It was yesterday, but now I'm just creating a blog, probably will write in English, who knows, my plans dont work out that often.
"An overview of English grammar". First of all English is a largely analytical language which means that the word order is far more important than in synthetic languages.
And this special grammar lingo without which most of the site barely makes any sense I must just memorize.
Parts of speech:
Nouns (существительные), pronouns (местоимения), adjectives (прилагательные), verbs (глаголы), adverbs (наречия), prepositions (предлоги), conjunctions (союзы), and interjections (междометия).
Parts of the sentence: the subject (подлежащее), the predicate (сказуемое), the attribute (определение), the object (дополнение), the adverbial modifier (обстоятельство).
The subject is usually a noun, and the predicate is usually a verb, and the predicate comes after the subject, usually.
Personal pronounses are quite important because they can show number and gender in their forms which isn't readily available for most English words since it's an analitical language and not synthetical one as I already mentioned.
Wow, actually the word "hers" exists, it is analogous to "mine", so we can say "this book is hers", and even "this books are yours" and this books is ours", and "this book is theirs", and "this book is a book of his" and apparently "this book is its".
Then there are reflexive pronounses like "it sees itself", "he sees himself" etc but that isn't news to me. Ok, maybe I didn't know for sure that reflexive pronounses are used only when the subject and object are the same. There is also an emphatic use, like "I myself think it'pretty awesome". And as for myself, I think it's kinda useless.
...and indefinite pronouns: some, somebody, someone, something; any, anybody, anyone, anything; no, nobody, no one, none, nothing; every everybody, everyone, everything; each, both, other, either, neither, one, all, most, few, several, much, many
Zero idea what those semicolons mean though.
Demonstrative pronouns are "this" and "that".
Relative pronouns are "who" and "which"
Interrogative words remind me of the wh-questions like "what is this" or "when was it?". They could be pronouns or adjectives.
Next are nouns, but there's too little time till dawn left so I'll end up here.
Also, the sirens are wailing tonight, how cool is that.
There are a lot of noun classes, but the most problematic division for me is the one between countable and uncountable. Too often it seems to be completely arbitrary.
Gender of nouns is dictated solely by context and meaning. Animals are usually "it", though.
Number of nouns is simple, but there is a whole bunch of irregular plural nouns like "man - men" which have to be memorized.
Then animate nouns aka living things can show possession (притяжательный падеж) with an apostrophe ('s) and inanimate ones are more likely to use the preposition "of". And nouns dont have any special endings to indicate their case (case = падеж), so they rely on the word order, in the sense that the first noun is the subject and the second one is the object. Like the cat hates the dog and not the dog hates the cat.
There are suffixes that mark nouns, but they arent really reliable, so who cares. The better thing to do is to deduce the function of the word and then decide whether it's a noun or an adjective.
Articles
So there are two types of articles in the English language, one is definite and the other one is indefinite, see more at the link to the grammar section... ok.
Next are Adjectives.
Overall, I think learning grammar is trivial and can surely be done in a short amount of time. Pronunciation is really problematic, though. I've never learned a thing about phonetics in my life and don't even know how to start. And someone on imageboards once said "those who didn't learn pronunciation first are bound to learn the language twice", so I assume learning how to actually speak is quite essential.
Also, a rad and groovy thing that I learned yesterday is how to omit pronouns. You know, in English it often feels like we start every sentence with "I said", "I was", "I have no idea" etc. But if we just skipped the "I" part it would be a weird command like "go and have no idea!", so we must omit the verb as well. And then it becomes short and natural, and totally fine, if a tad informal: "no idea what that means".
Just like nouns adjectives are the most reliably identified by their function in the sentence. Usually it's an attribute.
Adverbs (Наречия)
It's like adjectives but not really as far as I remember from school. Often they have the suffix -ly, but some of them are just simple words like "never", "ever", "here", or "there".
So, here's the main definition, listen closely. The main difference between an adjective and an adverb is that the former describes a noun and the latter describes a verb. Hence "-jective" (a noun is usually a subject or an object) and "-verb", I wildly guess.
They also stick to the certain themes like manner, time, frequency, place or direction in their describing of verbs.
Numerals can be cardinal or ordinal. Let me guess, ordinal is the place in a row, like "seventh" or "first". And then cardinal means quantity, like "seven apples" or "one rose".
"Cardinal" is a somewhat confusing name compared to "ordinal". But it's easier to remember when you understand that quantity is the general function of numbers.
Ordinals almost always are used with definite article, so it's "The Seventh" and "The First" actually.
Conjunctions (союзы) can be coordinating, meaning they connect parallel elements, single words, or whole clauses. Talking about "and" and "but". But conjunctions can also be subordinating. These are more meaningful "after", "if" or even "because", connecting subodinate clauses with the main clause.
Interjections (междометия)
It's like "alright", "yeah yeah yeah". Give me some synthesizer, Zac! Ok, its your part coming on. Are you ready? Right now, one, two, three. It' fun to stay at Young Men's Christian Association. So fun to stay at Young Men's Christian Association. ♫
Verbs
Main verbs are principal verbs or notional verbs (смысловой глагол). Like "work" or "live". They change their form in the third person singular by adding -s. e.g. "it lives".
Auxiliary (ауксиларии) verbs serve all kinds of functions. Mostly forming tenses with "have", "will", etc. "Be" can also be a linking verb. And "do" form questions.
Modal verbs are also called "defective verbs" because they can't form tenses in the regular way and basically don't exist without a main verb. Usually they express attitude towards the main action like not just "swim" but "must swim" or "may drown".
Then there's long list of irregular verb to memorize.
All verb have four forms: The Infinitive (to), The Gerund (-ing, noun), The Present Participle (-ing, attribute, forming continuous tense) and The Past Participle (-ed, attribute, forming passive and perfect)
Prepositions stand before a noun and postpositions after. There are very few true pospositions: ago, aside, apart, long. You can also move half of a phrasal verb like "up" in "wake up" to the end of the sentence and call it postposition, but it's actually a particle.
Prepositions are far more common: to, into... there are whole categories of them. Prepositions of place (on, in,at), of direction (to, trough), of time (at, for), of manner (by, with) etc
Next is word order
There are four types of senteces: declarative, iterrogative, imperative and exclamatory, with declarative being the most common.
Therefore declarative word order is the basis for all other types. The minimum requirement for a sentence is SUBJECT + PREDICATE. But the most classic word order is SUBJECT + PREDICATE + OBJECT, also conveniently called SVO (because the predicate usually is a verb).
Let's break down this sentence: Mike read an interesting story yesterday
It's SUBJECT + PREDICATE + ATTRIBUTE + OBJECT + ADVERB, I assume. Though adverb isn't even a part of sentence, it's a part of speech. "Yesterday" would be ADVERBIAL MODIFIER then.
Word order often depends on type of a verb. Transitive verbs require a direct object e.g. Tom opens the door. Intrasitive do not. Tom coughs.
Some transitive verbs (give, send, tell) are followed by two objects direct and non direct. Tom sent the refrigerator an apple. The apple being the direct object.
Linking verbs (be, become, feel get grow, look, seen) are usually followed by nouns or adjectives.
Following are brief formulas to be expanded in next chapters:
Declarative sentences:
SUBJECT + PREDICATE + (OBJECT + ADVERBIAL MODIFIER)
Tom writes short stories for children.
Interrogative sentences:
General questions -
AUXILIARY VERB + SUBJECT + MAIN VERB (+ OBJECT + ADVERBIAL MODIFIER)
Does Anne have an apple today? - Yes she does.
Special questions -
QUESTION WORD + AUXILIARY VERB + SUBJECT + MAIN VERB (+ OBJECT + ADVERBIAL MODIFIER)
Why does Anne know the answer in the first place? - Because.
Alternative questions
It's questions with options, word order before "or" is the same as in general questions.
Which is AUXILIARY VERB + SUBJECT + MAIN VERB + OBJECT or...
Do you know his name or do you not? - His name is Tom.
Tag questions -
The first part is a statement, and the second is a short question, separated by a comma.
Tom likes apples, doesn't he? - No, he doesn't.
Imperative sentences
The same word order as in statements, but the subject, which is you, is usually omitted.
Don't you cry.
Requests
Requests are usually mimic general questions, but are using could, may, will, would as auxiliary verbs. And word "please" randomly appears.
COULD + SUBJECT + MAIN VERB (+ OBJECT + ADVERBIAL MODIFIER)
Could you stay calm, please.
Would you mind helping me with this report?
Exclamatory sentences
Exactly the same as statements!
Sometimes the subject and the linking verb are omitted, though.
What a beautiful present!
Simple, compound, and complex sentences
Clause is a group of words containing a subject and a predicate. Indepented clause can be a separate sentence, but a dependent clause can not.
Simple sentences consist of one independent clause.
Life goes on
Compund senteces consist of two or more independent caluses connected by a coodrinating conjunction (and, but, or).
Tom hates apples, and Anne thinks the moon is cheese.
Instead of "and" we can use semicolon, but it doesn't look any good in my opinion.
Complex sentences consist of the main clause and subordinate clause connected by subordinating conjuctions like "that", "after", "when", "since"...
I told him that the moon is a wheel of cheese.
Also, an important thing about modal verbs that I forgot to mention the last time. After modals "to" is dropped in infinitives. "You need go", not "need to go". Wrong! "Need to go" is correct here, because "need" isn't a modal verb for whatever reason. Just forget that need is modal. You can go now. It also called "bare infinitives", by the way, I mean infinitives without "to". And "need" is called semi-modal, marginal modal, not-always-modal.
Next is word order in statements.
Аутпутить никогда не рано, но опираясь на твои критерии у меня уже достаточный опыт слушанья/чтения. Алсо, я расширяю словарный запас выписывая слова которые вижу вокруг но не знаю как называются.
Например:
Люстра - ceiling light, творог - cottage cheese, торшер - floor lamp, плов - plov, прищепка - clothespin, точка с запятой - semicolon, идиома "из какого теста сделан" - what someone is made of, карниз - curtain rod, гардина - curtain, drape, черная смородина - black currant.
совет полная хуйня кста, надо как можно раньше переходитьтк активному использованию, а то можно всю жизнь дрочить слова и пвсчивнле потребление, так и не научившись говорить и писать(справедливости ради оно и не всем надо, и без практики эти навыки начинают загибаться)
нормальный совет. Если у тебя мало опыта инпута, то у тебя низкая языковая интуиция и твой ранний аутпут закрепит ошибки и неестественные структуры по типу руинглиша
>плов - plov
мимо обосрался
A lot of repetition from the previous material in this section. Ok, lets repeat.
Unextended simple sentence:
SUBJECT + PREDICATE
Extended:
SUBJECT + PREDICATE + object + adverbial modifier
Adv mods are usually placed at the end of the sentence, and attributes can be found before a noun, though I don't see attributes in that scheme.
So, a "subject group" can contain an article and an attribute, that's where an attribute is mentioned.
Here's an exception for "there is" forms, in which a predicate is effectively before a subject.
The predicate stands after the subject and is usually represented by a main verb, or random combination of auxiliary, modal and main verbs.
A noun or an adjective following the linking verb "be" is a part of the predicate.
There are two types of objects - direct and indirect. A direct object never has a preposition, and indirect sometime does.
The object is placed after the main verb but in the case there are two of them first is the direct object and the second is indirect.
Let me imagine this, first of all what is a preposition? "To", "into", I guess, "at".
Anne (subject) sent (predicate) a letter (direct object) to Tom (indirect object).
Wait wait, this is like completely opposite of what I learned yesterday. Not at all, actually, it's just there wasn't a preposition. Some sources insisted on calling such construction with preposition not real indirect object but some kind of a complement, a prepositional phrase related to the verb. There is a real discrepancy in the sources.
Oh, I see, there is a different order for transitive verbs without prepositions. The first is indirect and the second is a direct object in such cases.
Anne gave Tom an apple.
Attributes usually stand before their nouns wherever they can be found. No difference if it's the subject, the object or the adverbial modifier.
A rather fine detail: if there is more than one adjectives before a single noun, then the more specific adjectives is placed closer to the noun than the more general ones.
She bought a nice (abstract) green (there are a lot of green things in the world) woolen (mostly cloth can be woolen) sweater
Attributes in the form of a noun with a preposition or structures with particles are placed after the noun that they modified.
Tom placed a nice modal verb (noun) with a letter S in its spelling just before phase "do it".
Adverbial modifiers are almost always placed in the end of the sentence.
Modifiers of place: They spent their vacation at the lake.
Of time: I'm going to see him tomorrow.
Of frequency: She visits them sometimes.
Of manner: He closed the door slowly.
There is an exception for one word frequency adverbs though. They often are placed between the subject and the main verb.
(I'm lowkey annoyed by the author's habit of using "predicate" and "verb" interchangeably. Is there really no difference? Even if so, stick to one or the other. Or maybe I just don't grasp what she's trying to communicate.)
Adverbs of frequency "usually, always, never, seldom" are placed after the verb "be" when it is presented.
One-word adverbs of time "already, just, never, ever" are placed between the two pars of the predicate in the perfect tenses. If there are more than one auxiliary verbs adverb comes after the first one.
He has (auxiliary) never (adverb) been (auxiliary) asked (main verb) such (attribute) questions (noun).
You also can place one-word frequency adverb at the beginning of the sentence to emphasize
Yesterday I talked to Jim.
If there are several adverbial modifiers, the adverbial modifier of place is usually placed before the adverbial modifier of time.
My new neighbors (subject) often (frequency adverb) read (main verb) a good (attribute) book (direct object) in their garden (modifier of place) after breakfast (modifier of time).
Next is word order in questions
The Subject ~ Noun, pronoun [noun phrase, gerund, infinitive, clause, nominalized adjective]
The Predicate ~ Verb [verb phrase]
The Object ~ Noun, pronoun [noun phrase, clause, gerund, infinitive]
The Attribute ~ Adjective [noun, participle, prepositional phrase, relative clause]
The Adverbial Modifier ~ Adverbs [prepositional phrase, noun phrase, clause, infinitive]
General questions are also called yes/no questions since they can be answered yes or no. Word order formula:
AUXILIARY VERB + SUBJECT + PREDICATE
The same order is kept in questions with modal verbs.
Can I help you?
Negative questions usually contain some emotion or expectation. Like expecting "yes" as an answer of expressing mockery. But word order is the same.
Isn't the word order just the same? Yes it is.
Special questions aka wh-questions.
The word order after interrogative word (how, whom, what, when, where, why) is the same as in general questions.
INTERROGATIVE + AUXILIARY + SUBJECT + MAIN
As you can infer special question aren't yes/no questions, you can acquire real information by asking where and what.
How did you get there? I got there by bus.
Here comes the most confusing part of this section: the cases when an interrogative word is also a subject. In such cases the word order is the same as in statements, but instead of a subject we have an wh-question.
Who (subject) told (predicate) you (indirect object) that (direct object)? Tom did.
/It turned out that in a sense objects are part of the predicate. Once again layers of terminology are mixed up/
Since I struggle to grasp this wh-subjects stuff, I will run all the examples.
Who (subject) called (predicate) her (object) yesterday (adverb modifier)? – I called her.
Who (subject) will tell (predicate) him (object) about it (prepositional phrase)? - I will
Hint: try to figure out what is missing in a statement word, if a subject is missing than wh-word is the subject.
What happened? – I lost my bag.
XXXXX happened? (subject missing, it could be a noun like a miracle)
What made you do it? – I don't know.
(subject) made you do it
Which coat is yours? – This coat is mine.
It looks like adjective is missing if we don't include "coat" in this wh-construction. But if we do:
(Subject) is yours.
Whose book is this? – It's mine.
Well, that doesn't make sense. "Noun is this", what kind of a sentence is this? It seems like it is not the case of wh-subject. Underlying declarative order is: This is whose book. Subject is "this", and the predicate "whose book" is missing.
Ok, then what about word order?
What about word order? - It should be right
Word order (subject) should be right (predicate). Predicate is missing. So i'm missing "is" before about. Not exactly, it's elliptical question, it leaves out whole "do you think" part because it is understood from the context.
Let's return to books
Whose book is this? – It's mine.
This book (subject) is mine (predicate). Predicate is missing. So it should be general question word order with wh-word at the start.
Whose is this book??? (actually grammatically correct)
And "Whose book is this" is also a general question because "is" goes before "this". The difference is just emphasis on "whose" or "books" respectively.
Who/whom commotion
Basically "whom" isn't even used anymore. I actually saw a comic book where a girl criticized the main character for using whom: "are you a English major or what?", haha.
But for understanding grammar whom is genuinely useful, it helps to see object/subject distinction more clearly. So I will utilize whom for the time being.
Nominative case - who. Objective case - whom.
Who (subject) saw you? – Tom saw me.
Whom (object) did you see? – I saw Anna.
Who (subject) asked her to do it? – Ben asked her.
Whom (object) did she ask for help? – She asked Mike to help her.
Next is Prepositions at the end of questions
What are you talking about? – I'm talking about prepositions at the end of questions.
So where is the preposition here?
Firstly, check the question you just asked.
"Where is the preposition."
Declarative order: preposition is here. "Here" is a part of the predicate. So predicate is missing, therefore we use general question order and verb "is" goes before subject "preposition". The other way around woud be "what is missing" with an answer "the predicate is missing". So the subject is missing and we use declarative word order and confusingly enough it looks exactly like an example with "where".
Ok, back to prepositions.
What are you talking about?
Obviously the preposition is "about" because it's in the end of the sentence. Declarative order woud be: I am talking about prepositions. "prepostions" is the object and "about" is its preposition.
So I see, wh-word destroy the object hence to save the preposition we need to find a new place for it.
In formal an polite speech is it possible to place a preposition before an interrogative word.
With whom are you playing tennis on Friday? With Jhonny.
Ok, declarative: I (subject) am playing (predicate) tennis (object) with (preposition) Jhonny (indirect object??) on Friday (adverbial modifier).
No, "with jhonny" isn't an indirect object, it's an object with a prepostion. The less confusing terminology would be not "a question asked to an object with preposition" but "a question asked to the object of preposition", because in the big picture of the sentence it's not an object but "prepositional phrase".
In alternative questions where you choose one of the options provided word order is the same as in general question.
Are you dumb or brave I am both.
Tag questions consist of two parts. The first part is declarative, and the second is a short general question. If the first part is affirmative, then the second is negative, and the reverse is also true.
He's sleeping, isn't he? - Yes, he is.
As much as I enjoy how everything is falling into place with the systematic approach of this site, I am beginning to regret choosing a non native source for learning English. The clumsy wording of "a question asked to the object of preposition" caused real damage. It led me to believe that the part of sentence that wh-word should address is the object when in actuallity it is a prepositional phrase. I wont change the source though, because it's not easy to find a site which is just grammar rules without superfluous material. Moreover, spotting author's unique style of making mistakes makes me feel more engaged.
Next is word order in commands
A few blogposting notions:
- The hardest part for me are articles I almost always feel like I am guessing. Hence I have a strong desire to jump straight to the articles section, but I worry that it will ruin the aforementioned approach which is systematic.
- I've been listening to a fantasy audiobook lately. It's about a planet that is a subject to toxic threads falling from the sky every two hundred years. So the threads are the threat of this world that everyone is talking about. Imagine how difficult it was to figure that out, haha.
- English words are bouncing in my head without much structure not unlike dvd screensaver.
There are a lot of types of commands: direct orders, vague instructions, unsolicited advice, superfluous warnings, impossible requests.
Word order is the same as in declarative sentences, but the subject is omitted. This vacuum creates a sense of intention.
Call me at five o'clock. OK.
Declarative form would be:
You call me at five o'clock. You see how cringe and autistic it sounds.
To be polite you should add a taglike question.
Bring me that report, would you? – Sure.
Won't you please be quiet? – Sorry.
The last sentence doesn't sound quite polite and doesn't even look like a command. How is this different from a question?
Ok, polite requests are expressed in the form of general questions with the help of "could, may, will, would".
In negative commands "you" could emerge for the sake of emphasis.
Don't do that again / Don't you ever do that again.
The word order becomes weird though. The subject is placed after the predicate. They call "don't" a negative operator here. Because it establishes the meaning of the whole sentence as negative and we barely care what happens after that.
There are also a wide variety of signs like "Follow this sign", "Walk", "Stop", "Warning!", "Danger!".
The simpler the better...
Word order in requests
Often requests are asked in the form of general questions:
Will you please sit down? - Thank you
Would you mind waiting a little? – OK.
There is a rule that requests usually dont use negative questions so the "won't you please shut up" construction doesn't belong to the requests category and is a command.
Asking for permisiion is also a request and not a command.
May I come in? – Yes, sure.
Would you mind if I closed the window? – No, I wouldn't mind.
In this sentence the speaker went completely insane from politeness and used imagery tense for a question. Hence "closed" instead of close.
Here we come, negative questions are requests too. To be fair you can easily see that they are different from commands.
Isn't she a beauty?
It's a request to affirm our perception, not necessary a command.
Overall negative questions usually express some kind of emotions.
Can't you read?
I'm lost.
Why don't you have children?
How on Earth is this a request?
When a negative question is an actual suggestion the negative question form sounds more aggressively interested.
Won't you eat your cake? - Will you eat your cake?
On the other hand if a negative question is a real request then it sounds aggressively impolite, like an annoyed remark or a complaint.
Won't you help me? (Не можете вы мне помочь наконец???) - Of course I will. Have I refused to help?
Can't I borrow your cell phone for a minute? (Да одолжите мне уже этот чертов телефон на всего одну минуту) - Sorry I'm waiting for an important call.
Next is word order in complex sentences
It's not that hard you see. Let's also describe the hunchbacked girl.
There was a girl. And what I want to say is that 1. she is good looking (and a teenager) 2. her movements are strange 3. her posture is catastrophic, it looks almost like she has a hump. 4. and something about how she relates to surrounding autumn scenery.
Ok, she has a clear symmetrical face and long, black, rather wavy hair. She wears a brown sweater and black flared jeans, and is holding a beige rectangle in her hands. Her gestures are awkward, her processing of space is unusual, her movements are hard to predict. Then I see her walking by the autumn trees, which you can imagine match her colors. With her beige rectangle in hand and a triangular gait she manages to create a very special counterpoint to the endless avenue of black trunks and yellow leaves.
She has a gothic vibe without gothic attributes. She evokes associations with the 70s and Halloween in the sense of autumn, not the scary stuff. In short it's your typical "head of a school psychical research club", maybe I should call her that instead of "the hunchbacked girl".
What I learned from this is a weird rule that in English you always should clarify whose hands or legs are. I washed my hands, not just washed hands. "Washed hands" sounds as if you found random hands and washed them.
