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This study considers the position of clitics in verbal phrases with infinitives and gerunds, in which the speaker can choose to place the clitic in pre- or post-verbal position. The analysis is based on seventy-two one-hour tape-recorded conversations with speakers from Houston and the state of Michoacán, México. General results indicate a process of grammaticalization that appears as a strong tendency to place the clitic in front of the verbal phrase. A more in-depth analysis offers evidence that shows the role played by the contact situation with English; some characteristics of the verbal phrases studied seem to be sensitive to the contact situation. Reflexive verb constructions show a clear reduction of clitic climbing in groups of bilingual speakers. Although there is a strong tendency toward clitic climbing in most of the verbal phrases examined, some resistance, varying by generation, is observed with auxiliaries like empezar/comenzar con, saber, tratar de and venir a + infinitive. On the other hand, all bilingual speakers, regardless of generation, seem to follow the same general tendency of monolingual Spanish speakers to prefer clitic climbing in verbal phrases with gerunds, with incremental differences in verbal phrases like ir a, deber, querer, tener que, acabar de, and volver a + infinitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]