action. Thomson and Martinet 1969:155 state that the gerund can be used instead of the infinitive when the action is being considered in a
general sense. I think the students do not know the difference of using infinitive
and gerund. There are certain verbs can be followed by gerund and infinitive with no or little difference meaning. It is important to
understand the sentence form whether it is general or refers to one particular action.
b. Addition of “ed”
Original Sentence Reconstruction
29.
Alice always
avoid answered
my questions.
Alice always avoid answering my questions.
Related to the sample above, the type of error is addition error because the students added “ed” to “answer”. This addition make the
sentence look like past verb form. “Avoid” must be followed by
verb+ing form because they are preceded by verbs that always followed by gerund. I think the factor of the students producing this error is
because they do not understand the use of verb+ing after certain verbs. c.
Addition of A rticle “a”
Original Sentence Reconstruction
30. I think your hair needs a
shampoo I think your hair needs shampooing
Related to the sample above, the use of article “a” is not proper with the sentence structure
. There must be “shampooing” after the verb “need” because “shampoo” in this sentence is a verb, it is not a noun.
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Automatically, it must be added –ing to make it become a verbal noun
gerund. We cannot use two verbs together. One of the verbs must be in gerund or infinitive. And in this sample, “shampoo” must be in gerund
form because the sentence is in general sense. d.
Addition of “s”
Original Sentence Reconstruction
31.
Her daughter
prefers reads
science fiction book Her
daughter
prefers reading
science fiction book
Related to the sample above, the verb “reads” is after verb
“prefers” and both of them are singular form by adding “s” to the second verb. This sentence is totally wrong. We cannot use two verbs together.
One of the verbs must be in gerund or infinitive. In this sample, the second verb must be in gerund form because this sentence is in general
sence. T he suffix “s” in second verb must not appear because the second
verb must be added “ing”. I think the students are still confused in using gerund after certain verbs.
3. Misinformation Error
Misformation error is characterized by the use of the wrong form of the morphemes or structure. There are 126 misinformation errors in using
gerund as subject made by the students. a.
Misinformation of verb
Original Sentence Reconstruction
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32. They like buy something
as dress,t-shirt, etc
33.
I think your hair needs shampoo
.
34.
The students do not mind do
the test in 10 minutes.
They like buying something such as dress,t-shirt, etc.
I think your hair needs shampooing The students do not mind doing the
test in 10 minutes.
Related to the samples above, the type of error is misinformation. Misinformation occurs because the students used the wrong verb+ing
forms. The use of “buy”, “shampoo”, and “do” are not in correct form based on their function in those sentences. They are preceded by a verb,
it means that they must be in gerund or infinitive form. Based on the verbs precede them, they must be added suffix
–ing to make them become noun. The verb “mind” can be directly followed by gerund.
Thomson and Martinet 1969:161 states that “mind” can be directly
followed by gerund, in which case the gerund refers to the subject. This error might occurs because of the students’ lack of knowledge in
using gerund after certain verbs. b.
Misinformation of to infinitive
Original Sentence Reconstruction
35. Everybody like to go