Each part of a sentence corresponds to its subordinate clause type, namely: the subject clause, the predicative clause, the attribute clause, the object clause and several types of adverbial clauses.
We also call subordinate clauses dependent clauses because we can't use them without main verb.
I want to read book that you wrote.
"You wrote" isn't a complete sentence and doesn't make sense without a preceding part. By the way my guess is that's the attribute clause because it describes the object.
There are marks of the subject clauses which includes: who, what, how, when, where, that, whether.
What you told me was interesting.
"What" is the subject and "interesting" is about what, thus it's the subject clause.
When the subject caluse goes after the predicate the formal subject (also known as dummy subject) "it" is often used.
It is not known who brought the roses.
Once again we can turn a whole sentence around to make the example clearer.
Who brought the roses is not known.
The clause that just moved at the beginning of the sentence is fulfilling the role of the subject.
The predicative clauses usually stand after the linking verb BE.
The problem (subject) is (linking verb) that he is rude (predicate)
So I can say that a clause describing a linking verb is the predicative one.
The attribute clauses are placed after the noun they describe and introduced by such words as who, whom, whose, which, that, when, where, why.
The man (subject) who helped her (attribute) was Dr. Lee (predicate)
Can we use the attribute clauses with non-subject nouns though?
I met the man (object) who helped her.
The object clause functions as the object.
He told us that he had already bought a car.
What he told us is the object. And "us" is the indirect object.
Adverbial clauses function as adverbial modifiers and are devised to the same categories. Remind you that the most important thing about adverbials is that they describe a verb.
The adverbial clause of place
He went where I told him to go.
The adverbial clause of time
*She left while he was sleeping*
But no future tense is used in subordinate clauses. It is replaced by the present tense. Usually present simple.
*He will call you when he returns.*
The adverbial clause of condition
*We will go to the lake on Saturday if the weather is good.*
No future tense in such cases as well.
*I will talk to him if I see him.*
The adverbial clause of purpose.
*He works hard so that he can buy a house for his family.*
*I am collecting coins in order to achieve a higher state of consciousness.*
The adverbial clause of result
*It was so cold that I stayed home*
*I have so much work this week that I won't be able to go to the concert.*
The adverbial clause of reason.
*As there are several possible answers to this question, let's discuss all of them.*
Here the subordinate clause goes first, so it's a bit confusing. A simpler example:
*I went home because I was tired.*
The adverbial clause of comparison
*He works as quickly as he can*
*It looks as if it is going to snow.*
After"as if, as though", the subjunctive mood used in cases expressing unreality.
*He looks as if he were old and sick.*
The adverbial clause of concession
*Though he was tired, he kept working.*
*Although it was already dark, he could still see the shapes of the trees.*
Commas
A comma is generally not used between the main clause and the adverbial subordinate clause. But it appears when the subordinate clause is placed before the main clause.
*She went for a walk in the park after she had finished her work on the report.*
*/After she had finished her work on the report, she went for a walk in the park.*
Comma also is used when the subordinate adverbial clause refers to the whole main clause not only to the verb.
Such situations often occur in the case of the clauses beginning with "though, although, whatever, no matter what or because"
*She was absent because she was ill*
*They must have been sleeping, because there was no light in their windows*
So... you it' kinda about "they", not about sleeping per se. It provides evidence "no light in their windows", not the reason why they are sleeping.
*Whatever you say, I won’t change my mind.*
There is a difference between how subordinate clauses are named in English and Russian sources. The adjective and the adverbial clauses are described similarly. But English linguistic sources also mention the noun clauses which correspond to the subject, the predicative and the object clause in Russian.
*Noun clauses
They function just as nouns.
*What he said was really funny.* (Noun clause "what he said" is the subject)
*This is not what I meant.* ("what I meant" is predicate)
*She says that he will come back tomorrow* ("That he will come back tomorrow" is the direct object)
*He is not interested in what whe is doing* ("What she is doing" is a prepositional object)
Relative clauses** refers (in English sources) to noun clauses and adjective clauses introduced by the relative pronouns "who (whom, whose)", which, that, what".
Who will be able to do it is still a question.
*Who will be able to do it is still a question.*
Relative clauses that have parenthetical character (nonrestrictive clauses (extra info)) are separated by commas. Such clauses are usually introduced be the relative pronouns "which" and "who" but not by "that".
*She lost his book, which made him angry*
*The war, which lasted nearly ten years, brought devastation and suffering to both countries.*
Next is agreement.
The verb (that is, the verb in the predicate) agrees with the subject in person and number.
I work. My brother works. My brothers work.
In the past tense, however, main verbs use the same verb forms for all persons.
I knew. He knew. They knew.
The verb BE is much more flexible in expression of agreement with the subject in person and number.
I am. You were. He is. etc
The subject in the singular requires the verb in the singular. The subject in the plural requires the verb in the plural
His daughter likes cartoons. She likes cartoons. - His daughter like cartoon. They like cartoons.
It's important to make the verb to agree with the subject and not with the random noun in the predicate or in the attributive phrase.
The can of olives is on the kitchen table. The cans of olives are on the kitchen table.
The choice of the singular or plural form of the verb depends not only on the form of the subject but also on the meaning of the subject. So the subject that is plural in form but singular in meaning takes a singular verb and vice versa.
Physics is cool. People are cool too.
Compound subject
If two subjects are connected with "and" a plural verb is used.
The dictionary and the grammar book are on the writing desk.
If the subject connected by "and" refer to the same person or thing, the singular form of the verb is used
Her friend and adviser accompanies her to important meetings.
If the subject are regarded as a unit then it's the singular verb again.
Strawberries and cream is my favorite dessert.
If the subjects are connected by "or; either...or; neither...nor", the verb agrees in number with the nearest subject.
Either the suspect or the witnesses are lying.
If you have a choice it's better to place the plural subject closer to the verb and use plural form.
If the compound subject stand after the predicate expressed by "there is; there are" the verb usually agrees in number with the nearest subject.
There is a book, a newspaper, and two magazines on the table.
Though some style manuals say that plural form is also ok. Like There are a hawk, an eagle, a dove...
Once again, if you have a choice it's better to place plural subject closer to the "there are" construction and use plural.
There are two magazines, a book, and a newspaper on the table.
Note_1
The phrases "accompanied by; as well as; along with; together with; including" following the subject don't change the number of the subject. Basically you can completely ignore them.
*The actress, accompanies by friends and fans, is travelling in Asia now.*
*The players, as well as the coach, are down with the flu.*
Note_2
The titles of books, movies etc are treated as a singular unit.
*Romeo and Juliet is a play by Shakespeare. (but Romeo and Juliet are Italians)*
Collective nouns
Some collective nouns are generally used with a singular verb
*At that time the bourgeoisie was mostly excluded from active political life*
Others with a plural verb
*The police are looking for the robbers.*
And some collective nouns (family, team, committee, crew, public, board, jury, staf...) take a singular or plural verb depending on the meaning.
If the group of people is regarded as unit then the verb also is singular. If the members of a group are regarded separately, the plural form of the verb is used.
*Her family is rich.*
*Her family are discussing this problem now.*
*The committee has adopted the plan*
*The committee have different opinions on this issue*
To convey the meaning of separate members it's better to add the word "members" itself.
*The committee members have different opinions on this issue.*
There are nouns which ending in s/es but are singular in meaning.
*The latest news is not very encouraging*
*Mathematics has always been a difficult subject for me.*
Names of countries, organizations and companies are singular in meaning too, despite often having plural endings.
*The United States is a large country. God bless America.*
*The United Nations was formed in 1945.*
A lot of tricky words like sheep, deer, fish, money, aircraft exist. So you can check the "Irregular Plural Nouns" section for further clarification.
Next is indefinite pronouns as the subject
No idea why the markdown is broken, did we run out of italic, haha
Some indefinite pronouns are used as nouns, for example "everybody is here", "something happened". Some others are used as adjectives e.g. "every word", "no books".
Pronouns "some, any, all, many, most, few, several, both, one, each, either and neither" can be used in both roles.
When the subject is expressed by an indefinite pronoun in the function of a noun it has number.
"Each, everyone, everybody, everything, someone, somebody, something, anyone, anybody, anything, no one, nobody, nothing, one, either, neither" take a singular verb.
Everyone is here.
Everybody is there.
The pronouns "both, few, many, several, others" take a plural verb.
Several of Anton's friends are still here; the others have left.
Depending on the meaning the number of "all, most, none, some, any" can change.
If these pronouns denote part, portion or amount of something, then the singular form of the verb is used. If they refer to some number of persons or things then we need plural verb. The pronoun "none" is complicated.
Some of this information is wrong.
Some of these facts are interesting.
Note "Of"
The preposition "of" is used after an indefinite pronoun in the function of a noun before a specific noun (i.e., a noun preceded by "the, this, that, these, those, my, his, your, their, Tom's" and the like)
Most of these stories are funny.
Also, "of" is used in expression like "all of them; some of them; most of us; both of us; any of it; some of that; one of these; a few of those". etc.
Agreement with expressions of quantity
The phrases "a number of; the majority of" are treated as plural in meaning, they stand before a plural countable noun and agree with a plural verb.
There are a number of reasons why it keeps happening.
(By the way "verb + verb" verb phrase is called "catenative construction". In our case it is verb + verb-ing that is keep happening. I want to leave is also a catenative construction, lexical meaning of the first verb dictate the form of the second.)
A singular verb is also found with "the majority of" in some cases, for example, with "population".
The majority of the population is engaged in agriculture.
If "number" and "majority" refer to the actual number as number, they are used with a singular verb.
The number of participants is limited to ten.
A majority of fifty votes is required for winning.
If the noun after the phrase "a lot of" is uncountable (singular), the singular form of the verb is used. If the noun after the phrase "a lot of" is plural countable, the plural form of the verb is used.
There is a lot of snow (uncountable singular) on the roof.
There are a lot of people (uncountable plural) in the park
A lot of tourists (countable plural) come to this small village every autumn.
Phrases like "ten students; six books; five of them" as the subject take a plural verb.
If spelling out the number is too awkward (for example if it's really long, like four digits long) at least restructure the sentence so that it isn't at the beginning.
Fifteen thousand three hundred cars were sold last year. (Or: The company sold 15,300 cars last year.)
Sums of money, periods of time, distance, weight expressed by phases like "ten dollars; five miles" in the subject are treated as singular unit and take a singular verb.
*Five miles on foot is out of question*
If part of portion of something is expressed in percent or fraction, the choice of a singular or plural verb depends on the noun after "of". If the noun is singular use a singular verb and vise versa.
*Thirty percent of the money was spent on the first day.*
*Fifty percent of my students have a full-time job.*
If a personal pronoun is used as a substitute for a noun in the subject or in the object, the pronoun should agree with its noun in person, number and gender.
*John is in Spain now. He will come back in a week. Maria talked to him an hour ago.*
If you need to use a personal pronoun instead of a singular noun that may refer to male and female persons, use the phrase "he or she" or, if possible, restructure your sentence in the plural so that you can use "they".
*A student learns best if he or she studies regularly. (acceptable use)*
*Students learn best if they study regularly. (preferable use)*
If you need to use a personal pronoun instead of an indefinite pronoun, such as "anyone, somebody", use the phrase "he or she" or restructure your sentence to avoid the use of personal pronouns. In informal speech, the plural "they" may be used in such cases.
1) Someone (subj) entered (verb) the room (object) at night (adverbial modifier) and stole the letter (coordinated verb phrase). He or she opened the door with a key.
2) The thief opened the door with a key
3) They opened the door with a key. (informal use)
4) If anybody comes while I'm absent, ask them to wait for me. (informal use)
In the past you could use "he" in such situations (e.g. A student learns best if he studies regularly), but nowadays it's better not.
A *possessive pronoun* should agree with the noun or pronoun to which it refers.
*The doctor opened his bag. (You know that the doctor is a man) The doctor opened her bag. (You know that the doctor is a woman.) The doctors opened their bags.*
If the subject is expressed by an indefinite pronoun but the gender is not knows traditionally "his" is used.
*Everybody has his own opinion.*
But you know, it's better to avoid offending certain people. So you have the same options as in the preceding paragraph.
1) Traditional: Each student opened his bag. Everyone opened his bag. Each of us opened his bag.
2) Informal: Each student opened their bag. Everyone opened their bag. Each of us opened our bag.
3) Restructured: The students opened their bags. All of them opened their bags. All of us opened our bags.
4) In singular you also can use "his or her":
Everyone opened his or her bag. Each student opened his or her bag.
Next is a bunch of tests actually.
Parts of the Sentence
>I saw something interesting in the kitchen. Is it for me?
Here you should place "interesting" as an attribute after "something". I got it right because of my extensive experience with English. But I'm pretty sure nowhere in the materials preceding this test is it mentioned that "something" is an exception to the rule that an attribute stands before the noun/pronoun it describes.
>"Is it" mentioned and not "it is" mentioned
Wow, there is a new rule in it. Apparently we need inversion after fronting negative adverbials like "never", "nowhere", "rarely", "only then".
*Never have I seen such a thing*
*Only then did he understand*
*Nowhere in the text is it mentioned*
Parts of speech:
>She looked at him doubtfully
>She looked doubtful
I was very hesitant about placing "doubtfully/doubtful". So, "doubtfully" is an adverb because it describes the verb "looked". But "doubtful" is an adjective, it describes the pronoun "she". The sources of my confusion are "-ly" suffix which triggers association with adjectives in my mind and the fact that you could argue that "doubtful" describes "looked". I guess the section "suffixes and prefixes to differentiate parts of speech" isn't as useless as I thought.
Word order in statements
>She was wearing a nice dark-gray business suit.
I remember the rule, but I was sure that color is more specific than business. Apparently I was wrong. How many types of cloth do we have anyway. Business, sport... - see, exactly two.
>She arrived in Rome by train on Sunday
Here I straight-up forgot the right order. So my intuition was that the means of transportation is more important than the place and the place is more important than the time. Wrong again.
Actually, I was right. My non-native source is just gaslighting me.
Next is the test about word order in questions.
I'm leaning on intuition too much. Let's discuss our decisions.
>How often do you go there
Wh-word then adverbial modifier of frequency, no idea why it's here, ok, but it feels right. Then finally auxiliary verb, subject, main verb, adverbial modifier of verb go.
First of all what is missing. Two times a week I go there. No surprise adverbial modifier of frequency is missing. Go check your records, there should be a special rule for frequency.
Here it is:
>There is an exception for one word frequency adverbs though. They often are placed between the subject and the main verb.
Not very helpful. So, just keep in mind that adverbs can travel to many places in the sentence.
Other source says that "How often" is a whole wh-phrase, because without "often" "How" is a completely different request for information.
>Has she bought a new car
Here's an actual mistake. I chose "Did he", but it doesn't agree with the second form of the verb "buy".
5: Complex Sentences
>The man you are looking for lives on Oak Street
"You are looking for" is a relative clause, and the man is the subject, and whom/that is omitted just because.
>I can give you this book if you want to read it
I remembered something about present tense after if, but was unable to find the rule in the thread. I must admit my style of keeping records is atrocious and needed to be change.
>I will help you when I come back
I guess two "will" in one sentence just never happens in English
6: Conjunctions
It is basically about lexical meaning of simple words like "before" and "after". Though I can't say that I really know what, for example, "Whether" means. The easiest test so far, nevertheless.
7: Agreement
>All of his money was stolen.
Tricky questions from the very beginning. Is this a singular unit, or amount, or both? Well, don't ask me, I don't know.
>There was a lot of people in the park.
I will pretend they are trying to catch me out and answer singular in every case plural noun appears. Which turned out to be wrong. "A lot" doesn't matter and we always agree with the form of the noun after "a lot" which in this case is plural "people". And by the way money is always uncountable so it is always singular.
>The teacher, as well as the students, is on vacation.
I don't see the difference between "were" and "are" here, but "were" sounds more natural. Oh I see, I'm just completely wrong. It is singular "is" because "as well as" construction signifies additional information, and the teacher still is the only subject.
8: Types of Sentences
Super easy. Though the confusing phrase "disjunctive question" instead of "tag question" I am familiar with is used in one of the items. How cunning of them.
And this concludes The Word Order chapter. Next is English Verbs
So what about more organized records? I should at least mark every subsection in bold and stick to the rule "one section - one post". There is of course an option of using the topic field, but I worry it could look too stiff and too chaotic at the same time.
Also, here are some cool symbols, use them to your heart's content:
✓ ✕ ✗ ✘ ✚ ✞ ✟ ✦ ✧ ✩ ✪ ✰ ✱ ✲ ✵ ✸ ✾ ✿ ❀ ❁ ❂ ❃ ❅ ❆ ❍ ➜ ➝ ➞ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♭ ♮ ♯, ☑, ✅, ☒ ♡, ❤, ❄, ☘, ⚡, ☄
ⅼ Ⅰ Ⅱ Ⅲ Ⅳ Ⅴ Ⅵ Ⅶ Ⅷ Ⅸ Ⅹ Ⅺ Ⅻ Ⅼ
⓿ ❶ ❷ ❸ ❹ ❺ ❻ ❼ ❽ ❾ ❿
At some point of the night I also became excessively sentimental. I was just lying in the dark and all the lame thoughts I was eager to express for reasons unknown were running through my head. That you are nice and supersmart, that everyone loves you, that I start crying and feel like I'm dying when I think about how wonderful of a person you are. And that you totally can forgive me for so many things because you are just that saint. As they say your heart is so big, probably bigger than the internet, and on the internet even I have a place. Because there is no future and no past. And nothing bad about us. There is no me, there is no you... What do you think, Caroline? Don't call me that!
By the dawn I felt ok. I'm still sick though, but it is nowhere near as terrible as it was at night. I was sure that I would be out for at least a week. Now I think that maybe I will be totally fine by tomorrow. I wish someday to write about things I did despite the sickness, against the odds. Though I probably shouldn't ignore virus infections.
Update: As it turned out doing anything despite the sickness just isn't fun, haha.
Also, new words from Navalny's book so far:
Hooch - Самогон
Embezzlement - Растрата
Cushion - Подушка (под которую клали телефон для защиты от прослушки)
The verb Be is the most common thing in English. It can be this, it can be that, it can express many unusual things like number, gender, point of view. Or even express modality in "be to" construction, no idea what this means though.
1) BE as a main verb
As the main verb Be usually denotes: existing, taking place (происходить), being located somewhere
☘ Madrid is in Spain.
2) There is; There are
Those phrases are the special type of predicate that is placed at the beginning of the sentence, so the subject follows the predicate in such cases. We use it when we want to say WHAT is in some place
☘ The book is on the table.
/ ☘ There is a book on the table.
3) Linking verb
When the verb Be connects the subject with the predicative complement we call it a linking verb. (i.e. what the subject is, or what his qualities are)
Apparently the subject can be a wide variety of things. Accordingly, the linking verb can be followed by a noun, an adjective, a numeral, a pronoun, an infinitive, a gerund.
☘ Thank you. You are very kind.
4) Other linking verbs
Finally! Full list of mysterious "linking verbs" is revealed: "become, feel, look, seem, appear, get, grow"
☘ It seemed possible. It grew dark.
In some phrases with adjective, the verb Be can be replaced by the verb get to signify the beginning, change or result of the action.
☘ It is cold. It is getting cold.
☘ My coat is wet. My coat got wet.
So it's kinda not "is" but "become".
5) As an auxiliary verb
...is used in the continuous tense in the Active Voice and in all of the tenses in the Passive Voice
☘ He is sleeping now.
☘ This letter has been written by John.
6) As a static verb (глагол состояния)
Being a stative verb, Be is rarely used in continuous tenses.
In Be + Adjective constructions the verb Be is close in meaning to the verb "behave" and indicate temporary character of the activity.
☘ He is silly (permanent state now)
/ ☘ He is being silly (temporary behavior)
Not many adjectives fit such a use. Some of them: bad, careful, foolish, good, impolite, polite, rude, silly, unfair
7) As a phrasal verb
...is used with postpositions (послеслогами??? (adverbs)) and with nouns wit prepositions.
☘ He is out. He'll be back in an hour.
☘ I was about to call you.
Sometimes Be can be replaced by Get for all the special meanings.
☘ He is back. He got back yesterday.
8) In the phrase "be to"
The verb Be expresses modality in the construction be + to + infinitive, with the following meaning: strong expectation of some action according to a rule, instruction, agreement, or order.
The phrase "Be to" is close in meaning to modal verb Must, while the phrase "be not to" is close in meaning to Must Not expressing prohibitions
☘ You are not to feed the animals. (A sign in the zoo)
☘ I was to meet them at the station, but my car broke down.
Actually, "be to" isn't that widespread in modern English. You can always use "Must", "Should", "Have To" or "Be Supposed To" instead.
9) In Questions
The verb Be can form questions all by itself
Is Anna a new teacher? Who is Anna?
10) Contracted forms of the verb Be
Many examples:
☘ I am – I'm
And some exclusions:
I/he/she/it was – not contracted
we/you/they were – not contracted
Next is Verbs Glossary of terms
/Types of Verb
1) Main verbs
Main verbs, or principal verbs, are notional verbs, i.e., they have full lexical meaning of their own.
# Buy, eat, do, give, go, live, love, make, permit, push, see, study, take, try, understand, write.
Main verbs express an action (give, study, take) or a state (love, see, exist).
They can be characterized from different sides: transitive or intransitive; action verbs and stative verbs; regular or irregular.
Phrasal verbs are verbs that form idiomatic phrases with postpositions (give up; turn off; write down) or with prepositions (go into; look for; take after). Postpositions are usually called adverbs or adverbial particles in English linguistic materials.
2) Auxiliary verbs
Auxiliary verb Be, Have, Will, Do perform grammatical functions and do not have specific meaning. The verb Be helps to form the continuous tenses in the active voice and all of the tenses in the passive voice. The verb Have helps to form the perfect tenses. Both Have and Be are used in the formation of the perfect continuous tenses.
The verb Will helps to form the future tenses. The verb Do helps to ask questions and to give short answers in the simple present and simple past.
The verbs Be, Have, Will, Do, can also function as notional verbs, in which case they have lexical meaning and are used as main verbs.
# Can you do it? (do - perform, fulfill)
# Do what you will. (Will - wish)
3) Transitive and intransitive verbs
Transitive verbs require a direct object.
# She made coffee. He reads books. Take a pen and write a letter.
Intransitive verbs can't take a direct object. They may be used without an object or may be followerd by a prepositional object or by an adverbial modifier.
