Students also have some problems in using the main verbs: make, let, have and find. They still use "to" as infinitive after the main verbs.
For example:
1. Why won’t you let me to go?
2. Taxes make people to be miserable.
3. The doctor can’t make her to be thin.
4. The vacuum cleaner makes easy to clean the house.
Teacher must remind the students to leave “to” in the sentences above (number 1, 2, and 3) and add “it” before the verb “makes” (number 4).
So, the correct sentences:
1. Why won’t you let me go?
2. Taxes make people miserable.
3. The doctor can’t make her thin.
4. The vacuum cleaner makes it easy to clean the house.
5. Snatched Subject as Subject of Main Clause
Infinitives also show up when the subject of the complement is snatched, or taken to fill the subject position in the sentence.
For example:
1. It is likely that the President will be reelected.
2. The President is likely to be reelected.
The second sentence (number 2) is the result of subject snatching. However, students don’t know that snatching is as limited as it is. They also apply it to predicates which look similar or have similar meanings.
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For example:
1. The door is strange to be unlocked.
2. He is unusual to have a new auto.
Teacher can remind the students that the subjects of the two sentences above are in wrong position. They also must insert “it”, whether it uses a “that” or an infinitive.
So, the correct sentences:
1. It is strange for the door to be unlocked.
2. It is unusual that he has a new auto.
6. Snatched Subject as Object of Main Clause
We can snatch subject as object like these sentences.
For example:
1. Someone asked a girl would play the piano.
2. Someone decided a girl would play the piano.
The word “a girl” in the two sentences above are the objects. However, one of the verbs can snatch “a girl” as its object while the other shouldn’t. We will know it when the sentences are put into the passive:
1. A girl was asked to play the piano.
2. A girl was decided to play piano.
We can conclude that the correct sentence is the first sentence. The second sentence is not correct. We can’t snatch the verb like “decide”. The lesson for students is to know which verbs can snatch like “ask”, and which can’t.
So, the correct sentence:
2. It was decided that a girl would play the piano.
7. Misformation of Gerunds after Prepositions
Students have three problems in using gerunds after prepositions.
Problem 1:
For example:
1. We plan on finish this today.
2. I laughed at to hear it.
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Teacher can remind the students that:
After prepositions, a complement takes the gerund form or a nominal form. |
So, the correct sentences:
1. We plan on finishing this today.
2. I laughed at hearing it.
Problem 2:
For example:
I prevented him to going with me.
When your advanced students begin using verbs that have a negative meaning, such as prevent, keep, prohibit, stop and discourage, they should learn that the only appropriate preposition to follow them is “from”.
So, the correct sentences:
I prevented him from going with me.
Problem 3:
For example:
I cannot prevent you from to do that, but I’m not responsible.
Teacher can remind the students that the rule for this sentence is same as above: after prepositions, verbs must appear in their gerund form.
So, the correct sentences:
I cannot prevent you from doing that, but I’m not responsible.
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