During one of my Boston Lessons, my client was talking about Halloween. He wasn’t too big of a fan and had this to say about buying a costume:
“I feel like wasting money.”
But unfortunately, that doesn’t work in this context. If we take the sentence as it is: “I feel like wasting money” actually means “I want to waste money.”
This is what happens when we use “I feel like” followed by the gerund form.
Now maybe, just maybe, my client wants to waste money, but I’m going to assume he meant to say “Costumes are a waste of money”. And if so, he would want to change his original sentence to either:
- I feel like I’m wasting money.
- I feel like I wasted money.
In both cases, you need a second subject indicator.
Remember: using “I feel like” with the gerund means you want to do that action.
- I feel like eating sushi. = I want to eat sushi.
- I feel like taking the day off. = I want to take the day off (i.e. stay home from work).
The Conversation Coach 