# She waited for the bus
("waited" is am intransitive verb, so you can't say "she waited the bus", hence the prepositional object "for the bus")
The abbreviations v.t. or vt are used to indicate transivite verbs in dictionaries; v.i. or vi indicate intransitive verbs. Many verbs can be used transitively and intransitively.
# (Transitive "leave") He left his bag. He left a note.
# (Intransitive "leave") He left. He left quickly. He left for London.
4) Action verbs and stative verbs
Action verbs express an action (break, turn, run). Most main verbs are action verbs. Stative verbs (aka nonprogressive verbs) do not express an action (because they express state). Generally, they are not used in the continuous tenses.
Stative verbs include:
Verbs of mental perception
# Know, believe, suppose, understand, remember
Verbs of sense perception
# See, feel, hear, smell
Verbs of emotional state
# Like, love, hate, want
And some other... (own, belong, cost, seem, look)
Some stative verbs can also function as action verbs.
# She looks good.
/ # She is looking out of the window.
5) Regular and irregular verbs
Regular verbs add the ending ED to form the simple past tense and the past particle.
# Play - played - played
Irregular verbs form the same forms by changing the root of the word
# Go - went - gone
6) Strong and weak verbs
The terms "strong verbs" and "weak verbs" are sometimes used in ESL (English as a Second Language??? (effectively this means that native speakers aren't aware of such classification)) materials.
Strong verbs form the simple past tense by changing the vowel in the root. All of them are irregular verbs.
# Fall - fell, see - saw, write - wrote
On the other hand weak verbs include regular verbs because regular verbs add the ending ED to form the simple past tense without changing the root vowel. Weak verbs also include some of the irregular verbs that end in "t" or "d" in the past tens
# Bring - brought, cut - cut, feed - fed, spend - spent
7) Modal verbs
# Can, Could, May, Might, Must, Should, Will, Would
Modal verbs are also called modal auxiliaries or modals. Modal verbs are used with different forms of the infinitive (without the paricle To) and form a limited number of tenses.
Modal verbs describe the speaker's attitude (e.g. ability, necessity, probability, advice) to the action expressed by the infinitive.
# She can sing very well. I must talk to him.
8) Linking verbs
A linking verb (also called a connecting verb, a copulative verb, a copula verb, a copula, a link verb, a link-verb) connects the subject and the predicative complement and shows the relationship between them.
Main linking verb is Be. Other verbs that can function as linking verbs:
# Become, grow, get, look, seem, appear, feel
/ # He became a writer
9) Complement
A complement is a word or a structure that completes the meaning of a verb, of a subject or of an object.
Verb complements are direct and indirect objects that stand after the verb.
# She gave the book to Anna. Give me a pen.
Subject complement stands after the linking verb (i.e., it is predicative complement)
# It is a book. The book is interesting.
Object complement stands after the object to which it refers.
# We elected Anton president. I find it strange.
Subject complement in the form of a noun is called a predicative noun, a predicative nominal. Subject complement in the form of an adjective is called a predicative adjective, a predicate adjective.
10) Predicate
The predicate tells what the subject does, what the subject is, what the subject is like, etc. There are some differences in the description of the types of predicate in Russian and English materials. I will skip the russian part though. But can you at least form some kind of opinion about this difference? The differences, which are numerous, seem quite arbitrary to me.
In English linguistic materials, two main types of predicate are usually described: the simple predicate and the complete predicate.
The simple predicate consists of only the verb and its auxiliaries.
# Alex "writes" well. Alex "is writing".
# Alex "is writing" a letter to his friend.
# She "has been sleeping" since five o'clock.
The complete predicate consists of the verb and its complements and modifiers that complete the meaning of the verb:
# Alex "writes well". Alex "is writing a letter to his friend".
# Her children "Have been playin in the yard since morning".
The predicate consisting of coordinate verbs (coordinate elements) is called a compound predicate.
# The boy "reads and writes every day".
# They "ran after him but didn't catch him".
Note: In English materials the simple predicate and the verb in the complete predicate are usually called "the verb".
The other parts of the complete predicate have their own names. For example: predicative complement, predicative nominal, verb complement.
...
....продолжение Verbs: A Glossary of Terms
/Verb Forms
In the context of verb forms, the terms "finite forms, inflected forms, conjugated forms, tense forms" mean the same thing: the forms that verbs can take in order to express such verb categories as person number, tense, voice, mood.
1) Principal parts
Main verb forms used in the formation of tense forms are called principal parts. Different linguistic sources list from three (1. base form, 2. past form, 3. past participle) to five principal parts (4. third person singular 5. present participle)
# Take
/ # 1. take 2. took 3. taken 4. takes 5. taking
There is also a wide variety of names for these basic terms across different sources.
E.g. Past particle = particle 2, perfect form, third form.
2) Finite and non-finite verbs
Finite verbs (i.e finite verb forms) can show person, number tense, aspect, voice, and mood.
Finite verbs are inflected/conjugated to show these verb categories, i.e., they have inflected forms.
A finite verb (i.e. finite) functions as the predicate in the sentence and agrees with the subject in person and number
# He works. He is working. They work.
Non-finite verb forms, or verbal (i.e., infinitive, gerund, and both participles), cannot show person, number, or tense, but they can show aspect (прогрессив или перфект) and voice with the help of auxiliary verbs.
3) Inflections
Inflection means changing the word form in order ro express certain grammatical categories.
Applied to verbs, inflection means changing the base form of the verb by adding affixes (suffixes, endings) or changing the root of the verb to express the categories of person, number, tense, voice or mood. Inflection of verbal is called conjugation (спряжение).
Inflection of pronouns and nouns for case and number is called declension (склонение).
# I - me; She - her; We - us
Inflection of adjectives and adverbs to show degree is called comparison (сравнение?).
# (adjectives) Cold, Colder, Coldest
/ # Difficult, more difficult, most difficult
# (adverbs) Soon, sooner, soonest
/ # Loudly, more loudly, most loudly
4) Conjugation (спряжение)
...is the inflection of verbs for person, number, tense, voice or mood.
Conjugation is also the whole set of inflected verb forms. A typical conjugation table for person, number, and tense lists (in a certain order) the inflected forms / conjugated forms of a verb; i.e., it shows how this verb changes to show person, number, and tense.
# I play. He plays. ... I was playing. ... They will be playing.
Conjugated forms consisting of one word are simple forms (play, plays, played). Conjugated forms consisting of two or more parts are compound forms (was playing, have been playing)
Compound forms are also called analytical forms or periphrastic (перифрастические (то есть описательные)) forms.
With the exception of the simple forms for the simple present and the simple past tenses in the active voice, English conjugation is periphrastic conjugation. (i.e., formed with the help of an auxiliary verb instead of inflection)
5) Paradigm
A set of inflected forms of a verb is called a paradigm. For example, a conjugation table illustrating present, past and future tense forms of the verb "work" in the active voice is the paradigm of the verb "work" in the active.
/Verb categories
English verbs have such verb categories as person, number, tense, voice, mood.
1) Person and number
The verb Be is the only verb that can be inflected to show person and number in its forms.
Main verbs have only one ending that shows person and number - the ending s/es in the third person singular.
If this ending is absent, person and number should be clear from the subject with which the verb agrees in person and number
# I play. We play. Musicians play.
2) Tense
Tense is a verb category that specifies the time of the action. Tense form is a verb form that is used for expressing the time of the action.
The tense expressed by the tense form and the actual time of the action do not always correspond. For example, in the sentence "I am leaving tomorrow", the present continuous tense is used, but, with the help of the "tomorrow", the future time is expressed in this sentence.
3) Tense and aspect
Tense specifies the time of the action, i.e., present, past, or future. Aspect indicates the character of the action (e.g. repetition, duration, completion) and can be simple, continuous, perfect, or perfect continuous.
In English, tense and aspect are inseparable and are used together to express the time and character of the action, which is reflected in the names of the tenses.
# The present continuous. The simple future.
Verb forms expressing the time and aspect of the action are called tenses, tense forms, tense-aspect forms. Generally, the term "tense" is used in the meaning "tense form" and includes both tense and aspect.
4) System of tenses
The system of English tenses includes four tenses in the present, four tenses in the past, and four tenses in the future.
Tenses are often regarded in groups: the simple tenses / the indefinite tenses; The continuous tenses / the progressive tenses...
Tenses can be in the active or passive voice
5) Voice
Voice shows whether the subject acts or is subjected to action. So it is either active voice or passive voice.
# (active) His parents built a new house ten years ago.
# (passive) A new house was built by his parents ten years ago.
Tense forms in the active have corresponding tense forms in the passive.
The perfect continuous tenses and the future continuous tense are generally not used in the passive.
Because it is fabulously awkward!
# had been being done
# will have been being done
Transitive verbs are used both in the active voice and in the passive voice. Intransitive verbs are generally used only in the active voice.
But there are some intransitive verbs that can also be used in the passive.
# They laughed at him - He was laughed at.
6) Mood
There are three moods in English. Mood shows how the action is viewed by the speaker.
a. The indicative mood expresses a real action in the present, past, or future in the form of statements and questions.
# Why are you laughing?
b. The subjunctive mood expresses supposition (предположения), wish, or unreal condition contrary to the fact.
# He would buy a new car if he had enough money.
c. The imperative mood expresses a command or a request
# Stop laughing and help me!
/Verbals
All verbs, except modal verbs, have four verbal forms which are called verbals or non-finite verb forms.
Verbals have some properties of the verb; for example, they have perfect and passive forms and can take an object. Verbals also have some properties of other pars of speech.
For example, gerunds and infinitive can function as nouns, and participle can function as adjectives
1) *Infinitive*
The infinitive is the base form of the verb plus the particle To
# To see, to walk.
Bare infinitive (i.e., infinitive without the participle To) is used after modal verbs and after the verbs "make, let" (and after "help" in AmE)
# He cam swim. She made me do it.
The infinitive actually has different forms
#To read (active); To be read (passive); To be reading (continuous); To have read (Perfect); To have been reading (perfect continuous).
Simple active and passive infinitive forms are the most common though.
An infinitive can function as the subject, part of the predicate, object, attribute, adverbial modifier.
# To ask such a thing (subject) is ridiculous
# I hope to see you soon (object)
2) Present participle
The present participle is formed by adding the ending Ing to the vase form of the verb and is used in the formation of the continuous tenses and the perfect continuous tenses.
# She has been typing for two hours.
The present participle can also function as an adjective.
# A sleeping child.
3) Past participle
Regular verbs form the past participle by adding the ending Ed to the base form of the verb
# Saved. Played. Answered.
Irregular verbs form the past participle mostly by changing the root.
# Sold. Written. Done.
The past participle is used in the formation of the perfect tenses and of the tenses in the passive.
# He has written two letters.
# The house was built in the 1985.
The past participle can also function as an adjective.
# A broken window. A written exam.
4) Participle constructions
Participles in active, perfect, and passive forms are often used in participial constructions, mostly in writing.
Russian adverbial participle (деепричастие, типа не читающий, а читая, не прилагательное (описание), а наречие (обстоятельство)) does not have a corresponding equivalent in English and is often translated into English with the help of a suitable participle.
# Walking in the park, I saw a very interesting bird.
Гуляя (деепричастиее) в парке, я увидел очень интересную птицу.
# Having walked for an hour, I felt pretty refreshed.
Погуляв (деепричастие) час я почувствовал себя весьма освежившисяю
# Being asked where he had been, the boy answered that he didn't remember.
Будучи (деепричастие) спрошенным (причастие) где он былб мальчик ответилб что он не помнит. (деепричастный оборот)
# Having been asked the same question several time the boy began to cry.
Будучи (деепричастие) спрошенным (причастие) об одном и том же несколько раз, мальчик начал плакать. (деепричастный оборот)
Compound forms are usually replaced by simpler forms:
# Asked where he had been the boy began to cry.
Спрошенный (причастие), где он был, мальчик начал плакать.
5) *Gerund*
The gerund is formed by adding the ending Ing to the base form of the verb.
# Reading, walking, eating.
A gerund functions as a noun.
# Walking is good for your health.
Gerunds can be in active, perfect, and passive forms, of which the simple active form is the most common.
# He remembers giving the keys to that man
Он помнит, что он дал ключи тому человеку.
# He remembers having given the keys to that man.
Он помнит, что он (раньше) дал ключи тому человеку.
# That man doesn't remember being given the keys.
Тот человек не помнит, что ему дали ключи.
# That man doesn't remember having been given the keys.
Тот человек не помнит, что ему (раньше) дали ключи.
6) Verbal noun (отглагольное существительное) and ing-form
In English linguistic materials, the term "ing-form" may include the gerund and the present participle but often denotes only the gerund.
In Russian materials, the term "verbal noun" often denotes a noun derives from a verb with the help of the suffix Ing.
# She likes singing (singing - gerund)
/ # I listened to the singing of the birds (singing - noun)
Короче сингинг там где это герундий это глагольная форма можно сказать ши лайкс сингинг сонгс.
А во втором случае это настоящее отглагольное существительное, можно даже поставить артикль если про какое-то конкретное пение речь.
/ Verbs endings, suffixed, prefixes.
1) Ending s/es
The ending s/es is added to the base form to form the third person singular of the simple present tense.
# I write. She writes.
2) Ending Ed
The ending Ed is added to the base form of regular verbs to form the simple past tense and the past participle, which are the same for regular verbs.
# Look (base form) - looked (past tense) - looked (past participle)
3) Ending Ing
The ending Ing is added to the base form of the verb to form the present participle and gerund.
# Permitting, trying, pushing
4) Suffixes and prefixes
Common suffixes of verbs: IZE, ISE, FY, ATE, EN.
# Organize, advertise, satisfy, decorate, strengthen.
Prefixes are found in many frequently used verbs.
# Become, combine, enjoy, forget, mistake
Many other verbs don't have any suffixes or prefixes that could help us to identify them as verbs.
In all cases, the most reliable way to identify the verb is by its function in the sentence (predicate), by the word order (subject, verb, object), and by the tense form (e.g., is doing; will do; has done)
Next is The Verb Have
It can function as a main verb and as an auxiliary verb. The forms of the verb Have in have/has in the simple present and had in the simple past. This verb is also used in a large number of set expressions and in several commonly used phrases, such as "have got, have to, have got to, had better, have something done".
1) As a main verb
Main meanings of the verb Have as a main verb are "own, possess". In these meanings, the verb Have is a stative verb and is not used in the Continuous tenses.
# He has a sense of humor
The phrase "Have Got" is used as synonym for the verb Have in the meaning "to own, to possess" in the present tense, esecially in everyday speech.
# I've got a new computer
Difference in the use of Have and Have got see in the commentary to Gary Moore's song. There is basically no difference.
Have as a main verb is used in a large number of set expressions in which it may keep or lose the meaning "own, possess"
# To have breakfast. Have a question. Have a good time.
In a number of set expressions denoting some activity or process, for example "to have dinner, have fun, have a walk, have a bath", the verb Have can be used in the continuous tenses
# They are having breakfast now.
# When I came in, he was having a talk with the manager.
Have as a main verb forms questions and negative sentences in the simple present and simple past with the help of the auxiliary verb Do.
# What do you have in mind?
# I don't have a dictionary British slang.
Note: Some negative sentences with Have can be formed with the help of No before the noun
# He has no friends.
2) As an auxiliary verb
The verb Have is used as an auxiliary verb in the formation of the perfect tenses and of the perfect continuous tenses.
# She has been waiting for two hours
It also can form questions and negative sentences on its own
# Have you ever been to Australia?
# She hasn't called him yet
Sometimes when the auxiliary verb Have and the main verb Have are used together it could look confusing. Just remember that the tense form to the perfect tenses is have + past participle of the main verb. And if the main verb in the sentence happens to be Have, the the tense forms will be "have had, has had, had had, will have had".
# She has had a headache for three days.
# I have had enough of your criticism!
3) The Phrase HAVE TO
The Verb HAVE express modality in the phrase HAVE TO in the meaning "necessity". The phrase HAVE TO, i.e., have + infinitive with the particle "to", is used as the most common substitute for the modal verb MUST in the meaning "necessity".
# I must write a report today. - I have to write a report today.
The Phrase HAVE GOT TO is used as a synonym for HAVE TO and MUST in the present in informal speech.
# I've got to talk to him about it.
The phrase HAD BETTER is used as a synonym for SHOULD and OUGHT TO for giving advice.
# Your cough is getting worse; you had better see a doctor.
4) Construction "have something done"
Construction HAVE + OBJECT + PAST PARTICIPLE is one of the types of the construction VERB + COMPLEX OBJECT. It is widely used in describing the actions performed for you by someone else, usually in the form of services rendered to you by service companies.
# I had my hair cut yesterday
In some cases, the verb GET can replace the verb HAVE in this construction in everyday speech
# Where can I get it done?
Note that the same construction with the verb HAVE may have another meaning:
# She had all her money stolen. (Someone stole all her money. All her money was stolen.)
"Someone" may also be used (instead of "something") in such constructions with the verb HAVE.
# She had him arrested. (She caused the police to arrest him.)
# You had me worried (I was worried about you. You made me worry.)
# He had us laughing (We were laughing because of him. He made us laugh.)
The construction "Have someone do something" has the following meaning: to ensure (to cause, request, ask) that someone performs some action. In everyday speech, "get someone to do something" may be used (meaning: to ask, to persuade someone to to do something). You can replace these constructions with simpler constructions in your speech.
# Have him call me, please. - Ask him to call me, please.
# I got him to repair my bicycle. - I asked/persuaded him to repair my bicycle
Next is The Verb DO
Since I stopped aggressively trying to rewrite every subsection, maybe I will at least discuss it. What is new, what is surprising? What is useful and what do I need to memorize?
Those "have me to do" construction are strange. I suspect they are barely in use. Switching someone/something like in "she had him arrested/I had my hair done" is also confusing because both cases involve a person doing the thing. HAD BETTER, I positively have never heard of before. "you had better see a doctor" is this past simple or what... ну типа "надо бы". You remember that modal meaning expresses attitude of the speaker, so the speaker thinks it's better for you to go. And HAVE drifting in the past to HAD is a sight of imaginary, subjunctive mood. Like in many other modal or polite request cases.
The verb DO is used mainly as an auxiliary verb.
1) Functions and forms: General information
The verb DO can function as an auxiliary verb
# Do you speak English? No, I don't.
It can also be a main verb.
The verb DO is often used as a substitute for other verbs to avoid repetition:
# She sings better than he does.
It can also be used to emphasize the meaning of other verbs.
# But I did tell you! Do visit us.
The Verb DO is also used in a large number of set expressions.
# Do the dishes. Do one's hair. Do math. That will do. Do without.
The verb DO is an irregular one!
# do-did-done
Full and contracted negative forms are widely used. Full forms are considered preferable in formal style of writing.
2) DO as an auxiliary verb
As an auxiliary verb, Do performs grammatical functions and does not have a specific lexical meaning of its own.
The main verb after the auxiliary verb DO is always used in the base form.
# She lives here. Does she live here? No, she doesn't live here.
The auxiliary verb DO helps to form question and short affirmative and negative answers in the simple present and simple past. Full negative answers are also constructed with the help of DO
# Do you speak English? - Yes, I speak English.
Take a note: an auxiliary verb is not needed in questions to the subject
# Who locked the door? Who did it?
3) The verbs DO, BE, HAVE, WILL
The auxiliary verb DO helps main verbs to form questions and short answers in the simple present and simple past.
In the other tenses, questions and short answers are formed with the help of the auxiliary verbs BE, HAVE, WILL.
# He works at a bank. - Does he work at a bank? - Yes he does.
# He has worked here for five years. - Has he worked here for five years? - Yes, he has.
The verb HAVE as a main verb needs the auxiliary verb DO to form questions and short answers in the simple present and simple past.
# She has a car. - Does she have a car? - Yes, she does.
4) Negative sentences
The auxiliary verb DO helps to form negative declarative sentences in the simple present and simple past.
# Don't forget about it. Don't be late.
5) DO as a substitute
The auxiliary verb DO is used as a substitute for the main verb to avoid its repetition (in the simple present and simple past)
# I know it better than you do
6) DO for emphasis
The auxiliary verb DO is sometimes used to emphasize the meaning of the main verb in the simple present and simple past. In such constructions, DO is stressed and stands before the base form of the main verb. The verb DO is used only in the affirmative form in such constructions.
The verb DO in this function is used to stress, contradict, confirm, or clarify; that is , such constructions are not used just to tell about some action.
# I'm sorry that he doesn't visit them. - But he does visit them! Oh, I'm sorry, I'm such an idiot.
If there is no necessity to emphasize the meaning of the main verb, don't use do in such cases.
# Yes, I do believe him. - Yes, I believe him.
Note: The auxiliary verbs BE, HAVE, WILL can emphasize the meaning of the main verb too (if necessary), but only by placing stronger stress on the auxiliary verb.
# Why haven't you done your homework? - But I have done it. Here it is.
The verb DO may also be used to emphasize a request (In imperative sentences). DO in such constructions implies "please do it; please try to do what I ask". If there is no necessity to make an emphatic request, use "please", not DO.
# Do sit down. - Please sit down.
7) DO as a main verb
As a main verb (principal verb), DO is a notional verb and has the following general main meaning: to perform some action.
# He does his work very well.
8) Auxiliary and main verb DO
The auxiliary verb DO and the main verb DO (that is, the notional verb DO) often appear in one and the same sentence. In the examples below, the first DO is an auxiliary verb; the secon DO is a main verb.
# When do you do your homework?
# Why didn't you do the dishes?
9) Tense forms of DO
Since the auxiliary verb DO is used in interrogative and negative sentences with main verbs only in the simple present and simple past, it has only the tense forms for the simple present and simple past: do, does, did.
The tense forms of he main verb DO are formed in the same way as the tense forms of other main verbs:
Present tenses...
Past tenses...
Future tenses...
Note in British English, the pronouns "I" and "we" are also used with "shall" to show the future.
# I/we shall do; shall be doing; shall have done; shall have been doing.
10) Forms of DO in the passive
Passive constructions with the verb DO are formed with help of the auxiliary verbs BE, HAVE, WILL and the past participle "done".
# It is done. They were being done.
Next are tests English Verbs
This is a strange section in the sense that there is a lot of repetition here. Not from previous chapters, which would be understandable, but from this section itself. I definitely wrote many things twice.
Anyway, what about new cool facts? Well, the claim that DO is mostly an auxiliary verb is an intriguing one. Also, I haven't come across "Shall" since the school; it just disappeared. Though that's not completely true. "Shall we dance" is the tittle of the popular Japanese movie. I assume the director isn't a very confident English speaker, haha. (No, it's just a remake of the 1936 movie with the same name. Shall was more popular back then, I imagine.)
