Lesson 42 Stop speaking

ポイント
It often doesn't matter whether we use gerunds (I like shopping) or infinitives (I like to shop) with some words. "Stop" is different.

ダイアログ
Yoshi: I saw Toshi in Yoyogi Park on Sunday. I stopped talking to him.
John: Why did you stop? Did you have a fight?

解説
Why is John asking if Yoshi and Toshi had a fight? Well, Yoshi wants to say 話すために止まった, but he actually says 話すのをやめた. He should say "I stopped to talk to him." Basically, "stop to talk" means "stop in order to talk," but "stop talking" means to not talk anymore. So remember that stop + gerund means to stop that action. I hope you don't stop reading my articles.