Unggul & Gulö TEKNOSASTIK

Gerund and To Infinitive Volume 15 (1), 2017

An Analysis of Gerund and To Infinitive in Argumentative Essays

Grace Mekaria Unggul1, Ingatan Gulö2
[email protected], [email protected]
Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia1,2

Abstract
This article is about gerund and to infinitive usages made by students in their argumentative essays. The research
identified grammatical problems occurred in argumentative essays. The theories of Dulay about errors and Harmer
about grammar were used. The writers used taxonomies in classifying errors into four types which are omission,
addition, misformation and misordering. The method used was library research. In collecting the data, the
researchers used students’ papers taken from two classes of a university. The writers concluded that the most
common problem in using gerund and to infinitive is misformation. Students found it difficult to use gerunds and
to infinitives. It also showed that practice is needed to solve the grammatical problems faced by the students.
Key Words: gerund, grammatical problem, to infinitive.

Introduction
Learning English needs some skills and components that should be mastered. Among those skills, the
most difficult ones for students is mastering tenses and grammar. Grammar is important because people will not
be able to communicate and understand each other without it. According to Nasr, grammar is an important part of
any language. Just as there is no language without sounds (at least no live or oral language), so there is no language
without grammar (1985: 52). Based on this statement, grammar plays important rules when learning English. It
must be understood and mastered by learners in order to make a sentence or paragraph grammatical and thus
meaningful.
The functions of gerund are not only as a subject but also as object, complements, preposition object, and
some other cases usually found in both written and spoken forms. As important as gerund, to infinitives are also
used very often in sentences. The use of gerund and to infinitive should be understood by everyone who are studying
English.
Both gerund and to infinitive are introduced to students since they first learn English. In Indonesia English
is taught as a compulsory subject from schools up to even some semesters of college level. It is also possible that
children in kindergarten in this era of globalization are taught English. However, there are some difficulties or
problems faced by the students in using grammar even though they have been learning it for a quite long time. The
result of learning grammar is still considered unsatisfactory. It is thus inevitable for students who are learning
English to deepen their understanding on the use of gerunds and to infinitives.
In this research, the writers focused on one genre of writing which is argumentative essays. The essays
were made by students in the fifth semester in a university in 2016.

Theory and Method

According to Allen in Living English Structure, a gerund is defined as the part of the verbs that ends in –
ing which has the force of a noun as well as that of a verb. A gerund is the -ing form of a verb used in the same
way as a noun or pronoun (1991: 177). It can be used as subject, object, or complement. It carries different functions
from verbs in sentences. A participle looks the same with gerund in its form but it functions as adjective or verb
meanwhile a gerund functions as noun.
Gerunds have several rules in sentences. Points to pay attention to are:
1. A gerund is a verbal ending in -ing and is used as a noun.
2. A gerund phrase consists of a gerund plus modifier(s), object(s), and/or complement(s).
3. A gerund and gerund phrase virtually never require punctuation.
To infinitive consists of to and a verb in its simple form but doesn’t function as the main verb in the
sentence. The function of to infinitive according to Eastwood (1994: 147-156) in Oxford Guide to English Grammar
is as subject, as complement, and as modifier.

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Volume 15 (1), 2017 Gerund and To Infinitive

The researchers obtained the data source from both lecturer and students. The data sources were in form
of argumentative essays made by the students in fifth semester. After reading the data sources comprehensively,
the researchers underlined the sentences that contained gerunds and to infinitives. The next step is identifying the
mistakes found in those sentences. Having identified the problems, the researchers coded and classified the data
into relevant classification. After having the data classified, the writers analyzed them by focusing on the mistakes
made by the students. The last step of this research is drawing conclusion. The researchers concluded all the results
and prepared for the report.

Discussion
3.1 Omission
Omission occurs when there is an element omitted by the learners. Omission found by the writers cover
two main parts which are omission of gerunds and omission of to infinitives. Both are divided into three subtypes
which are (1) Letter Omission, (2) Word Omission, and (3) Suffix Omission. Three of them appear in sentences
used by the students in their papers. The case of omission can be seen below:

3.1.1 Letter Omission

Letters are important in their function to build a word. When a word is not in its correct form (not having
letters that are needed to construct it), readers will fail to refer to what the writer is talking about. Some of such
cases are found in the students’ papers. Their sentences are produced with incomplete letters. This occurs in writing
gerunds and to infinitives. However, for gerund case, the writers only found one letter omission in the papers. The
errors occurring the most are related to to infinitives. Letter omission of to infinitive and gerund can be seen below:

Student’s sentence Correct Sentence

She tring to fid the truth from one She was trying to find the truth from one
question to another questions, and it also question to another. It also happened when
happened when Emmet give question to Emmet gave a question to Sacrator. He
Sacrator, he give question and finally find gave question and finally found the truth.
the truth.