& New construction "there is... here". Despite the repetition it sounds natural.
Blogposting, goalpost-moving:
My goal is to start writing in English in my paper diary eventually. There is no built-in grammar check, which is why I need to actually learn grammar myself. Originally, I planned to complete the study before applying my knowledge to the paper. But I've been thinking in English so much lately, that now when I try to write in Russian my mind goes blank. So I think I will start today.
Two mistakes here:
1) I used "to start write" which sounds unnatural and I knew I probably should have used two "to"s in a row instead. But I didn't know why. The answer is that "to start" is a special verb like "begin, love, stop" after which we need an infinitive or a gerund. It's easy to remember, since it functions as an object we need something resembling a noun.
2) I originally wrote "before apply", but after prepositions, which "before" is, we need -ing form of a verb.
/ Mistakes from this text:
1) SHOULD + HAVE + V3. This construction is used because modal verb "should" doesn't have its own past form, but we need to keep the past tense after "I knew"
I expect to find this rule in the "sequence of tenses " section.
И сам молодец, и мотивируешь окружающих тоже взяться за заброшенное
2: The Verb BE
>There were several rare books in his collection, weren't there?
Why is it "weren't there" and not "weren't they"? What is supposed to be the answer? "Yes they there"? I assess this sentence is about books, not "being there".
It turned out "there" is a special "grammatical/dummy" subject here, so the tag question agrees with it. The answer would be "yes, there were".
Next is Verbals
The infinitive is a verbal (a non-finite verb form) which consists of the base from of the verb with the particle "to"
1) Properties and functions of the infinitive
The infinitive has some properties of the verb. The infinitive names an action (to drive a car) or state (to be sick), but cannot show person, number, or mood.
The infinitive has active and passive forms #to take, to be taken
And can express voice and time, though in a rather limited way.
The infinitive can have a direct object
# He plans to visit a museum
Or a prepositional object
# He wants to know about it
And can be modified by an adverb
# He tried to walk slowly.
The infinitive can be part of the compound verbal predicate
# She can drive. We must go.
Or part of the compound nominal predicate
# His aim is to help you.
The infinitive alone, without another verb, is generally not used as the predicate.
The infinitive has some properties of the noun and can be in the function of the subject
# To quit now would be a mistake
Or an object
# He likes to sing. She asked me to wait.
The infinitive can be in the function of an ttribute
# He has no desire to see (attribute describing desire) them
The infinitive can function as an adverbial modifier of purpose
# He came here to study
Or as an adverbial modifier of consequence
# He was too tired to go to the cinema
2) Use of particle "to"
As a rule, the infinitive is preceded by the particle "to". But...
The particle "to" is omitted after modal verbs
# You can go. You must take it
After the verbs MAKE, LET.
# Make him eat. Let her play.
After the verb HELP in American English
# Help me find my book.
And in constructions with perception verbs like see, hear, watch, feel, notice... In such cases the verb take an object + bare infinitive.
# She saw him leave. He heard her sing.
If the verbs "make, help, see, hear" in such construction are used in the passive voice, the infinitive after them keeps the particle "to":
# He was made to leave.
# He was seen to enter that building.
If there are two infinitives next to each other connected by "and, or, but, except, than", The second infinitive is often used without "to"
# I told him to sit down and rest.
# There was nothing to do but wait.
But it is often necessary to pereat "to" before the second infinitive for clarity, especially in longer inginitive phrases.
# I told him to sit down on the sofa and to rest a little
# It is easier to type this text than to write it.
The particle "to" is often used without the infinitive at the end of the sentence if the infinitive is clearly mentioned earlier in the sentence
# He asks me to do this work, but I don't want to.
3) How infinitives express time
The finite verb forms express the time of the action in the present, past, or future.
But the infinitive can express time only relatively, i.e., in relation to the action expressed by the verb in the predicate.
The action indicated by the infinitive can be simultaneous with the action expressed by the verb in the predicate.
# He seemed to be sleeping. He is trying to work
The action indicated by the infinitive can precede the action expressed by the verb in the predicate:
# The rain seems to have stopped. It is nice to have talked to you.
The action of the infinitive later than the action of the verb in the predicate is understood from the context and meaning:
# He intends to do it tomorrow. The goods are to be delivered next week.
4) Forms of the infinitive
The infinitive has the following active and passive forms:
# To write (simple), To be writing (continuous), To have written (Perfect), To have been writing (perfect continuous)
# To be written (simple passive), To have been written (perfect passive)
Examples of use:
# I asked him to write a report
# He is suppossed to be writing a report now
# He appears to have written a report already
# He seems to have been writing a report for two hours already (perfect continuous??)
# I expect his report to be written tomorrow (simple passive)
# I expect his report to have been written by now (perfect passive)
Simple active and passive forms are the most common. Compound (analytical) forms of the infinitive are not used very often in general speech and writing.
More examples with perfect and passive forms:
# He is said to have sold all his houses - perfect (Говорят, считается, что он продал все свои дома)
# She was sorry to have said it. - perfect
# He is known to have been working in this field for many years. - perfect continuous
# He wants to be informed about any problems immediately
# He asked to be informed of their arrival
# She is lucky to have been given such an opportunity.
Note: Modal verbs
All of the infinitive forms are used with modal verbs in order to express certain meanings of modal verbs
# He can write reports. (simple)
# He must be writing a report now. (cont)
# He should have written a report yesterday (perfect)
# This report might have been written by one of our freelance workers. (passive perfect)
Simple and compound infinitive forms, together with the verbs WOULD, COULD, MIGHT, are used in the forms expressing unreal condition.
# If I had known it, I would have stayed home. (have stayed = perfect infinitive)
/Typical constructions with infinitives
Only the most common verbs after which the infinitive is used are included in the lists of verbs below. Note that the verbs after which the infinirive is used may be found in more than one construction:
# I expect to arrive tomorrow. - I expect her to arrive tomorrow. - She is expected to arrive tomorrow.
1) Verb + infinitive
In this construction the infinitive stands immediately after the verb, usually after the following verbs: afford, agree, appear, ask, beg, bgin, continue, decide, decerve, expect, fail, forget, hate, hesitate, hope, intend, learn, like, olve, manage, mean, need, offer, plan, prefer, prepare, pretend, promise, refuse, regret, remembe, seem, start, threaten, try, want, would like.
The infinitive is an object after most of the verbs of this group. The infinitive after the linking verbs "appear, seem" is a complement, i.e. part of a compound nominal predicate. In some sources, the infinitive after "appear, seem" is regarded as part of a compound verbal predicate.
# He appears to be tired.
# She seems to like her job.
# She forgot to lock the door.
The continuous infinitive (emphasizing duration of the action) and the perfect infinitive (indicating the preceding action) are rather often used after the verbs "seem, appear, pretend"
# He pretended to be reading
# The weather seems to be improving
# He seems to have lost weight
# He appears to have forgotten about it
Note the use of the passive infinitive in those cases where the person indicated in the subject undergoes the action of the infinitive (i.e., that person does not perform the action himself/herself)
# She doesn't like to be disturbed during her work.
Note: Particle Not
Depending on the meaning of the sentence, NOT can be used with the verb in the predicate or with the infinitive
# He did not promise to do it.
# He promised not to do it.
Note: Gerunds
The verbs "Begin, continue, forget, hate, like, love, prefer, regret, remember, star, try" are also used with a gerund, with or withou a change of meaning.
# He began to eat
/ # He began eating
2) VERB + OBJECT + INFINITIVE
These constructions are divided into four groups here according to the meaning that these constructions convey after certain verbs.
The infinitive functions as an object in such constructions and stands after another object xepressed by a noun or a pronoun.
Group 1 (verbs of inducement, request permission)
In thsi construction the infinitive is used after the verbs "advise, allow, ask, beg, convince, encourage, forbid, force, help, hire, instruct, infive, let, make, order, permit, persuade, remind, teach, tell, urge, warn".
# The doctor advised him to rest for a few days.
# She reminded him to buy cheese
Note: Gerunds
The verbs "advise, allow, forbid, premit" can be followed by a gerund directly.
# She doesn't permit me to use her computer
/ # She doesen't permit useing her computer.
Group 2 (Verbs of desire, mental evaluation)
Want, would like, require, rely on, cont on, expect, consider, find.
# I count on you to do it quickly.
# She found him to be a very nice person.
Group 3 (Verbs of sensory perception)
Hear, see, watch, observe, notice, feel.
# I saw him cross the street
# I heard her cry
The present participle is used instead of the infinitive in such constructions to stress that the action is in progress.
# I saw him crossing the street.
# I heard her singing.
Group 4 (Casuative verbs)
This construction with the verbs "have" and "get" has causative meaning, i.e., "have" and "get" here generally mean "induce someone to do something; ensure that someone does something", with "have" close in meaning to "ask" and "get" close in meaning to "persuade". The infinitive is used without the particle "to" after "have", but with "to" after "get".
# Have him send the letters.
# Get you son to clean the carpet
The past participle is used after the verbs "have" and "get" in constructions like "I had my car washed" which indicate that the action is performed for you by someone.
...продолжение I. The Infinitive
3) Infinitives after passive verb forms
Many verbs can be used in the passive voice with the infinitive in the function of an object after them.
The infinitive is used after the passive forms of the verbs:
"Allow, permit, ask, tell, order, force, advise, warn, encourage"
# She allowed us to go there - We were allowed to go there.
The infinitive is used after the passive forms of the verbs:
"say, report, expect, suppose, allege, believe, know".
# Prices are expected to rise even higher
# She was supposed to arrive at 10 a.m.
Such constructions containing simple, continuous, perfect, or passive forms of the infinirive are often used in news reports.
# The committee is expected to approve this initiative.
# He is alleged to have stolen more than ten million dollars.
4) Infinitive after linking verb BE
The infinitive after the linking verb BE is part of the compound nominal predicate.
# His aim was to help them
# His sole is to be accepted in their circle
5) Infinitives after "how, what, where"
The infinitive as an object is often used after wh-words, usually after the verbs "know, ask,tell, advise, explain, show, decide, wonder, understand"
# I don't know what to say
# Show me how to do it
# The tour guide told us where to find interestin souvenirs.
6) Infinitives after adjectives
The infinitive as an object is used after many adjectives and participles like "able, afraid, amused, anxious, ashamed, astonished, careful, delighted, determined,, disappointed, eager, free, frightened, glad, grateful, happy, interested, lucky, pleased, prepared, proud, ready, relieved, reluctant, sad, shocked, sorry, surprised, terrified, willind"
This construction is often used to describe people's feelings in relation to the action expressed by the infinitive.
# She is afraid to go there alone
# He is eager to be invited to the show
The infinitives "to hear, to see, to learn, to discover, to find" are often used after the adjectives "glad, happy, delighted, disappointed, surprised, sorry"
# She was glad to hear that
# I was surprised to learn that she had quit her job.
7) Infinitives as attributes
The infinitive as an attribute always stands after the noun (or indefinite pronoun) that it modifies.
# I havve a lot of work to do today.
# He has nowhere to go
Infinitives as attributes are used after many nouns: ability, advice, attempt, capacity, chance, command, decision, desire, eagerness, effort, excuse, failure, intention, invitation, necessity, need, offer, opportunity, order, permission, power, promise, reason, recommendation, refusal, reluctance, right, time, way, willingness, wish.
# Her ability to memorize words is amazing.
# They had every reason to believe that he had left the country.
Note: The gerund is also used after some of these nouns with or without a change in meaning.
8) Infinitives in constructions after formal subject IT
The infinitive may be used as the subject of the sentence.
# To find him was difficult.
# To ask him for help was a mistake.
However, it is more common to use the construction in which the pronoun IT is the formal subject, and the infinitive is placed after the predicative adjective or noun.
# It was diffilult to find him
# It was a mistake to ask him for help
The infinitive in this construction is often used after the following adjectives and participles: advisable, amazing, awful, bad, convenient, careless, correct, cruel, dangerous, desirable, difficult, easy, foolish, funny, good, great, hard, helpful, important, impossible, interesting, intolerable, natural, necessary, nice, pleasant, possible, reasonable, ridiculous, silly, strange, surprising, terrible, unbearable, undesirable, unnecessary, unpleasant, unreasonable, useful, useless, wise, wonderful, wrong
# It is useless to talk with you.
The infinitive in this construction is used after various nouns like duty, fun, idea, mistake, pleasure, surprise, thing, time.
# It's a good idea to invite John.
9) FOR + noun / pronoun + infinitive
The action indicated by the infinitive usually refers to the subject or to the object.
# I'm planning to visit her
/ # I asked him to visit her
In some sentences, the action indicated by the infinitive does not refer either to the subject or to the object:
# It is pleasant to walk in the park
# The tea was too hot to drink
It is necessary in such sentences to indicate the person to whom the action of the infinitive refers, add "for + noun / pronoun" before the infinitive.
# It is pleasant for me to walk in the park
# The tea was too hot for the children to drink.
In some cases "of + noun / pronoun" is used before the infinitive ro indicate the person to whom the action of the infinitive refers.
# It was very nice of you to bring her flowers.
# It was inconsiderate of him to ask her such questions.
10) Infinitive of purpose
The infinitive is pften used as an adverbial modifier of purpose. In this function the infinitive may be preceded by "in order" or "so as".
# Press Enter to start the installation
# I went out to by bread and milk
For emphasis, the infinitive of purpose is sometimes placed at the beginning of the sentence.
# To understand his stories, you need to know where he grew up.
11) Infinitive of consequence
The infinitive is also used as an adverbial modifier of consequence, with the adverbs "too" and "enough".
# I was too tired to notice it.
# She is old enough to undestand it.
12) Other infinitive constructions
The infinitive without the particle "to" may be used as the predicate in interrogative sentences beginning with "Why" and expressing suggestion, usually in everyday speech.
# Why waste time on such trifles?
# Why pay more than necessary?
# Why not wait a little?
The infinitive with the particle "to" may be used as the predicate in the meaning close to the meaning of the phrase BE TO expressing strong expectation that some action is going to happen according to rules, agreements, plans, and the like. Such use of the infinitive is mostly found in legal, commercial, or technical texts, in newspaper articles, and advertising materials.
# Buyers to pay for ordered good upon delivery (Покупатели должны оплатить заказанные товары после доставки.)
# Three new schools are to open next year
(Три новые школы должны открыться в следующем году.)
The same construction may be used as an infinitive phrase at the end of the sentence.
# Goods are ordered by catalogue, buyers to pay for ordered goods upon delivery.
13) Set expressions with infinitives
Needless to say. So to speak. To be quite frank. To make matters worse. To put it mildly. To say the least. To tell the truth.
# Needless to say, he lost my books.
14) Split infinitive
A split infinitive is a construction in which the adverb that modifies the infinitive is placed between the particle "to" and the infinitive. Split infinitives are quite common in informal English speech.
Generally, style manuals say that the particle "to" should not be separated from the infinitive without necessity, especially in writing.
For example, splitting the infinitive in the following sentences is considered unnecessary:
# They want to quickly sell the house
# He seems to complain about it often.
However, in some cases plscin the adverb between the particle "to" and the infinitive is preferable to placing that adverb in any other part of the sentence because such use may help to espress the meaning more clearly and may even help to aboid possible misunderstandin of the whole sentence. The adverbs "really, fully, even, never, ever" are rather often placed between the particle "to" and the infinirive
For example, look at this sentence: She always tried to really undestand young children and thei hopes and fears. I we move "really" to some other places, the meaning will change, the construction will become awkward or incorrect: always really tried to understand; always tried really to understand; to understand really young children; to understand young children and their hopes and fears really.
A hundred years ago, the split infinitive was considered to be bad writing style. Nowadays split infinitives are becoming more acceptable in speech and writing. It is advisable for language learners to use split infinitives sparingly and only when such use in necessary for clear and correct expression of the meaning.
Next is Infinitive or Gerund
My main impression is mind-numbing lists of words. Different forms of the infinitive are cool though. It's almost like they have their own, separate system of tenses. Also, as far as I know in Russian infinitives can't be conjugated in that way.
What is an infinitive after all? It's a verb that follows another verb so we use particle "to" to make things less awkward.
"We need people's consent to enter the singularity," the pretty girl said
"Not really, AI will run simulation of everyone's brain and understand what they need," the tech bro answered
- But this is not the same as asking for consent. I can't create your clone, ask him what he thinks and then pretend that I asked you.
- AI can run a simulation of asking you and all others, or even a simulation of humanity discussing this issue for 1000 years and coming to a conclusion.
This dialogue illustrates a rather fundamental misconception of the rationalist community. They think we live in a society optimizing for happiness, when democracy actually optimizes for agency.
This section consists mostly of examples of usage. It is intended to help us decide between the gerund and the infinitive. But in a number of cases a noun, a pronoun, or a subordinate clause introduced by the conjunction "that" may be preferable after some of these verbs
# He denied stealing the money. He denied that he had stolen the money. He denied it.
It's literally just lists of verbs. I have no idea how to summarize it. Perhaps I will just read the list and write down a few examples.
1) VERB + INFINITIVE
# We propose to leave tomorrow.
# He swore to take revenge on them
The verb "promise" is usually followed by the infinitive directly
# She promised to wait for them.
Other common constructions:
# She promised that she would wait for them
# She promised him that she would not tell anyone.
2) VERB + GERUND
# He admitted taking the money
# Imagine winning a valuable prize.
# She tried running in the morning, but she didn't like it
Notes: infinitive/gerund differences in meaning
(a) There is little or no difference after "begin, start, continue, like, love, hate, prefer, can't, bear, can't stand"
# She started to cry. She started crying.
(b) There is noticeable difference in meaning after "forget, remember, regret, stop, try"
# I will not forget to call him. - I will never forget talking with him on that day.
(c) Note the use of the verbs "cease" and "quit", synonyms of the verb "stop": "cease" usually takes an infinitive but sometimes may take a gerund with little change in meaning; "quit" takes a gerund.
(d) Sometimes a gerund is used after "attempt, neglect, plan" with the same meaning as that of the infinitive.
# Have you ever attempted climbing this mountain?
# Don't neglect writing to her once in a while
# I planned visiting Rome
(e) Sometimes an infinitive is used after "dread", with the same meaning as that of the gerund
# She dreads to think that they may come back
(f) The verb "intend" is usually followed by an infinitive but sometimes may be followed by a gerund with no change in meaning:
# We intend to visit them tomorrow. We intend visiting them tomorrow.
(g) The verbs "mean, propose" in the meaning "intend" are followed by an infinitive; the verb "mean" in the meaning "denote, imply" is followed by a gerund; the verb "propose" in the meaning "suggest" is followed by gerund.
# I propose to stay there for about a week
/ # I propose staying here.
(h) The verb "need" is usually followed by and infinitive
# We need to talk. He needs to by a new car.
It is followed by a gerund in the phrase "to need doing", usually about cleaning, repairing, improving something.
# Your jacket need cleaning. These doors need painting.
Passive infinitives can also be used in such situations:
# You jacket needs to be cleaned.
# These doors need to be painted.
3) VERB + NOUN / PRONOUN + INFINITIVE
# They don't allow him to smoke here
# I would like you to stay here.
Note: The particle "to" disappears after certain verbs. But in passive voice it appears again.
But still in set expressions (let go; make believe; make do) no "to" is used.
# Let go of my hand.
# They made believe that it was true
(Они притворились, что это была правда)
# We made do with what we had
(Мы обошлись тем, что у нас было)
Note: in some constructions present participle is used for expressing the action in progress.
Note: in some other constructions a gerund is used after "advise, allow, forbid, permit"
# He advised buying a new TV set.
# They don't allow parking here.
# She forbids entering this room.
4) VERB IN THE PASSIVE VOICE + INFINITIVE
# He is alleged to have committed several crimes
# Four people are reported to have been injured in the explosion.
Note: All other things are described in other sections.
Next is The Participle
What is the difference between the infinitive and the gerund? The infinitive is more future-oriented and the gerund is more about the present, I infer. Perhaps the use of the verb "propose" in its "intend" / "suggest" senses is a good illustration.
/Main points
- -ing are present participles, -ed are past participles
- Participles have some qualities of verbs and are used in tenses formation
# He is typing; he has written a letter
- They have qualities of adjectives and are used as attributes
# A smiling girl; surprised faces
- In the function of adverbial modifier
# He opened the door, smiling. Surprised, he didn't know what to say.
- A participle construction (причастный оборот), that is, a participle together with the words closesly connected with it, can function as an attribute
# The girl sitting at the table
Or as an adverbial modifier
# Standing by the window, she watched the birds
Participle construction are usually called "participial phrases" or "participial clauses" in English grammar materials
- English participles are translated into Russian with the help of verbs, adjectives, participles, adverbial participles. Russian adverbial participle (деепричастие) has no corresponding form in English.
/Formation of participles
1) Present participles
It is formed by adding "ing"
# Flying, playing, running
The present participle expresses active meaning
2) Past participle
Second form of the verb (-ed)
It expresses passive meaning:
# Done, moverd, sold
/ Formation of tenses
Skip because there are a whole chapter about tenses, for Christ's sake
/ Forms of participles
There are two forms: simple (one word like "doing") and compound, formed with the help of auxiliaries verbs "be" and "have"
# Having done (perfect active); being done (passive); having been done (perfect passive).
1) Examples of simple and compound forms
# The boy is reading a book (present cont)
# The reading boy didn't pay any attention to the teacher's words. (attribute)
# The boy reading a book didn't pay any attention to the teacher's words. (participial phrase as an attribute)
# He was sitting by the window, reading a book. (adverbial modifier)
# Having read ten pages of the book, he decided to have a break. (adverbial modifier, perfect form)
# / After reading ten pages of the book he decied to have a break (reading here is a gerund)
# The books read by him last week included several fairy tales. (attribute)
# The story being read by him now is called "The Wonderful Wizard of OZ". (attribute, passive)
# Published in 1900, the story was adapted into a film in 1939. (attribute)
# Having been translated into several languages, this story is well known in many countries. (perfect passive attribute)
2) Translation of participles
Skip. Third warning that there are no adverbial participles (деепричастий) in English.
3) Participles as attributes
They modify nouns...
4) Participle before noun
# Boiled water!
5) Participle after noun
Participles that are closer to verbs than to adjectives are often placed after the nouns that they modify
# The problem remaining; the people attending; the people involved
In such cases, you canuse a participle construction instead of a single participle. A participle construction expresses the same maning as a relative subordinate clause (attribute clause)
Compare these sentences containing a single participle, a prticiple construction, or a relative clause:
# The questions discussed were quite important
/ # The questions discussed at the meeting were quite imporntant.
