<li>The famous filmmaker had a tendency of changing his recollections, perhaps out of boredom at having to tell interviewers the same story over and over.</li>
</ol>
<p>A had a tendency
B of changing
C out of boredom
D at having
E No error</p>
<p>What do you guys think the answer is? Its B btw. Thanks for any help :)</p>
<p>I think it's B. Should be "had a tendency to change" AFAIK.</p>
<p>I got B, same reason as arnoc.</p>
<p>yep..........B</p>
<p>do you know the actual grammatical reason?</p>
<p>I honestly don't know English grammar (damn education system...), but if this were a foreign language I would say that because you already have a conjugated verb in the clause, a subsequent verb must be in the infinitive form.</p>
<p>
[quote]
do you know the actual grammatical reason?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The reason is that "to have a tendency to" is an idiom. It's just the way it is. Just like you say you talk on the phone, not to the phone. You do something at night, not in night.</p>
<p>oh okay, thanks to everyone who replied :)
better get my idioms straight! Too bad there's no real way to study them :(</p>
<p>
[quote]
Too bad there's no real way to study them
[/quote]
Yes there are, they are called instint, experience and hard memorization. As a foreigner only the last one works for me. If you were born here and read a few books when you were young, it would be much, much easier for you.</p>