Something you are still carrying
Think of a decision you have not made yet. Not a large one, necessarily — a course, a move, a conversation you keep not having.
Hold it. First, the language people use while they are still deciding.
Eight expressions people use about decisions. Match each to what it actually says.
Two minutes of somebody deciding
Ana, three weeks after the offer
I keep putting off making a decision about it, which is itself a decision. The offer came three weeks ago. They want me to start in March. It means moving to Recife, and I have never lived anywhere except here.
I enjoy working with the people I work with now. That is the honest part. I do not enjoy the work itself very much any more, and I have stopped pretending that I do. My manager suggested applying for the internal role instead, which would mean staying, and I promised to think about it, and then I did not think about it.
What I keep avoiding is the conversation with my mother. She expects me to stay. She has never said so, which is worse, because I cannot argue with something nobody has said.
A friend advised me to write the two columns down. I tried writing them and gave up, because everything in the left column was a fact and everything in the right column was a feeling, and the two do not weigh the same.
So: I have decided to decide by Friday. I have said that twice.
Five questions. The first three are about Ana. The last two are about the shape of what she said.
1. What has Ana actually decided so far?
2. Why does her mother’s silence make it harder?
3. Why did the two columns fail?
4. Look at enjoy working, suggested applying, keep avoiding against promised to think, advised me to write, decided to decide. What decides the form of the second verb?
5. In Portuguese, what follows a verb in all of these cases?
Two shapes for the same slot
What follows a verb, and what decides it
| Verb + -ing | Verb + to | |
|---|---|---|
| What it feels like | The second verb is a thing — an activity | The second verb is a direction — something aimed at |
| Common verbs | enjoy, avoid, keep, finish, suggest, consider, mind, practise | decide, want, hope, promise, agree, refuse, offer, plan |
| From Ana | enjoy working, stopped pretending, suggested applying, keep avoiding | promised to think, advised me to write, decided to decide |
| Portuguese | One shape covers both: gosto de trabalhar, decidi trabalhar | The same shape. The split does not exist |
| Where the rule lives | In the first verb | In the first verb — never in the second, never in the meaning |
The "thing versus direction" row is a tendency, not a test. It explains why the split exists. It will not tell you what avoid takes.
Which is why, from here on, you never learn avoid. You learn avoid doing — two words, one item.
Six lines of Ana’s decision, out of order. Put them back into the order in which she told it.
- I promised to think about it, and then I did not think about it.
- The offer came three weeks ago, and they want me to start in March.
- So I have decided to decide by Friday, which I have now said twice.
- I enjoy working with the people, and I have stopped pretending I enjoy the work.
- A friend advised me to write two columns, and I tried writing them and gave up.
- My manager suggested applying for the internal role instead.
Which form, and why that one
One or two words per gap. Look at the verb before the gap, never the one after it.
She has decided the offer, but she keeps the conversation with her mother. Her manager suggested for the internal role, and she promised about it. In the end she tried two columns, and gave up.
Six sentences of the kind this topic produces. One error each.
1. I enjoy to work with them.
2. She suggested to apply for the internal role.
3. He promised thinking about it.
4. My mother expects that I stay.
5. I keep to put off the decision.
6. I have stopped to pretend that I like it. — she no longer pretends
The decision you have not made
Task card · Speaking · Diagnostic · 2 minutes each
Tell a partner about the decision you are in the middle of. Not the conclusion — the middle.
Two minutes. Say what you are considering, what you keep avoiding, and what you have promised yourself.
- Say what the two options actually are, in one sentence each.
- Name one thing you keep doing instead of deciding.
- Name one person whose expectation is in the room, said or unsaid.
- Finish with a deadline you are prepared to say out loud.
Listener’s job. Do not correct anything. Keep a tally in two columns.
Every time your partner puts one verb straight after another, mark which form the second one took: -ing or to. Nothing else.
At the end, read the two numbers back. Do not explain them.
What two minutes produced
Five sentences of the kind that task produces. Fix each.
1. I am considering to move at the end of the year.
2. I avoid to talk about it with my family.
3. They offered giving me three months.
4. I do not mind to wait until March.
5. I have finished to think about it.
Where the rule lives
Three questions. Thirty seconds.
1. Which word decides whether the next verb takes -ing or to?
2. Why does the tally usually favour to?
3. How will these verbs be learned from Lesson 3 onwards?
Next. Four people talking their way through real decisions — and what genuine deliberation sounds like when nobody has decided anything yet.