// # The questions that were discussed at the meeting were quite important.
6) Participle construction after noun
Participle constructions in the function of attributes stand after the nouns that they modify
# The boy playing with the kitten is my nephew
# I need a list of the goods sold yesterday.
7) Active and passive meaning of participles
In the function of attributes, present participles express active meaning, and past participles express passive meaning.
# Bored; boring
8) Intensifiers with past participles
The adverbs "very, much, very much" intensify the meaning. "Very" is used with adjectives (and with adverb, e.g., very quickly); "much" and "very much" are used with verbs. For example, you can say "This book is very good" and "I liked it very much", but you can't say "I very liked it".
So participles with strong adjective qualities go with "very" and more verbial ones go with "much"
# Very bored, very interested, very surprised
# Much obliged, much reduced, very much criticized
Present participles don't use "much" at all, and whether you can use "very" depends of the meaning, how close to adjective it is.
# very interesting / but not very flying
9) Participles as adverbial modifiers
# Arriving at the aripport, we learned that our fligh was delayed because of weather conditions.
# When doing the exercises, look up the new words
# Laughing, the girls ran out of the classroom
Past participles examples
# If lost in a new city, call the police
# Left in the yard, the books were spoiled by the pouring rain.
# Cook and stir until thickened
10) Dangling participle
Usually, the action expressed by the participle in the function of an adverbial modifier refers to the subject of the sentence.
The term "dangling participle" (unattached participle) refers to the situation in which, because of incorrect sentence structure, the participle is unrelated to the subject or is connected to the wrong noun.
# Coming out of the hounse, the rain started.
# Not knowing his telephone, a letter was sent to him
They should be restructured!
# Coming out of the house, I saw that the rain started.
# Not knowing his telephone, we sent a ltter to him
It is sometimes used in literary works.
# Going home, it occured to me that I had probably seen him before.
Note: prepositions and conjunctions in the form of participles should not be regarded as dangling participles
# Considering the price, this table is a good buy
# Stricrly speaking, they are not her relatives.
11) Absolute participle construction
Such constructions have their own subjects, they usually appears in literarty and scientific works.
# The weather being nice and warm, we went for a walk. (As the weather was nice and warm, we went for a walk)
# Sydney is the largest city in Australia, with Melbourne being the second largest.
12) Participles in constructions with comples object
In "I saw him crossing the street" the construction "him crossing" is called "complex object".
Present participle
# I heard them laughing.
# I headr her cry (infinitive)
Past participle
# We want him elected
(it may be regarded as shortened variant of the passive infinitive form "to be elected")
13) Construction HAVE SOMETHING DONE
The action is performed for you by someone else
# She had her purse stolen yesterday
I learned different form of particles like having learned, being learned, having been learned (passive perfect). Also, now I know that "much" is for verbs and "very" is for adjectives.
Next is Participle and Gerund
1) Comparison of present participle and gerund
They look the same, but present participle is used in the formation of certain tenses and can also be used in the function of an adjective. The gerund is used in the function of a noun.
Participles, gerunds and their constructions are often translated into Russian with the help of adverbial participles (деепричастий) or subordinate clauses (придаточных предложений), i.e., participles and gerunds may be indistinguishable in Russian translation.
2) Present participle and gerund: Simple forms
Pr part:
# The girl is singing. (present continuous)
# The singing girl is very pretty (adjective)
# The girl singing a song is from my class (attribute)
Gerund:
# Singing is her hobby (noun... subject)
# Her hobby is singing (predicative noun)
# She likes singing (direct object)
3) Present participle and gerund: Compound forms
Compound forms are perfect, passive and perfect passive. Remember that the gerund answers question "what".
Participles:
# Having written my article, I asked the secretary to type it.
# The question being discussed now is rather difficult.
# His task having been finished, he went home.
Gerunds:
# I remember having written several letters before writing the report
# She insists on being told the truth
# He was surprised at having been invited to the wedding reception.
4) Participle and gerund after BE
(a) After the auxiliary verb BE, the participle is part of the tense form. After the linking verb BE, the participle is used a predicative adjective. The gerund after the linking verb BE is used as a predicative nominal.
# Her knowledge of European countries is amazing (predicative adjective)
# Her favorite occupation is traveling in Europe (predicative noun)
(b) The present participle in the function of an adjective may be used after some other linking verbs. The gerund in the function of direct object is used after many notional verbs.
# She likes traveling. (direct object)
# He suggested visiting a museum.
5) Participles and gerunds before nouns
Compare these participle + noun and gerund + noun combinations. Note the stress.
# Swimming boy - Swimming pool
# Reading girl - reading lamp
# Moving truck - moving truck
You see, the participle is used as an attribute and usually expresses continuous nature oaf the action (the swimming boy = the boy who is swimming). The gerund is used as a noun (i.e., as the first part of a compound noun) and shows for what something is used (a swimming pool = a pool for swimming).
6) Gerund after prepositions
Since gerund functions as a noun it is often used after prepositions
# Ater leaving; before asking a question; on receiving their letter
# Necessiti of going there; importance of being punctual
# To be fond of singing; to be proud of winning the game
Note: After the conjunctions "when" and "while" the present participle is used.
# Be very attentive when reading the terms of the contract.
# We discussed those questions while preparing for the meeting.
7) Participles, gerunds and their constructions
Participles, gerund and their constructions often stand at the beginning of sentences. Gerunds are often found after prepositions.
# Talking with her, I understood that she didn't know about that incident. (participle)
# Talking with her was not easy (gerund)
# Coming home, he found several valuable things missing (participles)
# On coming home he found several valuable thins missing. (gerund coming)
(You see, the preposition makes it more like a noun)
# Having called the police, he checked the door lock again. (participle)
# After calling the police, he checked the door lock again. (gerund)
# Having seen him there before, she thinks that he lives there. (participle)
# She remembers having see him there before (gerund, note that this is an object)
# He left early, saying that he had an appointment (participle)
# She left without saying good-bye (gerund)
8) Set phrases with gerund
(a) IT IS NO USE + GERUND
# It is no use waiting for him
# It is no use asking him for help
To understand more clearly why this is a gerund reconstruct the sentence, replace the formal subject "it" with the real subject:
# Waiting for him is (of) no use.
(b) THERE IS NO POINT + IN + GERUND
# There was no point in asking him about it
# There is no sense in going there now
(c) WE HAD TROUBLE + GERUND
# He had trouble finding a place to live
# She had difficulty getting a visa
(d) BE WORTH + GERUND
# This coat is worth buying
# It's a trifle. It's not worth mentioning
9) GERUND AFTER POSSESIVE FORMS OF NOUNS AND PRONOUNS
This whole construction functions as a noun.
# Tom's leaving so early upset our plans
# We are proud of his winning a prize
# She resented their coming to her birthday party without invitation
# I saluted our winning a prize.
# I like this sofa and object to its being replaced.
# These planes are very noisy, and their flying so low is getting on my nerves
In informal speech apostrophe "s" disappears and personal pronouns re used in the objective case.
# We are proud of Anton winning a prize
# We are proud of him winning a prize
# He was angry at them telling him what to do and what not to do.
Next is The Gerund
I need to use "gerund after possessives construction" at every opportunity. Overall, to spot the gerund is easy, it's just a noun.
How tragic is that. But he continues with lines talking about how much worse things are happening in Ukraine.
Overall, this book is a tad depressing, you can tell. Things just get progressively worse chapter by chapter. And Navalny's relentless optimism gets on my nerves sometimes. But this is his life, after all, not mine.
He mentioned "RPG and strategy video games" very briefly. Wondering what exactly he meant, I googled his interview with Kanobu in 2013 where he says that he is a fan of Jagged Alliance, and is waiting for the 3rd part. It turned out Jagged Alliance 3 was released in 2023 and Navalny didn't have the opportunity to play it. How tragic is that, huh.
1) Forms of gerund
Simple active: writing
Perfect: having writing
Passive: being written
Perfect passive: having been written
Simple active and passive forms usually express an action that is simultaneous with the action expressed by the main verb.
The perfect form and the perfect passive form express an action that precedes the action expressed by the main verb.
# Asking questions is his hobby. (simple)
# I completely forgot having asked him to wait for me there. (perfect)
# She dosen't like being asked such questions. (passive)
# He could not remember ever having been asked to do such a thing (perfect passive)
2) Perfect forms
The simple active form is often used when we don't need to stress that the action precedes the action expressed by the main verb (provided that context is clear).
# I remember asking her about it
# I don't remember being asked about it.
# He mentioned reading it in a magazine.
# He thanked them for inviting him
# He apologized for losing my book.
3) Passive forms
After the verbs "need, require, want" in the meaning "need cleaning, repairing, improving" and after the adjective "worth", the active form of the gerund is used, no the passive form.
# The house needs painting.
# This lock needs repairing.
# His car requires painting.
# Your coat wants cleaning.
# This book is worth reading
4) Negative forms
Depending on the meaning, the negative particle "not" is placed between the auxiliary verb and the main verb or before the gerund.
# He did not apologize for losing my book
# She doesn't like having to work on Saturdays.
///
# He was fined for not paying his debt.
# He apologized for not having written his report on time.
# She is disappointed at not having been invited.
5) Properties and functions of gerunds
The gerund names an action or state and functions as a noun.
The gerund has some properties of a verb. It can take a direct object
# He likes watching films
And can be modified by an adverb
# He is used to working late.
6) Gerunds and nouns
If it is clear who performs the action expressed by the gerund, the possesive forms are not necessary.
# Thank you for helping me (not necessary to use "your helping")
# Now I understand that going to that pary was a mistake. (my going)
7) Substitutes
Examplex of the use of gerunds in different functions in sentences.
# Your not wanting to go there surprises me.
/ # I'm surprised that you don't want to go there
# They suspect him of having stolen several cars
/ # They suspect that he has stolen several cars.
8) Gerund as subject
# There is no telling what he might do next.
(there is - predicate; gerund telling - subject)
9) Gerund after linking verb BE
It plays the role of a predicative noun.
# Her hobby is writing short stories
10) Gerund as direct object
# She suggested visiting Venice.
11) Gerund as prepositional object after phrasal verbs
Gerunds as prepositional object are used after many phrasal verbs, for example, after "accuse of, agree on, apologize for, approve of, believe in..."
# They accused him of stealing their money
12) Gerund as prepositional object after adjectives
Gerunds as prepositional object are used after many adjectives and paritiples, for example, after "Accused of, afraid of, angry at, engaged in, excited about..."
# I'm tired of arguing.
Note the use of gerunds without a preposition after the adjective "worth, busy"
# She is busy typing letters.
13) Gerund as attribute
Gerunds is the function of attrubutes stand after the nouns that they modify, usually after the prepositions "of, for, in, at". The most frequently used preposition is "of"
The gerund is preceded by "of" after the nouns "advantage, art, chance, cost, custom, danger, fear..."
# He has no intention of marrying her
# A key is an instument for opening a door
Note: prepositions before gerunds
Nouns formed from phrasal verbs usually keep the same preposition
# To insist on buying - insistence on buying
# To object to moving - objection to moving
If a noun is formed from a verb that requires a direct object, the preposition "of" is used before the gerund
# To intend calling him - the intention of calling him.
The choice of a preposition also depends on the context.
# The pleasure of walking; no pleasure in waiting; his pleasure at seeing her.
Note: Gerunds and infinitives as attributes are used after many nouns.
# Possibility of going there; hope of finding them
# Decision to stary here; no need to hurry
The gerund in such constructions is closer to the noun and often sounds like a description of an action (opportunity of visiting); the infinitive is closer to the verb and often sounds like an action (opportunity to visit).
# The idea of talking it over with Tom seems interesting.
/ # It might be a good idea to talk it over with Tom.
# They have a good chance of winning this game (chance as possibility)
# You will have a chance to talk to him (chance as opportunity)
14) Gerunds in set phrases
The infinitive is not used in these cases
# Mike is in charge of inviting guests.
# I had no difficulti finding a place to live
# She had trouble (in) hearing what he said
15) Gerunds in consturctions after formal subject IT
On the whole, infinitives are more common in consrtructions with the formal subject IT.
# It is useless asking him
# It is no use talking about it
(It is no use to talk about it)
16) Gerund as adverbial modifier
Gerunds in the function of adverbial modifiers are used after various prepositions.
# Let's discuss it after eating.
# He passed them without saying hello.
Gerunds as adverbial modifiers are used after the compound prepositions "for the purpose of; on the point of; in the event of; subject to"
# He went there for the purpose of seeing his brother
17) Gerund after "no"
Something is not allowed
# No parking. No littering
Or even impossible
# There is no smoking here
# There was no arguing with him when he spoke in such a tone. ( it was useless to argue with him when he spoke in such a tone)
# There is no denying that this situation really scares me.
18) Gerund as predicate
Generally, the gerund is not used as the predicate. But gerunds are used as predicates in questions beginning with "what about" and "how about" and expressing suggestion, usually in everyday speech.
# What about going to Spain this summer?
# How about helping me in the kitchen?
# How about seeing Tony and Ella tomorrow?
19) Gerunds in compound nouns
Usually, a gerund as the first component of a compound noun indicates for what something is used.
# Drinking water; fishing rod; washing machine
Next is Verbals test
By the end of the chapter everything is repeated multiple times.
The part about how to choose prepositions is important, though. I hope to come across a fullfledged section on prepositions someday.
1: Infinitive or Gerund
>He advised buying a new refrigerator.
I chose "to buy". We need the gerund because there is no object. With object it could be an infinitive "He advised me to buy a new refrigerator"
>Please have him call me by seven
I didn't omit "to" before call. But it is the causative construction with "have", so we lose "to". Please let him go. Please make him smile. See, no "to".
>I saw him lock the door and leave. I don't know where he went.
I chose "locking" guided by an idea that it is a completed action here. But gerund is more completed than infinitives in other cases. After verbs of perception infinitive is more completed than the gerund.
I regret telling him (past action)
I regret to tell you (future action)
2: Infinitive or Gerund part 2
>He seemed to like his job. Why did he quit?
I used "having liked" because of a vague notion of sequence of tenses. I the past "seemed" we need perfect gerund... I guess I should think about these matters in the terms of preceding or not relative to the main verb.
3: Participles
>The second question discussed at the conference yesterday was very interesting.
I chose HAVING BEEN DISCUSSED because it was yesterday and it is passive voice.
But past participle is passive by default. And when the participle function as adjective you can't use perfect forms.
6: Review Verbals
>There is only one question remaining. Let's discuss it quickly.
I chose "remained". But it is an intransitive verb, so it can't be passive remained.
7: Review Verbals Part 2
>Asked what he was doing there, the man turned and left without saying a word.
I chose "having asked". Concentrated on the fact of preceding action I ignored that "having asked" is active voice and we clearly need passive voice here. Also, we don't always use perfect with preceding actions. Like it's just a sequence of actions in the past. In the regular past tense we don't use perfect forms for the sequence of actions as well.
Next is Tenses
As you can see, we mostly use the top 4 (8 to be honest, but it ruins my point, haha) tenses in English. And when you think that maybe you should use future perfect continuous instead, you are 99.9% wrong. Thus, theoretically we can learn only those top tenses.
But on the other hand, such rarity of exotic tenses means that we don't have the opportunity to really practice, to understand them. And our English will be stuck 90% baked forever...
It turned out that the author of the site I am studying has thoughts on this topic too:
...a long list definitely exceeding six or seven items...
"That's six or seven tenses in the active and four in the passive for use in everyday speech. Plus two or three more for use in formal correspondence."
English tenses are used with adverbs and adverbial phrases that indicate the time of the action, for example, "yesterday, now, often, tomorrow, an hour ago, last week"
The connection between the tense and its adverbs is very tight and can't be ignored. So this is the key to correct use of English tenses.
# I have just seen him
# I saw him a minute ago
Maybe "I have just seen him" happened earlier than "I saw him a minute ago", but the first is the present perfect, and the second is the simple past, because "just" and "a minute ago" dictate the necessity to use these tenses.
Usually: Simple present
Now: Present continuous
Already: Present perfect
For three hours already: Present perfect continuous
Yesterday: Simple past
Not all adverbs work that way, for example "soon" can be used in different tenses
# He left soon
# He will leave soon
Sometimes adverbs of time are omitted because the meaning is provided by the tense itself.
# I buy bread in this store. (usually)
# I am buying vegetables (now)
# I have finished (already)
Thus if the adverb is absent you can always analyze the sentence and try to imagine what it could be.
One word adverbs of time: Often, sometimes, rarely, never, always, now, just, already, still, yet, lately, recently, yesterday, today, tonight, tomorrow.
1) Various time expressions
Phrasal adverbs: At present; at the moment; up to now; by now; so far; since yesterday; ever since; for a while; for three days; for a long time; from nine to six; this morning; this summer; this year; the day after tomorrow; in 1985...
In a number of cases, a subordinate clause indicates the time of the action and helps us to choose the tenses in the sentence:
# While I was reading his letter, the telephone rang.
# I will call you when I come back
2) Names of tenses. Groups of tenses
The names of the tenses include two parts: tense indicates the time of the action (present, past, future), and aspect (simple/indefinite, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous) indicates the manner in which the action is performed.
Note: The word "perfect" means completed not beautiful or sacred.
Next is Key to Present Tenses
To use adverbs as markers of tenses sounds like an actually good idea worth the name "Key to tenses".
1) Simple present
Meaning A: Habitual, regular action in the present.
# I drink vodka
Adverbs of frequency: Usually; regularly; every day; every week; every year; often; frequently; sometimes; occasionally; seldom; rarely; never (i.e., zero regularity); always (i.e., regularly, usually); on Fridays; on weekends
# He writes two letters every day.
# They seldom go to ghe movies
Meaning B: Station a fact, general truth, profession, stat of condition.
Note: Usually without adverbs of time
# The sun rises in the east
# She plays the piano well
# She works as a teacher
Note: Actions accordin to schedule
# The show starts in two hours
# The department store oepns at 9:00 a.m.
Note: clauses of time and condition
The simple present is used instead of the simple future in subordinate clauses of time and condition because the future tense is not allowed in these clauses.
# He will go there when he finishes his work.
# If I find this book, I will five it to you.
2) Present Continuous
Meaning A: the action is going on at the present moment, at the moment of speaking
Adverbs: now, at the moment
# You are reading this material now.
# Usually he sits by the window, but now he is sitting near the front door.
Meaning B: The action is going on at the present time, but not necessarily at the moment of speaking.
Adverbs: now, at present, at the present time, at the moment, this year.
# He is teaching at Redwood this year.
# Prices are rising again.
Note: stative verbs
Verbs expressing mental or emotional state are generally not used in the continuous tenses.
# Understand, know, remember, forget, doubt, believe...
But some of them are. With difference in meaning, though
# She looks good now (stative verb)
# She is looking at him now (action verb)
# He has a nice house near a large park. (stative verb)
# We are having dinner now. (action verb)
Note: Preplanned actions
# She is leaving on Tuesday.
# She's going to leave on Tuesday.
# He is going to a concert this evening.
The phrase "be going to" can be used in reference to events if the situation clearly indicates that they are going to happen.
# Look at those dark clouds. It is going to rain soon.
# Watch out! That red car is going to turn right.
3) Present perfect
Meaning A: The action has jest ended.
Adverbs: already, just, yet
# I have just done it.
# She has already talked to him
# He hasn't returned fom work yet.
Meaning B: Reporting how often something has happened by now
Adverbs: ever; never; once; twice; several times; always; often; sometimes.
# I have never seen this film
# Have you ever been to Mexico
# I have sometimes thought of starting my own business
Meaning C: The result of past actions by the present moment
Adverbs: by now; by the present moment; up to now; so far; before (i.e., by the present moment); since; lately
# I've seen this movie before
# He has worked in several companies since ht graduated from college.
Meaning D: The action has lasted for some time by now
Adverbs: for an hour; for a week; for a long time; for five years; for years; in years; since; lately
# I have known him for a year by now
# I haven't seen him in years.
# She has collected coins since she was a child
In this meaning, the present perfect may be used instead of the present perfect continuous in certain cases.
Note: Present perfect and simple past
The main difference between these tenses is that the present perfect expresses an action that comes up to the present moment and always has a connection with the present moment, while the simple past expresses a completed past action that started and ended in the past and has no connection wit the present moment.
# She has worked as a teacher for two years. (This is the situation by the present moment; she is sill a teacher)
# She worked as a teacher for two years. She worked as a teacher from 1995 to 1997. (It was in the past; she is no longer a teacher.)
If the time of the action is indicated as "today, this morning, this month", etc., the present perfect is used if this period of time is not over yet at the moment of speaking.
The simple past is used if the period of time is over or if the time of the action within the period is indicated as specific time in the past.
# Present perfect: I haven't seen him today. (Today is not over yet.) I have talked to him this morning. (It's still morning.)
# Simple past: I saw him today in the morning. (The morning is over.) I talked to him at ten o'clock today. (Today is not over yet, but ten o'clock is in the past)
Thus, though the action in the present perfect started or happened in the past, it is always viewed as "by now; up to now" (that is, always in connection with the present moment), so the exact time of the past action is never indicated.
If the time of the past action is indicated, the simple past is used
# Present perfect: I have already done it. I have seen him before. I have been there twice.
/ # Simple past: I did it yesterday. I saw him about a month ago. I was there in 2006.
4) Present perfect continuous
Meaning A: The action has been going on for some time by now and is still going on.
Adverbs: for an hour; for a week; for a long time; for five yeras; for years; all day; all morning; since
# How long have you been waiting?
# It has been raining all day.
# She has been working as a teacher for seven years already.
Meaning B: The action has been going on lately. Additional context may indicate whether the action has been finished by now.
Adverbs: Usually without adverbs of time.
# Oh, hello. We have just been talking about you.
# Her eyes are red. Has she been crying again?
# It has been snowing hard, and our garden is still full of snow.
Note: Present perfect and present perfect continuous.
Stative verbs are used in the present perfect tense instead of the present perfect continuous.
# I've known her for many years.
# He has loved her ever since they met.
In the meaning "the action has lasted for some time by now", the present perfect may be used instead of the present perfect continuous with those verbs which already express continued action in their lexical meaning, for example: "live, sleep, teach, walk, work"
The present perfect stresses the resul of some continued activity by now, while the present perfect continuous stresses the duration of such activity by now.
# He has been living here for years.
/ # He has lived here for years.
# She has been sleeping for two hours already.
/ # She has slept for two hours already
The difference in meaning between the two tenses may be significant in some cases.
# What have you been doing since I left?
/ # What have you done since I left?
