Learning a second language involves mastering complex grammar, and English verbs present a unique challenge for students. New educational guides and linguistic research show that learning the difference between English infinitives (such as "to write") and gerunds (such as "writing") is one of the hardest milestones for non-native learners. Parents and teachers can help students overcome these hurdles by understanding how children process language.
What Happened
The language-learning platform Duolingo recently released a resource outlining how infinitives function in English grammar. The guide explains that infinitives express the basic meaning of a verb without specifying a time or subject. It details when to drop the word "to" for a "bare form" after helping verbs, and clarifies that modern English increasingly accepts split infinitives, such as placing the word "not" between "to" and the main verb.
The Bigger Picture
Choosing between an infinitive and a gerund (the "-ing" verb form) is notoriously difficult, creating confusion for almost every English language learner. Traditional English learning methods often try to solve this by teaching semantic rules. For instance, TOEFL Preps advises that gerunds typically refer to real experiences or habits, while infinitives point to future plans or purposes.
However, a June 2026 study published in Language Learning by Takayuki Kimura and Urara Shimoyama reveals a deeper cognitive pattern called "complement selection bias." The researchers discovered that when second-language learners lack specific vocabulary knowledge, they do not choose randomly. Instead, they default to using the infinitive form because it is syntactically simpler.
Research published in the Qubahan Academic Journal notes that first-language interference frequently leads to grammatical and syntactic errors. The study shows that students make progress when they receive explicit instruction comparing these cross-linguistic differences.
This explicit approach is also changing how we teach sentence styling. While older classrooms strictly banned split infinitives, modern linguistics has shifted. According to Blue Grammar, splitting an infinitive is now widely accepted to improve sentence clarity. Style guides like Merriam-Webster also permit split infinitives, as noted by Corrector, warning only against inserting long or clumsy phrases that disrupt readability.
What This Means for Families
For parents and educators supporting children learning English, errors like saying "I want reading" or "I enjoy to swim" are not signs of laziness. They are predictable stages of language acquisition driven by cognitive biases. Understanding that children have an inherent bias to default to infinitives allows educators to design targeted lessons. These mistakes are simply a natural part of learning two languages.
What You Can Do
- Use meaning-based patterns to guide choices: Teach children to associate gerunds with completed experiences and infinitives with future intentions, using frameworks like those detailed by TOEFL Preps.
- Provide direct grammatical feedback: Since studies in the Qubahan Academic Journal prove that explicit instruction reduces native language interference, actively discuss the structural differences between English and a child's native language.
- Accept split infinitives for natural speech: Do not penalize children for split infinitives when they make speech flow better, as modern grammar rules outlined by Blue Grammar prioritize clarity and natural phrasing over outdated academic rules.