IS IT CORRECT? - 1 - go to shopping / go shopping

All language learners around the world make mistakes. Have you ever felt your teacher’s corrections do not have a long-lasting effect? Are you frustrated that even though your teacher corrects you, once you leave the class you keep making the same mistakes? We understand how you feel and will help you eliminate mistakes you might be making. The purpose of this section is to address common mistakes many students from different countries make in English and briefly explain why they are incorrect. Once you understand why they are incorrect, it might be easier for you to avoid them!

 

IS IT CORRECT?

EPISODE 1

MISTAKE:

“I’m going to shopping”

SITUATION  1 – you are talking about an activity that is happening right now and you want to use Present Continuous tense (also called Present Progressive). All you need to remember is that when you say you are going to, you are talking about going to a place or destination. Clearly, shopping is not a place, but an activity, so we cannot go to shopping just as we cannot go to eating or go to exercising.

SOLUTION:

Substitute an activity with a place and say:

I  am  going  to  shopping    the  supermarket.

I  am  going  to   eating   a  restaurant.

I  am  going  to   exercising   the  gym.

SITUATION  2 – you are talking about your prearranged plans for the future and you want to use going to to talk about the future, not the present. In this case you cannot use the gerund (verb+ing) after going to. You have to use the base form of the verb to form an infinitive (to + verb).

SOLUTION: 

Say:

I’m  going  to   shopping   do shopping.

I’m  going  to   eating   eat.

I’m  going  to   exercising   exercise.

Hope that helps!

Ania Necakov - Academic Coordinator NYLC Jackson Heights