Next is The Key to the Past Tenses
The notion of using present perfect only in the cases where the described time period isn't over yet is cool and makes a lot of sense.
1) Simple Past
Meaning: The action happened (started and ended) in the past; there is no connection wit the present
Adverbs: Yesterday; last week; last year; in 1984; in 2007; an hour ago; a year ago; a long time ago.
Often the time of the action is clearly specified.
# He came back last week
# He left two hours ago.
# They were in England in 2007
The time of the action expressed by the simple past may be indicated by a subordinate clause.
# It happened when he was six.
# When I saw Richard, I asked him about his new company.
The time of the action expressed by the simple past may be implied in the situation referring to the past.
# I bought this book in Spain (типа понятно что в Испании он был в определенное время)
# My parents met in college
# I liked those shoes, but i didn't buy them
Note again that the simple past expresses completed past actions that started and ended in the past, including a single past action, repeated past actions, actions that happened one after another in the past, and actions (or states) that lasted for a period of time in the past.
# She lost her purse yesterday
# He visited her twice last month (if it were "this month" it would be present perfect, I guess)
# I called them several times yesterday
Note: Used to
"Used to" stresses that the indicated situation existed in the past, but not now. In similar sentences without "used to", the simple past simply states that the indicated situation took place in the past:
# He used to play tennis every week when he was younger. (But now he doesn't play tennis every week.)
/ # He played tennis every week when he was younger.
2) Past Continuous
Meaning A: The action (past continuous) was going on in the past when another action (simple past) happened.
Meaning B: The action was going on at a specific point of time in the past.
Adverbs: when; while; at five o'clock yesterday; at that moment; at that time; last year.
The past continuous tense expresses an action that was going on (was in progress) in the past when another action happened, expressed by the simple past in a subordinate clause. Also, the simple past may be in the main clause, and the past continuous in the subordinate clause.
# I was reading a letter when Tom came in.
# The telephone rang while she was taking a bath.
# It was raining when I woke up.
The past continuous expresses an action that was going on at a specific point of time in the past.
# We were watching TV at three o'clock yesterday.
# Where is my jacket? It was lying here five minutes ago.
# He was teaching economics at a business school last year.
The point of time at which the action expressed by the past continuous was going on may be indicated in another sentence.
# I saw two boys in the hall. They were eating ice cream.
# What did she say? - Sorry, I wasn't listening.
Sometimes the past continuous is used in the main clause and in the subordinate clause when two actions were in progress simultaneously.
# While Lena was doing her homework, Nina was reading a book.
# Her children were watching TV while she was cooking dinner.
Generally, the simple past, not the past continuous, is used when two action in a sentence wen on for some time in the past and ended in the past.
# When she was a child, she live in Mexico with her parents.
# When he lived in Toronto, he worked at a library.
The simple past, not the past continuous, is used when you enumerate past actions that happened one after another in the past, even if such actions lasted for some time.
# Yesterday he cleaned his room, made dinner, watched TV for two hours, and walked in the park.
3) Past perfect
Meaning: The action (past perfect) happened and was completed before another past action (simple past) or before a specific point of time in the past
Adverbs: By the time; before; after; when (in the meanings "by the time; after"); by two o'clock yesterday; by that time; already
# By the time he returned, I had finished my work on the report.
# He cleaned the garage after he had washed his car. (тут можно паст симпл потому что афтер показывает что одно действие было после другого и паст перфект немного избыточен)
# She had typed six pages of the report by ten o'clock yesterday.
# When I arrived at the station, the train had left. (с The Train left был бы другой смысл, не было бы очевидно что поезд уже ушел)
Note: The use of the past perfect with "when, after, before"
"When" as such doesn't call for the past perfect but is often used with it in the meanings "by the time" or "after" to show the preceding or the following action.
# When they called, she had already left.
(By the time they called, she had already left)
# When he had arrived, we went to a restaurant. (After he had arrived, we went to a restaurant)
# We had already sent all the letters when the manager arrived. (We sent the letters before the manager arrived)
If it is not necessary to stress that the preceding action had already happened (had been completed) before the other action in the past started, the simple past may be used with "when" in the meaning "after".
# When he arrived, we went to a restaurant
(After he arrived, we went to a restaurant)
The past perfect is not used very often in everyday speech. It is usually required i;n sentences with "by the time" and is also used in sentences with "when" if it is necessary to indicate or to stress which action happened before and which after the specified action in the past.
With "before, after", the past perfect is not really necessary because it is clear thich action was before and which after. The simple past is often used instead of the past perfect with "before, after".
# After they left, he went to bed.
However, if "before" is used in the past context in the meaning "earlier", the past perfect is required.
# He told me that he had never been there before
# Yesterday I watched a good old movie that I hadn't seen before.
The past perfect is used in sentences of the following type, often in constructions with inverted word order.
# No sooner had he entered the house than the telephone rang.
# He had hardly said it when the door opened.
Several past events described in succession are usually expressed by the simple past. But if an earlier completed action is mentioned among them, such an action is often expressed by the past perfect.
# She came home at about seven. She was tired but happy. She had bought nice presents for her children and a good warm coat for herself.
# She went to the kitchen, made tea, and cut a large piece of the pie that she had made for supper.
4) Past perfect continuous
Meaning A: The action (past perfect continuous) lasted for some time before another action in the past happened (simple past)
Meaning B: The action lasted for some time before a specific point of time in the past.
Adverbs: By the time; before; after; when (in the meaning "by the time"); for two hours; for a long time.
# By the time he returned, I had been working for seven hours.
# I had been waiting for three months before they finally sent me an answer.
# By seven o'clock last night she had already been typing for ten hours, so I told her to rest for a while.
In a number of cases, the past perfect may be used instead of the past perfect continuous, with the same adverbs of time.
# By the time he returned, I had worked for seven hours.
# He had lived in Chicago for ten years by the time he moved to Boston.
Stative verbs are used in the past perfect instead of the past perfect continuous.
# They had been married for twenty years when they got divorced
# She told me that she had known him for years.
Next is The Key to the Future Tenses
I liked the point that the past perfect is necessary only when it actually changes the meaning of the sentence. Like in "the train had left/ the train left" example. Also, changing the tense from present perfect to past simple by just replacing "this month" with "last month" is also quite illuminating.
1) Simple future
Meaning: The action will happen in the future.
Adverbs: tomorrow; next week; soon; in a few days; in a year; in 2027
# Maria will go to Chicago next year.
# I think he'll return next week.
No future tense is used in subordinate clauses of time and condition.
# We will go for a walk when it stops raining
# I'll visit her if I have time.
Note: preplanned action
See the present continuous section
# I'm not going to discuss it with them.
Note: actions according to schedule
See the simple present section
# The train arrives late at night.
The same adverbs of time as those used with the simple future tense are used with preplanned actions and actions according to schedule.
2) Future continuous
Meaning A: The action (future continuous) will be going on when another future action happens. (Another future action is expressed by the simple present, because the future tense forms are not allowed in subordinate clauses of time.)
Meaning B: The action will be going on at specific point of time in the future.
Adverbs: at three tomorrow; at this time next year; when
# He will probably be sleeping when you return.
# When you come to the library, I'll be sitting by the central window.
# He'll be sleeping at two tomorrow.
# What will you be doing at nine o'clock tomorrow evening? - I will probably be watching some film.
# She will be working in London at this time next year.
3) Future perfect
Meaning: The action (future perfect) will happen before another future action or before a specific point of time in the future. (Another future action is expressed by the simple present, because the future tense forms are not allowed in subordinate clauses of time.)
Adverbs: by the time; by 2025; by tomorrow; before; when (in the meaning "by the time")
# By the time she returns, I will have finished my work on the report.
# She will have typed the report by the time you return.
# When he calls, I will have left already.
# By tomorrow, he will have left Paris.
# By 2050, scientists will have found the cure for cancer.
Occasionally, actions expressed by the future perfect tense occur in subordinate clauses of time and condition. In such cases the present perfect is used instead of the future perfect because the future tense forms are not allowed in subordinate clauses of time and condition.
# I will help you after I have finished my work.
# Please call us as soon as you have received our report.
# We will leave at six if it has stopped snowing by then.
In most of such cases, the simple present can be used instead of the present perfect with little difference in meaning, i.e., if it stops snowing instead of if it has stopped snowing.
4) Future perfect continuous
Meaning A: the action (future perfect continuous) will last for some time before another future action happens. (another future action is expressed by the simple present because the future tense forms are not allowed in subordinate clauses of time.)
Meaning B: The action will last for some time before a specific point of time in the future.
Adverbs: by the time; by 2025; by tomorrow; before; when (in the meaning "by the time"); for two days; for a long time.
# By the time you return, I will have been waiting here for three days.
# When he finally reaches Vienna, Tom will have been driving for ten hours.
# By 2030, she will have been living in Moscow for sixty years.
# He will have been studying English for five years by the time of this final examinations.
Next is Passive Voice
I must have memorized by now that "the future tense forms are not allowed in subordinate clauses of time". I wrote this exact line five times and for a good reason. This perceived disagreement in time between main and subordinate clauses has been confusing me for ages.
/ Usage of passive constructions
Active constructions are used more often in English than passive constructions. Generally, you need the passive voice in the following cases:
Case 1: When it is not known or not necessary to mention who performs the action.
# Cotton is grown in Egypt.
# His house was built a year ago.
Case 2: When it is necessary to draw more attention to the receiver of the action.
In this case, the object in the active construction becomes the subject on the passive construction and receives more attention.
# Someone broke the kitchen window yesterday.
(active construction: window - object)
/ # The kitchen window was broken yesterday.
(passive construction: window - subject)
If there are two objects in the active construction, i.e., direct object and indirect object, either of them can become the subject of the passive construction, though passive constructions in which the indirect object has become the subject are considered to be more common.
# The gave Tom (indirect object) a valuable prize (direct object)
/ # Tom was given a valuable prize (the indirect object becomes the subject)
// # A valuable prize was given to Tom (the direct object becomes the subject)
Note: don't use passive constructions unnecessarily
# Normal: I've already bought a new computer
# Strange: A new computer has been bought by me already
/ Tenses in the passive voice.
The passive construction has the same meaning of the tense as the active construction, and the same adverbs of time are used.
As a rule, the present perfect continuous, past perfect continuous, future perfect continuous and future continuous are not used in the passive.
1) Simple present
# He is said to be a hundred years old.
# Dinner here is served after seven.
2) Present continuous
# A new road is being built now
# He is being examined by the doctor at the moment
The present cont. in the passive is often replaced by active constructions.
# A new road is under construction now.
# The doctor is examining him at the moment.
3) Present perfect
# We have just been informed about another accident at the plant.
# She has been locked in her apartment for three days already.
4) Simple past
# His uncle was killed in the war
# The message was left on my desk in the office two days ago.
5) Past continuous
# When I came to the hospital, Tom was being examined by the doctor.
# The new program was being tested for errors at three o'clock yesterday.
It is also often replaced by active constructions in everyday speech.
# When I came to the hospital, the doctor was examining Tom.
6) Past Perfect
# By the time I returned, the work on the project had been finished.
The past perfect in the passive may be replaced by the simple past in the passive in everyday speech when using "before" or "after" instead of "by the time"
# The work on the project was finished before I returned.
# I returned after the work on the project was finished.
7) Simple future
# The construction of the new school will be completed next year.
# It will be done.
8) Future perfect
# Experts say that by 2050 the cure for cancer will have been found.
# Dear clients! By this time tomorrow your telephone connection will have been restored completely.
/ Other types of passive constructions
Impersonal passive constructions in the form of impersonal sentences with the formal subject "it" in the main clause are often used in news reports. Passive construction with the infinitive are also used in the news quite often; in such constructions, the subject is stated.
# It is known that the director is against this plan
/ # The director is known to e against this plan.
# It is reported that four people were injured in the accident.
/ # Four people are reported to have been injured in the accident.
Next is The Formulas of Tenses
Since passive voice isn't used that often, it is not easy to memorize how to construct it in every tense.
Skip, because I know these "formulas" + they should be memorized anyway. And overall, after understanding what tense we need, to find the required formula is trivial.
This is an actual summary, that is, the material from previous sections but in a compressed, shortened, simplified form. I don't see any particular tips except maybe the notion that the simpler tenses you use the better.
This section is the same as the previous one but in the form of tables. All of this should be memorized... sometime later.
Next is Sequence of Tenses
/ Sequence of tenses in complex sentences
Generally, the verb in the subordinate clause may be in any tense that reflects the actual time of the action and conveys the meaning correctly in the pair with the verb in the main clause.
# She goes for a walk in the park when the weather is good
# I went to bed early because I was very tired.
# By the time he returned, I had typed ten pages of my report.
/ Sequence of tenses in sentences with object clauses
Object subordinate clauses answer the question "what?" and stand in the place of an object after such verbs as "know, think, believe..."
Object clauses are most often introduced by the conjunction "that", which is often omitted.
# I think (that) she is tired.
1) Present or future in the main clause
If the verb in the main clause is in the present or in the future, the verb in the object subordinate clause may be in any tense that conveys the meaning correctly according to sense, logic, and general rules of the use of tenses.
# I think that he lives on Rose Street.
# Do you know that Jhon has left for Chicago?
# I know who did it.
# They don't know when he will return.
# He will understand that you want to help him
# I will ask him why he didn't buy that book.
2) Past tense in the main clause
If the verb in the main clause is in the past tense, the verb in the object subordinate clause should also be used in one of the past tenses.
# I thought that he lived on Rose Street.
(Я думал, что он живет на улице роз)
# She didn't know whether he would agree to do it.
# I heard that Mr. Smith was going to be our new director.
The rules of the sequence of tenses may seem illogical at times, because the result of the application of these rules may be that the tense in the object subordinate clause doesn't show the actual time of the action.
Note: Exception
If a general truth is expressed in the object subordinate clause, the present tense is usually used in the subordinate clause despite the fact that the past tense is used in the main clause.
# Newton discovered that the force of gravity pulls all bodies to the Earth
Compared it with the usual sequence of tenses
# He learned that hotel concierge usually locked the front door at midnight
(Он узнал, что консьерж гостиницы обычно запирает входную дверь в полночь)
# She found out that he still worked at bank
(Она выяснила, что он все ещё работает в банке)
# He was able to prove that the house belonged to him
(Он сумел доказать, что дом принадлежит ему)
3) The choice of a past tense in the object subordinate clause
(A) If the action in the subordinate clause took place at the same time as the action in the main clause, the simple past (or the past continuous if required by the context) is used in the subordinate clause.
# I thought that he worked at a bank
# I knew that she was waiting for me by the entrance.
(B) If the action in the subordinate clause took place earlier than the action in the main clause, the past perfect (or past perfect continuous) is used in the subordinate clause.
# I knew that he had already left for Rome
# She said that she had been waiting for me for a long time.
(C) If the action in the subordinate clause took place later than the action in the main clause, the future in the past is used in the subordinate clause ("would" is used instead of "will")
# I wasn't sure that he would be at home
# I knew that she would be waiting for me by the entrance.
Next is Sequence of Tenses in Reported Speech
Essentially, the whole section is about the one counterintuitive rule that we use only the past tense in the object subordinate clause, if the main clause is in the past too, of course.
Hence, in the sentence "She found out that he still worked at a bank." the word "worked" doesn't really describe the past but rather general fact in the present.
I want to also mark the mysterious genesis of the "future in the past" construction, explored in this section.
If the verb in the main clause is in the present or in the future the tense in the subordinate clause doesn't change.
But note that word order in subordinate clauses of reported questions (indirect questions) is that of a statement.
The conjunctions "if, whether" are used in reported general questions, while reported special questions keep as conjunctions those interrogative words (what, who, when, where, why, how) which they had in questions in direct speech.
# He says, "I want to go there with you." - He says that he wants to go there with us.
# He says, "I haven't seen her today." - He says that he hasn't seen her today.
# He asks, "Does she live in this house?" - He asks whether she lives in this house.
# He asks, "When will she come back?" - He asks when she will come back.
1) Past tense in the main clause and the changes it requires
If the verb in the main clause is used in the past tense, the verb in the object subordinate clause in indirect speech should also be used in one of the past tenses.
Simple present -> Simple past
Present cont -> Past cont
Present perfect -> Past perfect
Present perf cont -> Past perf cont
Simple past -> Past perf
Past cont -> Past perf cont
Past perf -> Unchanged
Past perf cont -> Unchanged
The future tenses are changed to the future in the past. Will -> Would
In addition, when you change sentences from direct speech to indirect speech, it it soften necessary to replace some pronouns and adverbs in the subordinate clause.
Personal pronouns change depending on the sense of the sentence, and the demonstrative pronouns "this, these" are changed to "that", "those".
# Anna said, "I know your sister." - Anna told me that she knew my sister. Ana told him that she knew his sister.
# She said, "I know this man." - She said that she knew that man.
2) Adverbs of time and place that are usually replaced
Today -> (on) that day
This morning, this afternoon, tonight -> That morning, that afternoon, that night
Now -> Then
Tomorrow -> The following day
Next week, next month -> The following week, the following month
In a few days -> A few days later
Yesterday -> The day before
Last week, last month -> The week before, the month before.
Three days ago, a week ago -> three days before, a week before
Here -> there
Note: exception
If a general truth is expressed in the object subordinate clause, the present tense is normally used in the subordinate clause despite the fact that the past tense is used in the main clause.
# The teacher said that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius
# The teacher said that water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit
3) Departure from the rules of the sequence of tenses
The aforementioned changes depend on the context and don't take place in all cases
# He said, "I will visit her tomorrow"
/ # He said that he would visit her the followin day
(If "tomorrow" was in the past at the moment of speaking, it is replaced with "the following day")
/ # He said that he would visit her tomorrow
(Tomorrow is still tomorrow)
# He said, "I went to the park yesterday"
(the day before / yesterday)
# She said, "I like this town."
(that town / this town if we are still there)
In those cases where it is necessary to keep the expressions indicating specific time in the past in the subordinate clause, the simple past usually remains unchanged in the subordinate clause. This is also true of the other object clauses, not only of those in reported speech.
# I knew that she left for Tokyo two weeks ago.
# He said, "I visited Paris in 1995" - He said that he visited Paris in 1995
# He said, "I was watching TV when the telephone rang." - He said that he was watching TV when the telephone rang.
In some cases, the simple past may remain unchanged in the subordinate clause if a completed action in the past is meant.
# He said that he built / had built a house for his son.
# He said that he didn't find / hadn't found them.
In everyday speech, if the speaker feels that the action in the subordinate clause is still relevant to the present, the present tense may be used in the subordinate clause despite the fact that the past tense is used in the main clause.
# Anna said that she feels tired. Let's go home
# He wrote in his letter that he is going to see Dr. Crosby tomorrow, so we will be able to find him at the clinic.
4) Indirect speech in different types of sentences
(a) Statements
# He said, "They will be disappointed when they learn that she has sold her house." - He said that they would be disappointed when they learned that she had sold her house.
Notice that both parts of the sentence shifted to the past.
(b) General questions
# He asked, "Do you know this man?" - He asked me whether I knew that man.
# He asked her, "Did you go there alone?" - He asked her whether she had gone there alone
# He asked, "Did you go to Spain in 2025?" - He asked whether she went to Spain in 2025.
(c) Special questions
# He asked, "What's the matter?" - He asked what the matter was.
# He asked me, "What are you doing?" - He asked me what I was doing.
# I asked, "When did you visit New York?" - I asked him when he visited New York.
(d) Commands
# She said, "Go to your room." - She told me to go to my room.
# She said, "Buy some bread, please." - She asked me to buy some bread.
# He ordered, "Stay where you are!" - He ordered them to stay where they were
So, no shifting to the past, I guess. Notice the infinitive, though.
(e) Suggestions
# He said, "let's go to the lake." - He suggested that we go to the lake. / He suggested going to the lake.
# She said, "Why don't you watch a movie?" - She suggested that we watch a movie. / She suggested watching a movie.
No shifting + gerunds instead of infinitives.
And those "go" and "watch" are bare infinitives, actually. It is easy to remember if you imagine "should" being placed somewhere after "suggested".
She suggested that we (should) watch a movie
(f) Sentences with modal verbs
Modal verb in the subordinate clause agree with the past verb in the main clause in the following way:
Can -> Could
May -> Might
Will -> Would
Must -> Had to (but may remain unchanged)
Could, might, ought to, should, would -> Do not change
# She said, "I can't find your book." - She said that she couldn't find my book.
# She said, "I must go to the bank." - She told me that she had to go to the bank.
# She said, "He may refuse to do it." - She said that he might refuse to do it.
# She said, "You should call him." - She said that I should call him.
# She asked him, "Could I see Miss Robinson, please?" - She asked him whether she could see Miss Robinson.
Next is Tenses tests
This section is about shifting to the past.
4: Stative verbs
>She has known him for quite a long time. They are good friends.
I chose "She knows" because it is a stative verb. But apparently nothing prevents stative verbs from taking perfect tenses. Moreover, it should be past perfect cont here, but because it is stative we opt for past perf.
6: Future tenses
>She promised that she wouldn't tell him about it.
I chose "she won't" because I hallucinated for a moment that "won't" is the past form of "will" when it is just the negative form.
7: Present or future
>If he calls you, don't tell him about our plan.
I chose "if he will call you". But I guess "if" means the subordinate clause, so we can't use future tense there.
8: The Passive
>The other two reports will be typed one of these days.
I guessed "were typed". But "one of these days" ("на днях") is a set expression denoting the future. Not just random days which could be in the past for example.
9: Sequence of Tenses
>She said that the robber attacked her when she was opening the door to her apartment.
I chose "had attacked". My thought was that it was reported speech and she obviously used simple past describing that event, so we need to step back in time to the past perfect. But this is some sort of exception because "when" connects two actions in one moment and we can't disconnect them just because of the reported speech rule. Overall, they say, logic is more important than the rules in every case. And by the way, "she was opening" should be in the past perfect according to the reported speech. I wonder why I didn't spot this anomaly and didn't make more thoughtful choice.
Next is Articles
1) Types of nouns
Proper nouns / common nouns
Proper nouns include names of nationalities, names of months and weekdays, and many other notions, objects, places...
Common nouns
Countable / uncountable
Common countable nouns
Concrete (a horse) / abstract (a notion, a habit)
Common uncountable nouns
Concrete-mass (water) / abstract (information, health)
Collective nouns (a family, a crowd, the police) are a subgroup of countable nouns; they are singular in form but denote groups of people or animals regarded as a unit or as individual members of the group.
2) Use of articles with different types of nouns
The main functions of the indefinite article a/an is to name one item belonging to a class of similar items.