Omission that occurs in the sentences above implies two issues. First, the word tring is not in its right
form. Tring in sentence above refers to the word try that should be written trying. So, the case here is categorized
as letter omission of gerund. Trying in the datum functions as subject. Second, the word to fid in the table given
should be written to find. Letter n is omitted in that construction. It can be concluded, thus, that the sentence contains
letter omission of gerund and to infinitive.

4.1.2 Word Omission

As described by the data presented below, the words omitted from the constructions of either gerund and
to infinitive occurring in the papers that the researchers analyzed have something to do with the students’ awareness
of how to use gerund and to infinitive.

Student’s sentence Correct Sentence

In this topic, I interested try to criticize In this topic, I am interested in trying to
the Jokowi’s Program that was told in criticize Jokowi’s program that was
pre- General Election that was held in the introduced in his pre- General Election
end of 2014. campaign held in the end of 2014.

In the datum presented above, the student writing this sentence omitted preposition in before the verb try
and used the verb itself in its simple form. The word interested should be followed by in. Further, the verb try
should be in its present participle form trying. So, the correct sentence is In this topic, I am interested in trying to
criticize Jokowi’s program that was introduced in his pre- General Election campaign that was held in the end of
2014.
Another example related to this word omission is presented here below. The student who wrote this essay
omitted the verb be from the sentence, leaving the phrase to far away grammatically ill-formed. This implies two
possibilities. First, the writer might think that far is a verb. Second, the reason might has something to do with lack

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Gerund and To Infinitive Volume 15 (1), 2017

of knowledge on how to use to infinitives, especially in a nominal sentence like this. Either one, the writer omitted
the verb be from the sentence.

Student’s sentence Correct Sentence

One important thing that if we want to One important thing if we want to be far
far away from demons, we have to add away from demons is we have to increase
our faith in God. our faith in God.
From the data presented, it can be concluded that word omission occurring in the papers vary in forms.
This indicates that the students understanding and problems related to this notion also vary.

4.2 Addition
Addition errors occur when the students employ unnecessary elements in their sentences. The case of
addition is found a lot in the papers. The writers classified them into some subtypes.

4.2.1 Letter Addition

This sentence part below poses a case in which the writer added another letter to the word be. In general,
students do the same mistakes when typing or writing other words but in the case of gerund, the factor surely has
to do with knowledge of how to make -ing form of verbs.

Student’s sentence Correct Sentence

If we questioning, where is our God If we question where is our God when we
when we suffering or when we close to suffer or when we are close to being in
beeing danger, … danger, …

From the data analyzed, the researchers came to a conclusion that in addition to providing the students
with theoretical knowledge of gerunds and to infinitives, having them practice is also necessary.

4.2.2 Word Addition

Adding words without knowing the construction of a good sentence and the writer’s purpose will cause
grammatical errors. In the first datum shown below, the student inserted determiner the which makes the sentence
ungrammatical. Seen from the correct version of the sentence on the second column, the should be omitted in order
for the sentence to be correct. An additional correction is needed for the phrase as much as because the student is
talking about a countable noun. Thus, in the correction, the word much is changed to many.

Student’s sentence Correct Sentence

Then no problem in the collecting the There is no problem in collecting the
material as much as possible. materials as many as possible.

In the other sample provided below, the writer added auxiliary could between to and the verb understand.
This makes the sentence structurally incorrect. In the version made by the researchers could is not used, leaving
the phrase to understand alone. One might find it more acceptable to correct the clause by changing it into humans
need to be able to understand. This option is acceptable but as proven by the data obtained by the researchers, it is
quite complex for the students in this level to arrive at such application of grammatical notion.

Student’s sentence Correct Sentence

So that, the human need to could So, human beings need to understand God
understand about God and His words. and His words.

In the data collected by the researchers, there are many similar cases found like this. These data show that
in addition to other grammatical issues, students also need to focus on how to use gerunds and to infinitives.

4.2.3 Word and Letter Addition

Adding a letter to a word also causes error. In the datum presented below, for instance, some other mistakes
also occur other than letter addition.

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Student’s sentence Correct Sentence

From the questions, I strart want to From the questions, I start to explain
eksplain more about the arguments of more about the arguments of God
God based on Thomas Aquinas’s based on Thomas Aquinas’s Argument
argument and I will respon the and I will respond to the arguments.
arguments

The first addition, as being obvious from the datum is the presence of letter r between the first t and a in
the word start. It is possible that the word was just mistyped but another interesting issue follows in the word
explain. Looking at the word written by the student, letter x was replaced by letters k and s. From the perspective
of Bahasa Indonesia, the student’s linguistic background, both x and ks carry the same pronunciation. Thus, it is
linguistically possible that this letter addition or change from x to ks is contributed by the linguistic background.

