I Had the Dream Job. I Hated It. — Gerunds & Infinitives (B1 Grammar)

B1 gerunds and infinitives

The Dream Job

PICTURE

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"It's easy to keep climbing. It's much harder to ask whether it's your ladder."

Gerunds after prepositions and certain verbs · infinitives after adjectives, for purpose and after certain verbs · *try / remember / stop*

Reading

Speaking

LEAD-IN

Finish the sentences

Complete honestly, then compare with a partner.

• I'm good at ____________ .

• I'm terrible at ____________ .

• I keep meaning to ____________ , but I never do.

PICTURE

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BEFORE YOU READ

Nine years up, eleven months out

Ines, 38, spent nine years becoming a partner at a top consulting firm — and eleven months trying to escape.

READ ONCE AND ANSWER

PICTURE

1. Why did Ines leave her job?

2. Does she regret it?

(you add this)

READING

"I had the dream job. I hated it."

Ines, 38, spent nine years becoming a partner at a top consulting firm — and eleven months trying to escape.

"Getting the promotion was supposed to be the happiest day of my career. I remember standing in my new office, looking at the glass and the view, and feeling absolutely nothing. I'd spent a decade learning to want this. Nobody teaches you to check whether you still do.

"The job itself was fine. I didn't mind working long hours, and I was good at managing difficult clients — better than I was at managing my own life. But I'd started avoiding the mirror in the lift. I kept telling myself that everyone feels like this, that it's normal to spend Sunday evening feeling sick about Monday. Then one day I heard myself advising a junior colleague not to make my choices. I recommended leaving. To her! I went home and couldn't stop thinking about it.

"My husband made me sit down and write two lists: things I'd miss, things I wouldn't. The first list had three items. Two of them were about money.

"So I resigned. My boss offered to double my bonus — I expected to feel tempted, but I didn't. My mother refused to speak to me for a week; she still enjoys telling people I'm 'on a break'. I retrained as a physiotherapist. It meant going back to college at 36, borrowing money at 36, being the oldest student in every room at 36.

"Do I earn less? Dramatically. Would I go back? Never. I stopped drinking coffee just to survive the afternoon. I sleep. Last month a patient walked without pain for the first time in two years and cried, and I remember thinking: nine years in consulting, and nobody ever cried with happiness.

"My advice? Try writing the two lists. It's easy to keep climbing. It's much harder to ask whether it's your ladder."

COMPREHENSION

True, false or not mentioned? (T / F / NM)

1. Ines felt euphoric on the day of her promotion. ______

2. She found the working hours themselves unbearable. ______

3. A conversation with a junior colleague was a turning point. ______

4. Her boss tried to keep her by offering more money. ______

5. Her husband also changed careers. ______

6. She now earns more than before. ______

GRAMMAR FOCUS

-ing or to?

a) Getting the promotion was supposed to be the happiest day of my career.

b) I was good at managing difficult clients. / I couldn't stop thinking about it.

c) I didn't mind working long hours. / I kept telling myself... / She enjoys telling people...

d) Nobody teaches you to check... / My boss offered to double my bonus.

e) It's easy to keep climbing. / I went back to college to retrain.

f) My husband made me sit down. / I advised her not to make my choices.

1. In (a), what form is the subject of the sentence? In (b), what form follows a preposition (at, about)?

2. Group these by what follows them: mind, keep, enjoy, stop → ________ ? teach someone, offer, expect, refuse, decide → ________ ?

3. In (e), which two uses of the to-infinitive do you see — after an ________ (easy), and to express ________ ?

4. In (f), is there a to after make and let? How do we make an infinitive negative?

5. Meaning changers: I stopped drinking coffee — did she pause in order to drink, or quit the habit? What would I stopped to drink coffee mean? And remember thinking vs remember to think?

THE RULES

Complete the rules

• Gerund (-ing): as the ________ of a sentence; after ________ (at, about, of, without); after verbs like enjoy, mind, keep, avoid, stop, suggest, give up.

• Infinitive with to: after ________ (easy, hard); for ________ (I went to college to retrain*); after verbs like want, decide, offer, expect, refuse, learn; after verb + ________ (advise someone to...). Negative: not to* + verb.

• Infinitive without to: after ________ verbs (can, must, should) and after make and let.

CAREFUL

Try / remember / stop change meaning: try writing* = experiment · try to write = attempt something difficult · remember locking = a memory · remember to lock* = don't forget.

PRACTICE

Circle the correct form.

1. She gave up to pretend / pretending she was happy.

2. It's important to ask / asking yourself the question early.

3. My manager doesn't let us to leave / leave before six.

4. I avoid to check / checking work emails at weekends. Mostly.

5. He pretended to be / being busy so he wouldn't have to help.

6. Try to write / writing the two lists — you might be surprised. (= experiment)

7. Did you remember to send / sending the resignation letter?!

8. I'll never forget to walk / walking out of that office for the last time.

SPEAKING

The two lists

Think of something in your life you could change: a job, a city, a habit, a routine. Tell your partner your two lists.

• Things I'd miss: I'd miss seeing...

• Things I wouldn't: I wouldn't miss having to...

• Also useful: I'm afraid of losing... · I'd finally be able to...

• Your partner decides whether you are actually going to do it — and tells you why.

PICTURE

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TEACHER'S REFERENCE · HIDE OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

GIST She reached the top of the career she had built and felt nothing; she realised it while advising a junior colleague not to copy her. She retrained as a physiotherapist. No regret — she would never go back.

COMPREHENSION 1 F (she felt nothing) · 2 F (she didn't mind the hours) · 3 T · 4 T · 5 NM · 6 F (dramatically less)

GRAMMAR FOCUS 1 A gerund as the subject; a gerund after prepositions. 2 mind, keep, enjoy, stop + gerund; teach sb, offer, expect, refuse, decide + to-infinitive. 3 After an adjective; to express purpose. 4 No to after make / let; negative = not to + verb. 5 stopped drinking = quit the habit (stopped to drink = paused in order to drink); remember thinking = a memory (remember to think = don't forget).

RULES subject · prepositions

adjectives · purpose · person

modal

PRACTICE 1 pretending

2 to ask

3 leave

4 checking

5 to be

6 writing

7 to send

8 walking