The definite article "the" can be used with countable nouns in the singular and plural as well as with uncountable nouns. The main function of the definite article is to point out a noun and to make it definite and specific.
Next is Countable Nouns
The site author's voluminous speculations about hardships of learning articles are omitted.
Rule 1
A countable noun in the singular requires an article (a/an or the)
The indefinite article a/an has the following meanings: one, some, any; one item out of the group of many similar items.
# I have a question
# She is eating an apple
The definite article "the" has the following meanings: this, that; the only one; the one that we are speaking about; the one that has already been mentioned.
The meaning of the definite article with a plural noun is close to "these, those".
# The pen that you gave me doesn't write
# The questions that you asked are difficult
Note: a, an
"A" is used before the initial letter "u" when in it is pronounce [yu:], before the initial letter "y" [y], and before the word "one":
# A union, a useful book, a yellow bag, a young man, a one-way street, a one-day stop
"An" is used before the mute initial letter "h" (because such words begin with a vowel sound):
# An hour, an heir, an honor, an honest man.
If the initial letter "h" is pronounced, "a" is used before it: a hero, a hint, a house, a hot day, a hungry look.
Rule 2
If you mention a countable noun in the singular for the first time and/or mean "one, some, any", use the indefinite article a/an.
# A tomato is a vegetable
# He wrote a long article on gardening
Rule 3
If you mention a countable noun in the plural for the first time and/or mean "some, any", don't use any article.
The definite article is not used in such cases, and the indefinite article can't b used with a plural noun because its original meaning is "one".
# They are teachers.
# Telephones and computers are in almost every home today
Rule 4
If you need to single out a countable noun in the singular and to make it specific and the only one, use the definite article "the". Usually, some additional information is needed in the sentence to single out this noun, for example, the of-phrase or a subordinate clause.
# Rome is the capital of Italy.
# Who is the author of this story?
# The tomato in this bowl is yellow
# I bought the table that cost fifty dollars.
# I need the book written by Professor Baker last year.
# He asked the girl at the information desk how to get to the train station.
Note: if additional information doesn't make the object the only one, use th article a/an.
# She is a teacher of English
# I have a feeling that he is lying (It is not the only feeling that I have)
# I have an idea that will save use (It is not the only idea that I have)
Rule 5
If you need to point out a countable noun in the plural and to make it specific, use the definite article the. Usually, some additional information in the sentence is needed to point it out, for example the of-phrase or a subordinate clause
# My friends Tom and Maria are the authors of this story.
# The results of his actions were awful.
# I bought the books that I needed.
# She bought the new books written by Professor Baker.
# The articles that we discussed yesterday were published on Monday.
# The cars that I like are expensive
# Do you know the people who live in that house?
# She asked the neighbors on the tenth floor to help her.
Note: The definite article may be implied in certain situations:
# Open the door, please.
# She looked out of the window.
# He put the bags into the car.
# Did you find the keys?
Next is Uncountable Nouns
So, it seems the right way to think about articles is looking for signs of singling out. If you can say that a noun is singled out enough use the definite article "the".
In general, uncountable nouns include concrete mass nouns (liquids, gases, solid substances), various abstract notions, names of scientific subjects and fields of study, names of languages, names of sports and games, names of various activities, names of natural phenomena.
Liquids: water, tea, milk, petroleum...
Gases: air, smoke, steam, carbon monoxide...
Solid substances: bread, cheese, wood, silk...
Powder, grain: sugar, cement, rice, dust...
Other concrete mass nouns: food, furniture, garbage, machinery...
Various abstract notions: beauty, chaos, observation, violence...
Frequently used abstract nouns: advice, imagination, luck, reality...
Feeling, emotions: admiration, anger, patience, trust...
Various types of state: health, silence, youth, insanity...
Various activities: reading, traveling, typing, drinking...
Sports: basketball, hiking, chess, weight lifting...
Scientific subjects and fields of study:
Mathematics, medicine, music, education...
Names of languages: English, Finnish, Ukrainian, Korean...
Various natural phenomena: energy, fire, humidity, weather...
Names of diseases: pneumonia, tuberculosis, measles, cancer
Note: suffixes
The suffixes "acy (privacy), age (garbage), ance (assistance), dom (wisdom), hood (priesthood), ism (fatalism), ment (commitment), ness (bitterness), ship (championship), tion (deletion), ty (liberty)" are often found in uncountable nouns.
Rule 1: No article
Uncountable nouns are generally used without any article.
# She prefers green tea
# Information gives power
# Radioactivity was discovered in 1896
Rule 2: Definite article
If it is necessary to point out an uncountable noun, use the definite article "the".
The definite article in such cases is close in meaning to "this, that".
# I am studying the history of France
# The water in this well is poisoned
# Have you heard the news?
# She didn't have the courage to tell them.
Note: feelings and possesive pronouns
# Her anger was mixed with despair
Note: expressions of quantity
#a glass of water; several article of clothing
# a little water, a lot of information
# I want to buy some bread. She drank some milk.
"Any" is used instead of "some" in negative and interrogative sentences
# I don't have any time.
# Have you found any information about it?
But "some" is used in requests an offers in the form of questions:
# Could you lend me some money? Would you like some tea?
/ Special cases of use
1) Different kinds and varieties
Some uncountable nouns, usually concrete mass nouns, may be used in the plural to indicate different kinds and varieties
# The teas of India; iron ores; soft cheeses.
Compare:
# This dress is made of silk.
/ # Chinese silk is very beautiful
/ # The museum has a large collection of textiles, including ornamental Chinese silks and Japanese kimono silks.
2) Indefinite article with uncountable abstract nouns
The indefinite article may be used with some uncountable abstract nouns to show a special (temporary, unusual) type (kind, character, side) of something, mostly in formal writing and in literary works.
In such cases, an uncountable abstract noun usually has an attribute. The article a/an in such cases can convey the following meanings: such, certain, special, particular
# The director spoke at the meeting today with an enormous enthusiasm
# A paralyzing horror overwhelmed him
# A knowledge of physics is necessary for this job.
3) Meanings of uncountable nouns
The lexical difference in meaning between countable and uncountable use is very big.
# Glass - a glass
# Reason - a reason
Compare
# Observation is important in research
/ # He made an observation about her report
Next is Specific Use of THE
1) Unique, only one
If there is only one thing like that in existence (universally or locally), the article "the" is used with such a noun.
# The atmosphere, the sky
# The Earth, the Sun, the Moon
# The president, the police
# The horizon, the equator
# The end, the beginning
Note: set expressions with "earth"
# on earth, why on earth; bring someone back to earth, move heaven and earth
2) Superlative (самый большой, bigger это сравнительная степень, а не превосходная) degree of adjectives
The article THE is required with the superlative degree of adjectives
# The Amazon is the longest river in the world.
# The largest city in the world is Mexico City
3) Adjectives instead of nouns
Some adjectives can be used with the definite article in the function of nouns.
In such cases, adjectives usually acquire the meaning of a plural noun that denotes a group of people. In the function of the subject, such adjectives are used with a plural verb.
# It is a school for the blind
# The Irish have many old customs
# The French are famous for their wines
If an adjective with the definite article is used instead of an abstract noun, the verb is used in the singular.
# The unknown attracts and scare us.
4) Certain adjectives
THE is used with the adjectives "right, wrong, left, right, only, same, last, next, following"
# You asked the wrong people
# The last task was easy
# This man always appears at the right place at the right time
Note: no article is used with the adjectives "last, next" in the adverbial modifiers of time
# I saw him last month.
# We'll see him next week.
5) Certain adverbial modifiers of time
THE is used in the following adverbial modifiers of time: In the evening, in the morning, in the afternoon, the other day, the day before, yesterday, on the first of May
# We saw Nina the other day.
# She likes to go for a walk in the morning.
6) Adverbial modifiers of place
Usually, THE is used in the adverbial modifiers of place.
# In the room, under the table, in the corner, behind the tree, at the airport, across the river
# He went to the cinema yesterday.
The indefinite article a/an can be used in some adverbial modifiers of place, but the meaning will be different.
# She works at the bank (I'm telling you her place of work/occupation)
# She works at a bank. (At some bank, maybe I don't know its name)
7) Ordinal numerals
#Read the third page
Note: streets
# He lives on First Street
But
# The Fifth Avenue bus; the Tenth Street galleries
If the ordinal number is not the name of the street, THE is used:
# The first street on your left
8) Decades of years
# He wrote several books in the eighties
# Such skirts were popular in the 1960s
9) Musical instruments
Use THE when indicating what kind of musical instrument is played.
# He plays the piano very well
# Maria can play the violin
But
# They played basketball all evening.
10) A notion representing a class of objects.
# The cheetah is the fastest land animal, and the giraffe is the tallest
# The rose needs rich soil
# The telephone was invented by Alexander Bell
Note:
Uncountable nouns don't take the article THE in such cases.
# Dynamite was invented by Alfred Nobel.
# Water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen.
Note:
The indefinite article is often used with a singular countable noun in similar situation, but its meaning is "one of, some, any member of a class of object", and not a notion representing a class of objects. Nouns in the plural are used without any article in such cases.
# A rose is a beautiful flower.
# Pines grow well in many regions of the world.
# A painter paints pictures.
Next is Specific Use of A/AN
/Expressions of quantity with countable nouns.
1) The phrase "a pair of"
The phrase "a pair of" is used with objects consisting of two parts regarded as a unit
# A pair of shoes; a pair of socks
# A pair of gloves; a pair of mittens (варежки, руковицы)
# A pair of scissors (одни ножницы); a pair of pliers (одни плоскогубцы)
# I need scissors. Could you give me a pair of scissors?
Note:
# You can take the pair of gloves that I bought yesterday
2) The phrase "a couple of"
Meaning: two, several, but not many
# A couple of times; a couple of hours
# A couple of guys; a couple of friends
# He knows a couple of teachers at that college
3) The phrase "a few"
Meaning:
"A few" means "not many, but there are some"
"Few" means "not many, not enough"
# A few times; a few days
# A few books; a few dollars.
# Quite a few people; only a few people
# Few people know about it.
4) The phrase "a number of"
If this phrase is in the function of the subject, the plural form of the verb is used.
# I can recommend a number of good grammar books
# A large number of books frim his collection were donated to chool libraries.
But:
# The number of visitors is growing.
5) Expressions of time, frequency, quantity
# An hour ago; a week ago
# Once in a while
# A dozen eggs; half a dozen
# A thousand years; a thousand times
# I bought half a dozen oranges
6) Idiomatic character
# All of a sudden; to be in a hurry
# A grain of truth; an only child
# One in a thousand; one of a kind
# two of a kind
# He was an only child
7) The phrases "what a; such a"
It is generally used in exclamotory sentences.
# What a beautiful day! What a surprise!
With certain uncountable nouns (e.g., disgrace, pity, pleasure, relief, shame)
# What a pity! What a pleasure!
# It was such a long time ago!
Other uncountable nouns and plural countable nouns are used without any article in such cases.
# What beautiful music!
# What beautiful presents!
# Where did you find such information?
# He never says such things.
/ Expressions of quantity with uncountable nouns.
1) The phrases "a cup of; a bowl of"
# A cup of coffee; a cup of tea
# A bowl of soup; a bowl of salad
# He bought a bottle of wine and three bottles of beer.
2) The phrase "a piece of"
# A piece of bread; a piece of meat
# A piece of furniture; a piece of art
# I've just heard an interestin piece of news
3) The phrase "a little"
Meaning: "A little" means "not much but there is some"; "little" means "not much, not enough"
# A little water; a little time
# A little information
# I have very little time now. Can we talk a little later?
4) The phrase "a large anount of"
# He lost a large amount of money last year.
# He spent a great deal of time trying to solve that problem.
5) The phrase "a lot of"
# There is a lot of sugar in this cake
# There are a lot of flowers in the garden
Next is Articles in Set Expressions
Group 1. Set expressions with THE
# Be at the train station by five at the latest.
# A can pay fifty dollars at the most.
# This question is off the point. / beside the point
# His house is on the right.
# They are on the point of breaking up
# On the whole, your plan seems interesting
Group 2. Set expressions with the indefinite article
# She was an only child.
# All this happened as a result of his nefligence.
# We should consider there issues as a whole.
Group 3. Set expressions without any article
# It will give us three of four days at best.
# Ask him to come at once.
# We don't have a car at present (but: at the present time)
# They often go to church.
# We wanted to go to Italy in summer. But on second thought, we decided to go to France
# I came to the meeting on time
# The pond in the park is especially beautiful at this time of day.
Next is Articles with People's Names
As a rule, no article is used with a person's name.
# My name is Elizabeth Gray. Please call me Betty.
1) Surname in the plural
THE is required whe the surname is uesd in the plural to show the members of the family together or just the husband and wife as a family.
# The Ivanovs live down the street.
# The Millers don't have any dogs of cats.
Other cases:
# The Linda that I knew ten yeras ago turned into malicious hag.
# Professor, there is an Alexander Taylor waiting for you in the hall.
# She has a Rembrandt in her private collection. (a picture by Rembrandt)
/ Information about people
1) Appositives
An Appositive is a noun (or a phrase) that defines or explains another noun in the sentence by renaming it. It stands immediartley after the noun that i defines.
# Jim trent, a young pianist, was invited to play at the reception.
# My sister Maria, an excelletn cook, is going to make her famous mushroom soup and ravioli with cheese for dinner.
Compare:
#Alexander Pushkin, the greatest Russian poet of the 19th century, is well known, loved and honored in many countries of the world.
/ # Lord Byron, an English poet (appositive), was held in high esteem by the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.
2) Restrictive and nonrestrictive appositives.
Nonrestrictive appositives (that is, providing additional, not essentila information) are set off by commas. Restrictive appositives (that is, providing necessary information, essential to the meaning of the sentence) are not set off by commas.
# My brother Mike likes to watch horror films. (Mike is one of my brothers, so we need to know which one does like to watch horror movies)
# My sister, Ella, works as a teacher. ( I have only one sister. Her name is Ella.)
# His wife, Dorothy, writes stories for children.
/ Titles, ranks, job titles
1) Titles before names
Titles preceding a personal name are part of the name. They are capitalized and used without any article.
# Queen Elizabeth; Princess Diana; Doctor Mason; Private Smith; Uncle Tom
2) Titles after names
Title that follow a personal name are generally used without any article before the main noun in the title. Titles that indicate high status are usually capitalized.
# Diana, Princess of Wales; Franklin Roosevelt, President of the United States; James Lee, Managing Director...
# The report was prepared by Anna Brown, professor of economica st London University.
# The meeting was attended by Helen Ashley, director of the Science Library.
The definite article is used with titles in the form of epithets:
#Peter the Great; Ivan the Terrible; Richard the Lion-Hearted; Ting George the Fifth.
3) Titles without names
A tittle that stands alone (instead of a personal name is used with the definite article.)
# The Queen of England; the Princedd of Wales; the mayor; the professor; the inspector
Note: after such verbs as "be, become, elect, appont" the definite article is often omitted.
# The general manager is on vacation now.
# Thomas Leads became general manager of a large advertising agency two years ago.
Next is Geographic Names
The use of articles with geographical names has certain patterns.
# The name of river is used with THE, and the name of a lake is used without any article.
# The name of one mountain (or one island) is used without any article, and the name of a mountain chain (or a group of isnalds) is used with the definite article.
The meaning may change depending on the presence or absence of the definite article. For example, Mississippi is the state of Mississippi, while the Mississippi is the Mississippi River.
Capitalization
If THE is the part of the name is capitalized.
# the India Ocean, but The Hague
Same with "north, east, central..."
# the North Sea, but the Eastern Hemisphere
Same with "ocean, river, city, street..."
# the Volga River, Mexico City, New York state
But:
# the state of California, the city of Boston, the island of Greenland
If such words as "north, west..." are used for indicating direction or as descriptive terms, they are generally not capitalized:
# the north, the west, the southeast; the south of France, central Australia
1) Continents and geographical areas
No article: America, North America, Asia
THE: the Arctic, the Far East, the North Pole
2) Oceans, seas, gulfs, bays, lakes
No article: Lake Baikal, Lake Victoria, Utah Lake
But: the Grea Salt Lake, the Lake of the Woods, the Great Lakes (5 lakes)
THE: the Atlantic Ocean, the Meiterranean, the Caribbean Sea, the Sea of Japan, the Bay of Bengal, the Gulf of Finland, the Persian Gulf
But: Hudson Bay, San Franvisco Bay
3) Rivers, straits, canals, currents, waterfalls.
THE: the Amazon, the Rio Grande, the Seine River, the Dnepr, the Strait of Gibralatar;
the English Channel (La Manche), the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal;
the Victoria Falls, the Canadian Falls
4) Islands
No article: Greenland, Jave, Cyprus, Hokkaido
but: the Isle of Man
THE: the island of Greenland, the island of Java, the island of Cyprus...
group THE: the Aleutian Islands, the Kurils, the Bahamas, the British Isles, the Virgin Islands
5) Peninsulas, capes
THE: the Indochinese Peninsula, the Kamchatka Peninsula
No article: Inochina, Kamchatka;
Cape Horn, Cape Canaveral
but: the Cape of Good Hope
6) Mountains, volcanoes, hills
No article: Everest, Mount Fuji, Mount Elbrus, Lassen Peak;
Capitol Hill, Telegrah Hill
but: the Kilauea Volcano
THE: the Himalays, the Ural Mountains, the Causasus;
the Pamirs, the Andes, the Alps, the Black Hills, the Berkshire Hills.
7) Plateaus, canyons, plains
THE: the Tibetan Plateau, the Central Siberian Plateau, the Great Plains, the Turan Plain
8) Deserts, valleys
The: the Sahara, the Kalahari Desert
the Ruhr Valley, the Nile Valley
but: Death Valley, Silicon Valley
9) Countries, states
No article: Japan, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia
but: the Congo
THE: the U.S., the Netherlands, the Philippines, the Republic of Cuba, the Commonwealth (союз) of Australia
10) States, provinces
No article: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Washington State, Quebec, Ontario
THE: the state of California, the province of Ontario
11) Cities, towns
No article: Havana, Prague, Vienna
but: The Hague
No article: Atlantic City, Kansas City
THE: the city of Athens, the city of Rome
12) Streets, avenuyes, highways
No article: Main Street, Wall Street
but: the Arbat, the Mall
THE: the Avenue of the Americas, the National Road, the Pan American Highway
Next is Proper Names
Skipped, because it is a long list of rare, useless words with a vanishingly small number of patterns to recognize.
Next is Articles test
1: Beginning part 1
>Do you go to work by bus?
I chose "a bus", but it is a set expression about transportation. You know, "by bus, by train, by plane.."
6: Intermediate part 3
>He was sent to prison for his crime.
It's a sort of set expression. If you go to prison as a convict then "prison" is an abstract idea, the destiny to meet. But if you are just a plumber we need the article "A plumber went to the prison to fix the water supply system"
The same idea is applied to "college".
Next/last summer relative to the time we are speaking no article
Dinner/breakfast/lunch no article except for attributes "a delicious dinner"
Set expression "at first sight" no article
#It was love at first sight.
Next is Modal Verbs
1) Formation of tenses
Modal verbs don't have the future tense from. The future is expressed by the present tense forms with the help of the context and adverbs of time.
# Can I go there tomorrow? - Yes, you can.
# He shouldn't call her today.
Only two modal verbs can form the past by changing their forms directly (can - could and will - would)
# She can sing very well. - She could sing very well when she was younger.
# He will go there tomorrow. - I said that he would go there tomorrow.
In AmE, WILL is used for all persons in the future (WOULD for the Future in the Past), and SHALL, SHOULD are used mostly as separate mocal verbs.
# Shall we wait for you here? (polite suggestion of some action and asking for consent or directive)
# Should we call her? (asking for advice; present or future)
# You should have called her yesterday. (giving advice; past tense)
The verbs MAY and MIGHT are used mostly as separate modal verb, though MIGHT is generally used instead of MAY in cases where the rules of the sequence of tenses require the use of the past tense form of the verb.
# She may be at the hospital now. - I said that she might be at the hospital now.
2) Forms of the infinitive
Modal verbs take the infinitive without the particle "to". (The modal verb OUGHT TO consists of two parts: "ought" and "to".)
# He must go. (must + simple infinitive)
# It must have been done already. (must + perfect passive infinitive)
The past is formed with the help of the perfect infinitives, and the future is expressed by the present tense.
Present:
# She should go to work now.
# I must go to the bank tomorrow.
Past:
# He must have told her about it.
# This letter should have been sent a week ago.
3) Meaning of modal verbs
Certain grammatical constructions provide additional information and help us to understand the meaning of modal verbs correctly. For example, the use of the infinitive of the verb BE after certain modal verbs is often an indication that the meaning is "probability, possibility".
# He must be rich.
# They may be at home.
# She could be busy now.
4) Synonyms
SHOULD and OUGHT TO are close synonyms; WILL and WOULD are synonyms in some types of polite requests.
MAY, MIGHT, COULD are synonyms in the meaning possibility. But it's better to use the most straightforward MIGHT, because MAY has two other meanings and COULD four.
5) Substitutes
There are quite a few substitutes for modal verbs, such as the phrases "be able to, have to, have got to, had better, be to, be supposed to, be going to, used to", the adverbs "probably, maybe", and some others.
The most important use of substitute phrases is in those cases where modal verbs can't be used. For example, MUST in the meaning "strong necessity" doesn't have the past form, so the substitute phrase HAVE TO (necessity) is typically used instead of the MUST in the past tense, with a little change in meaning.
# Maria must go to the bank today. (strong necessity)
# She had to go to the bank yesterday. (necessity; realized action)
Next is Overview of Modal Verbs and Their Substitutes
This is a table listing modal verbs, their meanings and forms.
Some cases aren't trivial. For example, to form impossibility in the past you can't just swap CAN for COULD, you need to use CAN with the present perfect.
# Your story can't be true! (Ваш рассказ не может быть правдой!)
# His story can't have been true! (Его рассказ не мог быть правдой!)
Or the fact that COULD can mean suggestion and not the past isn't readily obvious either.
# I don't understand these charts. – You could ask Tom for help.
But overall those are mostly well-known meanings.
Next is Ability
CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO
General ability to do something; physical and mental ability or skill to do something; freedom, right or opportunity to do something.
1) CAN and BE ABLE TO
BE ABLE TO is used as a substitute for CAN in the future and in the past in cases where CAN is not used. Generally, BE ABLE TO is not used with the passive infinitive. Besides, BE ABLE TO is generally used with animate nouns.
# Won't she be able to go there tomorrow? - Yes, she will. No, she won't.
In the case of physical and mental ability or skill referring to the future, the modal verb CAN can't be used and is replaced by the phrase "will be able to".
