Using Like, Dislike, Mind, Enjoy

When somebody asks you whether you know how to use the verbs like, dislike,mind and enjoy in your English sentences, you will surely say 'yes'. Read these sentences and see if you can spot the errors.

I like to play board games.
I dislike to cycle at night.
Do you mind to wait for a few minutes?
Sharon enjoys to listen to sentimental music.

If you have been using "I like to..../She or He likes to..../We or They like to..../Francis likes to"..... you are absolutely right. However, when the verb dislike is used to replace like, NEVER say "I dislike to.../She or He dislikes to...../We or They dislike to..../Francis dislikes to.... Why? It is a grammar rule in the English Language that when you use the verb dislike, you must NOT say dislike to do something but you must say dislike doing something such as:

I dislike cycling at night. It is grammatically incorrect to say I dislike to cycle at night. However, it is 100% correct to say "I don't like to cycle at night or "I don't like cycling at night."

The same rule applies to the verb mind. It is incorrect to say "Do you mind to wait for a few minutes?" The correct version is "Do you mind waiting for a few minutes?"

The same rule also applies to the verb enjoy. We don't say "Sharon enjoys to listen to sentimental music." We say "Sharon enjoys listening to sentimental music."

Read these sentences and correct them if you find them wrong.

Jenny likes playing chess.
They like eating cakes.
The workers dislike to do overtime work.
Would you mind to help me?
Lily enjoys to paint.
Kelvin likes to go jogging with his friends.

How many sentences did you find wrong?

Sentence 1 is 100% correct. You can also say Jenny likes to play chess.
Sentence 2 is 100% correct. You can also say They like to eat cakes.
Sentence 3 is incorrect. It should be The workers dislike doing overtime work.
Sentence 4 is incorrect. It should be Would you mind helping me?
Sentence 5 is incorrect. It should be Lily enjoys painting.
Sentence 6 is 100% correct.

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By Susan L
On 12/01/2009 05:46:00 PM
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