A two-minute recommendation in five moves
Name the task first: sorting files and reading figures aloud need different conditions. Aim for five music words and four verb patterns:
- The old habit: “Staff used to play music all afternoon.”
- The problem: “Loud music risks masking an instruction.”
- What was tried: “They tried creating a quiet hour rather than banning music.”
- The evidence and its gap, with wish + past perfect: “I wish we had measured concentration before the trial, but error corrections have fallen.”
- A rule for each stage: “Music can continue during preparation, but it must stop during spoken checks.”
Listen: a quiet hour instead of a ban
Two colleagues review a voluntary quiet hour. First, separate three look-alike forms:
- Used to + verb: a changed past habit. “She used to sleep late; she didn’t use to work nights.”
- Be used to + -ing: already normal. “She is used to sleeping near traffic.”
- Get used to + -ing: becoming normal. “He is getting used to working the earlier shift.” All three are pronounced /juːst tə/.
Maya Staff used to play music all afternoon, and some people felt overwhelmed.
Owen They tried creating a quiet hour rather than banning music.
Maya People are getting used to choosing headphones outside that hour.
Owen I wish we had measured concentration before the trial, but error corrections have fallen.
Maya Then we should carry on collecting evidence instead of claiming a universal result.
Gerund or infinitive: the first verb decides
No rule predicts which form follows a verb, so learn the common verbs in groups:
- + -ing: avoid, carry on, enjoy, finish, give up, keep, mind, recommend, risk, suggest. “She avoids checking messages at night.”
- + to: agree, decide, expect, hope, manage, offer, plan, refuse, seem. “The team decided to pause music during handovers.”
- No to after can, must, should, had better, would rather, let and make: “The sudden beat made everyone look up.”
- -ing after a preposition, including the to in look forward to and be used to: “We look forward to hearing the results.”
Same verb, different meaning
After remember and forget, to looks ahead to a duty and -ing looks back at a memory:
- Remember: “Remember to lock the studio; I remember locking it.”
- Forget: “He forgot to mute the track but will never forget hearing it live.”
- Try to (make an effort) or try doing (test a solution): “She tried to sleep, then tried lowering the volume.”
- Stop doing (end it) or stop to do (pause to do something else): “We stopped playing music.” “She stopped to check the figures.”
- Need: “We need to tune the piano; the piano needs tuning.”
Music words that make a rule precise
“Quiet music” is vague; “instrumental tracks at low volume” is a rule a team can check:
- Genre, a category such as jazz or pop: “She chose a quieter genre for analysis.”
- Rhythm, the pattern of beats, said /ˈrɪðəm/: “The irregular rhythm increased tension.”
- Chorus, the repeated part of a song; a choir is a group of singers. In both, ch sounds like k.
- Concerto, a piece for a soloist and orchestra; a concert is the event.
- Lyrics, the words of a song: “They plan to test a lyric-free playlist.”
Questions to discuss
Answer each in a minute, with a reason, an example and two verb patterns:
- “Should one music rule cover the whole workplace, or change with the task?”
- “Is wearing headphones at work focused or antisocial?”
- “Can people get used to almost any noise?”
Common mistakes
Check your recommendation:
- “I recommend to use headphones.” Say “I recommend using headphones.” Suggest works the same way.
- “I’m used to work late.” Say “I’m used to working late.”
- “I use to start at eight.” For a present habit, say “I usually start at eight.”
- “We had better to stop.” Drop to: “We had better stop.”
- Claiming “Music improves concentration” after one trial. Say what you measured: “Error corrections have fallen.”
A 10-minute daily routine
Once a week, record the full recommendation.
- 2 minutes: repeat each line of the conversation.
- 3 minutes: five sentences about your workday, each with a different verb from the lists.
- 3 minutes: remember, try and stop in both forms, about this week.
- 2 minutes: one rule for a stage of your work, with two music words.
What comes next
Next at B2, describe a photo without presenting guesses as facts, then write an opinion article that keeps corrections visible. At C1, write a balanced essay on a smartphone-first public service.