4.3 Misformation
Grammatical problem that commonly happens in the data is misformation. This is related to structure and
form of verbs or words in sentences. The cases found by the writers cover misformation of gerunds and
misformation of to infinitives.

4.3.1 Misformation of Gerund

From the data presented here below, it can be seen that in addition to make mistake in the formation of
the verb, the student producing the sentence also made mistakes in some other grammatical notions. The first one
is related to the form of have which should be has and the second related to the phrase the excellent education.
There is also another issue related to the diction of the word create.

Student’s sentence Correct Sentence

So the government have to create good So, the government has to develop
human resources by make the excellent good human resources by making the
education. education excellent.

In relation to the gerund, the datum shows how the student used the verb make in an incorrect form. Instead
of using the present participle form, he used the simple form of the verb. From the data processed by the researchers,
there are a lot of cases like this. The students use verbs in their simple form after prepositions like by or about.

4.3.2 Misformation of To Infinitive

Misformation of to infinitives found by writers consists of several types. Cases occurring the most are
related to addition. The types are presented in the following sub points.

4.3.2.1 Verb Tenses

There are two examples presented here below in which different students made the same mistakes in
forming to infinitives. In the first, the student put marker of singular subject s in the end of the verb make. In the
second, the student added the same marker to the verb pass. These make the to infinitive phrases ill-formed. Here
the students were aware of the rule of having singular subjects but not with the exception for to infinitives.

Student’s sentence Correct Sentence

He didn’t wanted to makes his students He didn’t want to make his students get
get good score. good scores.

One of the tests that sometimes difficult One of the tests that is sometimes
to passes is grammar test. difficult to passes is grammar test.

Another mistake here interesting to discuss is the presence of past -ed in the end of the verb want in the
first datum. This might seem structurally acceptable but as the sentence is talking about a past event and that the
past tense has been shown by the auxiliary did, none should be needed for the verb.

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4.3.2.2 Using Nouns

The last part of addition found by the writers is the adding of -ion. This is one of suffixes used to derive
nouns from verbs. In this case, students need to understand that a to infinitive must be followed a verb. So, the verb
should not be changed into noun.

Student’s sentence Correct Sentence

Smart phone now are not used only to Smart phone now are used not only to
comunication but also to do other communicate but also to do other
activity. activities.

People need to know to operation People need to know how to operate

certain gadget or computer. certain gadgets or computers.

As seen above, the two examples contain nouns as if the phrases were to infinitives. In the revised versions
of the sentences, those nouns were changed into verbs, making the phrases to communicate and to operate
grammatically well-formed. In addition to this issue, the students also mistyped communication by omitting one m
and misplaced the adverb not before the verb in the first example. In the second, the words gadget and computer
lose their plural marker s.

4.3.3 Gerund Form (Addition of –ing)

To infinitive must be followed by verb one or verb in the simple form. However, the data the researchers
analyze, to infinitives are followed by present participle which is not grammatically acceptable. Here are the
examples:

Student’s sentence Correct Sentence

People have to understanding many People have to understand many things
things about this life. about this life.

Woman is also deserve to struggling Women also deserve to struggle for their
their rights in order to get betterment in rights in order to get respect and
their life and also respect. betterment in their life.

Those examples above employ present participles understanding and struggling as if they were acceptable
grammatically after the word to. In order for the sentences to be correct, to infinitive phrases like to understand
and to struggle should be employed. Seen from the second example, the writer also made mistake in the form of
woman which should be plural and the presence of is side by side with the verb deserve in simple form.

4.4 Misordering
Misordering refers to misplacement of a word in a sentence. In the data collected by the researchers,
students often misplaced words especially in the construction of to infinitive.

Student’s sentence Correct Sentence

He said that there is movement that must He said that there is movement that we
we to accept that the first mover which is must accept (understand) and that the first
God. mover is God.

In the sample above, there is misordering between must and we. The subject should be written in the
beginning, before to be or an auxiliary, except for interrogative sentences. In addition to this, the word to must be
omitted as it is not grammatical to use it in this type of sentence or phrase. So, instead of having must we to accept,
the phrase we must accept should be employed.

Conclusion
To conclude, the students producing sentences in the papers analyzed by the researchers have difficulties in
using gerunds or gerund phrases and to infinitives or to infinitive phrases. The level of understanding varies from

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Volume 15 (1), 2017 Gerund and To Infinitive

one student to another. Above all, this linguistic findings should be able to be contributive and used by teachers or
lecturers in order to improve students’ understanding or abilities in using gerunds and to infinitives. As implied in
the discussion, students’ linguistic backgrounds might play a very important role for this. So, is expected that this
will also contribute to the teaching of English as a foreign language.

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