Present (CAN or BE ABLE TO)
# This partient can already walk. / This patient is already able to walk.
# He can speak Chinese a little
Future (only BE ABLE TO)
# This patien will be able to walk in a couple of weeks.
# Will he be able to walk?
# He will be able to speak Chinese in a year.
Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish skill from opportunity.
# He can drive well. (skill)
# He will be able to drive well next month (skill in the future, only WILL BE ABLE TO)
# I will drive the car this week, and you can drive next week. (opportunity: CAN or WILL BE ABLE TO)
2) COULD and BE ABLE TO
COULD is the past form of CAN in the meaning "ability".
# He could run very fast when he wasn't young. / He was able to run very fast when he was young.
Note: COULD doesn't show realized actions in the past. Use "was/were able to" or "managed to" instead.
# He was able to find Tom yesterday. / He managed to find Tom yesterday.
But you can use COULD for realized actions in the past with some verbs of sense perception, such as "feel, hear, see".
# I could feel their hostility during the conversation. / I felt their hostility during the conversation.
# I could see that he was very upset.
Note: Negative statements (with the forms "couldn't" and "wasn't / weren't able to") don't have much difference in meaning.
(Because it doesn't really matter what is the reason you couldn't do it.)
# He couldn't find Tom yesterday. - He wasn't able to find Tom yesterday.
3) Other meanings of CAN and COULD
Mostly polite requests
# She couldn't com to the party yesterday. (ability in the past)
# She could be sleeping now (possibility)
# She could read in English more often. (suggestion)
Next is Advice
SHOULD, OUGHT TO, HAD BETTER
1) SHOULD
Using SHOULD is a preffered way of giving advice.
# You shouldn't call him tomorrow.
# It is eleven o'clock. You should be sleeping now.
Note: SHOULD in the meaning "advice" can replace MUST in the meanings "strong necessity" and "prohibition" if the speaker wants to sound less categorical.
# You shouldn't park here. (advice)
# You must not park here. (prohibition)
2) SHOULD in the past
SHOULD forms the past tense by adding the perfect infinitive of the main verb. Such constructions show that the speaker feels that the past action (or absence of action) was a mistake.
# You should have called her yesterday. Today is her day off.
# She shouldn't have told Mike about the present. It was supposed to be a secret.
Note: In the case of reported speech describing advice that was given in the past, two variants of constructions with SHOULD are possibel:
1. SHOULD + PERFECT INFINITIVE shows the action that took place in the past;
2. SHOULD + SIMPLE INFINITIVE shows that you don't know whether the action happened.
# I told him that he should have paid his debt promptly (He didn't follow my advice and didn't pay his debt)
# I told him that he should pay his debt probmptly. (I don't know whether he followe my advice and paid his debt)
3) OUGHT TO
OUGHT TO is a close synonym for SHOULD, but SHOULD is much more common.
# You ought to have written a letter to Tom / You should have written a letter to Tom.
# She ought not to eat so much chocolate
4) HAD BETTER
It expresses advice with a warning of possible unpleasant consequences or results if indicated advice is not followed.
HAD BETTER is mostly used in affirmative and negative statements in the present.
SHOULD is used instead of HAD BETTER in the past.
# I had better go (or I'll be late)
# She'd better not come here again!
# You should have come back on Friday. You missed an important meeting.
5) Other phrases for giving advice
You can use the verbs "tell, advise, recommend" in describing the advice given. Note that the verbs "advise, recommend" have prculiarities in the use of gerund or infinitive after them.
# I advise buying this car
# I advise you to buy this car
# I advise that you buy this car
# I advised him not to buy that car
# I recommend buying this car...
Advice may also be given in the form of a suggestion:
# Why don't you visit Spain this summer?
# You might go to a mountain resort next winter.
# If I were you, I would go to Italy in May.
Next is Necessity
Moreover, "they said" followed by "I" doesn't make much sense. We call it disagreement... what kind of disagreement is it?
Actually, I was wrong. To shift time correctly, we should take into consideration the fact that the hater is talking about the future.
"Hope" is a special verb, triggering a reaction in subordinate clauses similar to sentences with "when" or "if". This is the rule I call "no two will". If I will... It (present simple).
Constructions functioning exactly like the verb "Hope" are "Make sure", "Take care", and "See to it".
# See to it that he gets the message.
(Позаботься о том, чтобы он получил сообщение)
# Make sure the door is locked.
So the correct version would be: They said they hoped that she would see this and would kill herself.
And the pronounce "I" after "they said" is used because every hater says "I".
And overall... this isn't even reported speech! This is regular direct speech. She just omitted quotation marks, and rightfully so.
Thank you, the sad teenage girl Amanda, for your gloomy lesson!
MUST, HAVE TO, HAVE GOT TO, NEED
1) MUST
Strong necessity.
# This patient must stay in bed for at least two weeks. (future)
MUST in the meaning "strong necessity" doesn't have the past form. The substitute phrase HAD TO (necessity) is typically used instead, with a little change in meaning.
# Victor had to go to the bank yesterday.
(necessity, with the following meaning: it was necessary for him to go to the bank yesterday, and he went there.)
2) MUST and its substitute HAVE TO
MUST is stronger, stricter, and more categorical than HAVE TO.
# He must write a report. (strong necessity)
# He will have to finish his report tomorrow. (necessity)
In some cases the difference between MUST and HAVE TO is bigger than "strong necessity" versus "necessity". MUST shows that the speaker thinks that the action specified by the main verb is necessary to do, amd it's the right thing to do (i.e., the speaker expresses personal opinion), while HAVE TO just states the fact that this action is necessary.
# Children must go to school. (It's obligatory, and it's the right thing to do.)
# Children have to go to school. (It's obligatory)
# You must read this article. It is very interesting.
# You have to read this article. WE are going to discuss it in class.
Note: SHOULD can be used instead of MUST if the speaker wants to sound less categorical.
# You must do it today (strong necessity, obligation)
# You should do it today. (advice, recommendation)
3) Substitute phrase HAVE GOT TO
HAVE GOT TO has only the present tense form and expresses necessity to do something in the present and future.
HAVE TO os often used instead of HAVE GOT TO in questions.
# I've got to go.
# Haven't you got to finish your report today? - Yes, I have. / Don't you have to finish your report today? - Yes, I do.
The phrase HAVE GOT TO does not have the past form, so HAD TO is typically used instead of it in the past.
4) NEED
NEED is frequently used with a noun object after it. (I need help; we need bread and cheese; he needs money)
With an infinitive, NEED expresses necessity to do something and can be used as a less categorical substitute for MUST.
# I need to see you.
# He needs to exercise more.
5) Absence of necessity
Absence of necessity is usually expressed by HAVE TO in the negative.
# I don't have to go to work today. It is Saturday.
# He won't have to explain anything to us.
Absence of necessity can be expressed by NEED in the negative. NEED in the negative is generally ysed as a main verb in the construction "don't need to"
# I don't need to go to the store today.
But sometimes NEED in the negative is used as a modal verb (i.e needn't). The infinitive after the modal verb "needn't" is used without the particle "to"
# She needn't worry. Everything will be all right. (modal verb "needn't")
# You needn't shout. I can hear you well. (modal verb "needn't")
Next is Requests and Permission
MAY, CAN, COULD, WILL, WOULD
1) Requests
CAN in requests is considred to be less polite than the other modals in this group. CAN is generally used in informal requests, mostly in conversation with friends and family.
Note use of the pronouns "I, you".
In requests, MAY is used in the from "May I"; WILL and WOULD are used in the forms "Will you" and "Would you"; COULD and CAN are used in both variants.
# May I speak to Tom Lee, please?
# Could you lend me thirty dollars till Wednesday, please?
# Will you please be quiet?
# Would you please ask her to call me?
Note: MIGHT may be used in making polite requests in the same way as MAY, but it is rarely used in this function
Typical response to request:
# I'd be glad to. / I'd be happy to
# I'm afraid it's not possible. I'd like to, but...
2) Requesting permission
MAY asks for formal permission, COULD is less formal, and CAN asks informal permission. MAY and COULD are more polite than CAN
# Mrs. Brown, may I stay at your house till Wednesday? - Yes, you may.
# Could I stay here till Wednesday? - yes, of course
# Can I stay here till Wednesday? - Sure.
Note: CAN and MAY are also used in polite offers, often in a n offer of help.
# Can I help you (less formal)
# May I help you? (more formal)
3) The phrase WOULD YOU MIND
(a) Request to do something: Would you mind + gerund
# Would you mind opening the window
# Would you mind not usein my CD player withou permission?
(b) Asking for permission: Would you mind + if I + simple past
# Would you mind if I opened the window? (You ask someone whether you could open the window)
(c) The phrase DO YOU MIND
DO YOU MIND is a little less polite than WOULD YOU MIND
# Do you mind opening the window?
4) The phrase I WOULD LIKE
I WOULD LIKE expresses preference or desire to do or get something and is used in certain situations as a polite substitute for requests.
In questions, "Would you like" is often used as a polite offer
# I would like to speak to Mr, Smith, please.
# I'd like a cup of coffee.
# Would you like to go to a concer tonight?
5) Requests in the form of negative questions
Rude! Not polite. (in the voice of Donald Trump)
# Can't you give me a cup of tea? (I'm surprised that you haven't offered me a cup of tea.)
But:
# Won't you have some more potato salad? (sound more interested than an affirmative question)
And:
# I'm sorry to ask about it, but wouldn't it be possible to postpone my trip to Rome? (the speaker knows that there are reasons why a request can't be fulfilled but still hopes that something can be done)
Recommendation:
Use COULD YOU for making a request, and COULD I for making a request or for asking for permission.
Next is Prohibition
1) MUST NOT
MUST NOT express strong necessity NOT to do something.
MUST NOT in this meaning doesn't have the past form.
# We must not ignore these facts.
You can use SHOULD NOT as a softer substitute
# You must not call them so late. (Prohibition)
# You should not call them so late. (Advice)
You can try using MUST in the affirmative instead of MUST NOT with the help of the verbs that are antonyms.
This changes the meaning to "strong necessity to do something".
# You must not break the rules. (prohibition)
# You must follow the rules. (necessary to do)
You can use a command.
# You must not touch the pictures. - Don't touch the pictures.
2) The phrase BE TO
It expresses strong expectation of some action, usually according to some laws, rules, agreements, or orders; that is, someone has serious grounds to expect another person to do something.
It can be used in the past tense.
# You are not to smoke here.
# You were not to tell anyone about it.
3) The phrase BE SUPPOSED TO
It is a milder synonym of the phrase BE TO.
# I am not supposed to go there alone
# He was not supposed to tell anyone about it
Note: BE TO and BE SUPPOSED TO in the past may imply that the expected action didn't take place
# You were to stay in bed today. Why did you go to work?
# He was not supposed to be there. I wonder what he was doing there.
4) MAY NOT and CAN'T
These verbs in the meaning "permission is not given" may be used instead of MUST NOT.
MAY NOT is quite formal, categorical and strict. In ordinary situations, if permission is not given, the verb CAN'T is generally used.
# You must not smoke here. (It is not allowed; it is prohibited.)
# You may not smole here. (It is formally / strictly not allowed)
# You can't smoke here. (It is not allowed.)
# I'm sorry, but you can't take my dictionary. I need it today.
5) BE NOT ALLOWED TO
This phrase can serve as a descriptive substitute for MUST NOT in the present, future, and past.
# I'm not allowed to see them.
# He won't be allowed to do it.
# They were not allowed to stay there.
Next is Possibility
MAY, MIGHT, COULD
(Less than 50% certainty)
# Where is Mike?
/ # He may be in the garden
/ # He might be in the attic
/ # He could be in the garage
Context and meaning
MAY, MIGHT and COULD are very close synonyms in the meaning "possibility", though MAY expresses a bit stronger possibility than MIGHT or COULD
Check the context to be sure that the actual meaning is "possibility".
# May I leave now? (request for permission)
# You may leave now. (permission)
# He may leave for Rome soone. (possibility)
# He may leave. (permission or possibility?)
Quite often, the use of the infinitive BE after MAY, MIGHT, COULD is an indication that the meaning is "possibility".
Also, the perfect infinitive of the main verb after these modal verbs usually signals that the meaning is "possibility".
# You may be right.
# He may have left already.
# He could have been sleeping when I called him.
/ Tenses
1) Present tense
# He could be at school or at home
With continuous infinitive:
# He might be sleeping now.
With passive infinitive:
# This work may be done tomorrow
# She might be offered a new job.
2) Past tense
With perfect infinitive:
# He may have been at home then
(Он, возможно, был дома тогда)
# It could have been Jhon, but I'm not sure.
With perfect continuous infinitive:
# She may have been walking her dog yesterday in the evening
(Может быть она выгуливала свою собаку вчера вечером)
# They might have been sleeping when she called them in the morning.
With perfect passive infinitive:
# It might have been done already.
# He may have been offered a new job.
3) MAY and MIGHT in the past tense
Though MAY and MIGHT function as two separate modal verbs and have their own past forms (e.g., may have done; might have done), in certain cases MIGHT is used as the past form of MAY, for example, in reported speech according to the rules of the sequence of tenses.
# He said, "I may go there soon."
# He said that he might go there soon.
4) MAY and MIGHT: Conditional sentences
Only MIGHT is used to express supposition in conditional sentences with unreal condition, while both MAY and MIGHT are used to express possibility in sentences with real condition.
If he had repaired his car, he might have gone to tle lake with them yesterday. (unreal condition referring to the past)
Note: COULD is also used in conditional sentences with unreal condition.
/ Questions
1) MAY and MIGHT: Questions
Usually, MAY and MIGHT in the meaning "possibility" are not used in questions. The substitute phrases "be likely; is it possible; are you sure" replace them in questions.
# Is he likely to return soon?
# Is it possible that she is at home now?
2) COULD in questions
# Could it be true?
# What could it be?
Check the context for precise meaning
# Could you write a letter to her? (request)
# Could he have written this letter? (possibility)
3) Questions about possibility
Use the substitute phrases to avoid difficulties.
# She may know him.
/ # Is she likely to know him?
/ # Are you sure that she knows him?
4) Negative statements
# MAY and MIGHT are used in negative statements in the meaning that there is some possibility that some action might not take place.
# He may not be home yet.
# I might not have locked the door.
Note: Couldn't
COULD in the negative, usually "couldn't be" in the present and "couldn't" with the perfect infinitive of the main verb in the past, has the meaning "impossibility" (improbability). "Can't" is used in the same way and in the same meaning. ("Couldn't" is a little milder)
"Couldn't" and "can't" in this meaning indicate that the speaker strongly believes that something is really impossible (improbable)
# It couldn't be true!
# I can't have been true!
5) Combinations with "have to" and "be able to"
MAY and MIGHT are used in combinations with "have to" and "bea able to".
# He may have to move to another city soon.
# He might be able to help you.
6) Substitutes
# The adverbs "maybe, perhaps" and the phrase "It is possible that" are simple and useful substitutes for the modal verbs of this group.
# Maybe he was sick yesterday.
# Perhaps he'll come back.
# It's possible that she doesn't know them
Next is Strong probability
MUST, SHOULD, OUGHT TO
The speaker is almost sure that something is true to reality because he has good reasons to expect that.
1) Main differences
In the present MUST expresses "almost sure that it is true" (about a situation in the present); SHOULD and OUGHT TO express "expect it to be true" (about a situation in the future)
# It's ten o'clock. He must be in the office now. (I'm almost sure of that, because today is his working day and he is usually at his desk in the morning)
# She should be at home after eight. (I strongly expect her to be at home after eight, because she usually comes back at eight.)
# Is everything ready? The guests ought to be here soon. (I strongly expect them to be here soon, because we invited them to our party)
# The boy is reading a book and not paying attention to anything else. The book must be very interesting.
In the past, MUST expresses "almost sure that it took place"; SHOULD and OUGHT TO usually express "expected it but id didn't take place"
# He came back very late. His mother must have been worried
# I'm worried. She should have come back an hour ago.
/ MUST in the meaning "strong probability"
With the help of MUST the speaker expresses a supposition that is a logical conclusion on the basis of a certain situation; hence such a strong degree of certainty.
1) MUST in the present
simple/continuous infinitives
# He must be a teacher. I have seen him at teacher's conferences several times.
# He must be working on his report at the library now.
2) MUST in the past
Perfect infinitive:
# It must have been a mistake
# She must not have known his address
Perfect continuous infinitive:
# She must have been walking her fog at seven o'clock yesterday.
Perfect passive infinitive:
# He looks happy. He must have been offered a new job.
3) MUST in the future
Strong probability in the future is not expressed by the verb MUST. With adverbs and adverbial phrases indicating the future tim, MUST expresses strong necessity to do something in the future.
SHOULD is usually used instead of MUST to express strong probability in the future. Note that the meaning expressed by SHOULD in such cases may also be "advice, recommendation":
# His bag is here. He must be in the office. (Strong probability.)
# He must be in the office tomorrow. We are going to have an important meeting. (Strong necessity.)
# He should be in the office tomorrow. (Strong probability.)
# You should be in the office tomorrow. (Advice, recommendation.)
With some verbs, strong probability in the future may be expressed by MUST with the continuous infinitive.
# He must be arriving tomorrow.
4) Constructions and meaning
Quite often, the use of the infinitive of the stateve verbs "be, know, like, feel" after MUST is an indication that the meaning is "strong probability"
# It must be a mistake
# He must feel terrible now.
The perfect infinitive of the main verb after MUST is a clear indication that the meaning here is "strong probability" because the other meanings of MUST don't have the past forms.
# He must go to the bank as soon as possible.
(Strong necessity to go to the bank as soon as possible.)
# He must have gone to the bank already. (Strong probability that he has gone to the bank already)
# I must be at the meeting tomorrow. It's very important. (Strong necessity to be ath the meeting tomorrow.)
# I must have been at the meeting when he called. (Strong probability that I was at the meetin when he called.)
/ SHOULD and OUGHT TO in the meaning "strong probability"
Strongly expected action (i.e., strongly expected because it is highly probable)
1) The Past, The Present and The Future
The future is expressed by SHOULD, OUGHT TO with the help of adverbs and adverbial phrases indicating the future time or without them, because expectation, naturally, refers to the future.
Usually, SHOULD or OUGHT TO are combined with the active / simple infinitive of the main verb for expected actions in the present or future and with the perfect infinitive for actions expected in the past.
# She should be back in about an hour.
# You ought to receive ths package soon.
# Where is Alexander? He should have arrived two hours ago.
# She should have received my letter last week, but it was delivered only yesterday.
2) The meanings of SHOULD, OUGHT TO
The most common use of SHOULD, OUGHT TO is giving advice. It is not always easy to recoginze strong probability.
# He should arrive by train. (Is it "I advise him to arrive by train" or "I expect him to arrive by train"?)
# He should arrive by train. His daughter says that he is afraid of flying. (Strong probability: I expect him to arrive by train.)
Past:
# I'm really worried. I should have heard from him an hour ago. (I expected him to call me an hour ago, but he didn't call.)
3) Probability in questions
MUST, SHOULD, OUGHT TO in the meaning "strong probabbility" are generally not used in questions. The phrases "Is it likely that; is he likely to; are you sure that" and their variants are used instead in questions about the probability.
# Is he likely to be at home now?
# Are you sure that he is still at the office?
# Do you think that they will help us?
4) Substitutes
The adverb "probably" is widely used to express probability in the present, future, and past.
# He is probably a student.
The phrases "I'm sure that; I think that"
# I'm sure that he lives near here
# I don't think that he can do it.
"I expect" expresses expectations...
# She expected him to bring flowers.
Next is Modal Verbs test
3: Necessity
>She had to go to the bank yesterday.
"Must have gone" would be probability, not necessity
5: Possibility
>I wonder who wrote that letter. Could Jim have written it? (Weak possibility)
Apparently "could" is weaker that "is it possible"
6: Strong probability
>Strong probability means that you are about 90 percent sure.
Oh, ok
>You should receive our report tomorrow.
I chose "will" twice in this section, but "will" doesn't even signify probability... Basically it's not 90% it's 100%.
Next is Subjunctive Mood
1) Mood
Mood shows how the action is viewed by the speaker.
The indicative mood expresses a real action in the present, past, or future.
The imperative mood expresses a command or request.
The subjunctive mood expresses a hypothetical, suppositional action.
The subjunctive mood is represented by three main forms in modern English: the Present Subjunctive, the Past Subjunctive, the Past Perfect Subjunctive. Other forms are rarely used.
2) Present Subjunctive form
It is used to express (emphasize) urgency, importance, desirability, demand, order, suggestion, request.
The Present Subjunctive is used in subject subordinate clauses in sentences with the formal subject "It" after "it is necessary that; it is important that; it is imperative that; it is crucial that..."
The Present Subjunctive is also used in object subordinate clauses after "demand that; order that; command that; urge that..."
The form of the Present Subjunctive is the base form of the verb (without "to") for all persons: I be, he be, she be...
# It is necessary that he do it immediately (subject clause)
# It is important that the contract be signed today.
# I demand that I be allowed to speak to my lawyer. (object clause)
# He suggested that the decision be postponed till next week
The Present Subjunctive doesn't indicate the time of the action and remains in the same form irrespective of the tense in the main clause.
# She asks that the report be ready tomorrow
(Она просит, чтобы доклад был готов завтра)
# She asked that the report be ready tomorrow
(Она просила, чтобы доклад был готов завтра)
# She asked that the report be ready yesterday
(Она просила, чтобы доклад был готов вчера)
3) Construction SHOULD + infinitive
This construction is less formal. It is used in the same situations as the Present Subjunctive.
# It is necessary that he should go there as soon as possible.
# He demanded that I should tell him everything
The construction SHOULD + infinitive is also used to express regret, annoyance, surprise after "I am sorry that; I regret that; I am surprised that, it is strange that...", and also in special questions after "why" to express strong surprise.
# I am sorry that you should think so.
# It is strange that he should ask about it.
# Why should you think so?
(Почему вы так думаете?)
# Why should he be so angry?
(Почему он так сердится)
The perfect infinitive may be used after SHOULD in such constructions to express a preceding action.
# It is surprising that she should say it.
(Удивительно что она говорит это)
# It is surprising that she should have said it.
(Удивительно что она сказала это)
4) Other cases of use
The Present Subjunctive and the construction SHOULD + infinitive are also used in subordinate clauses of purpose after "lest" (чтобы не), a rather bookish conjunction. The conjunction "so that" is much more common in subordinate clauses of purpose that "lest".
Clauses of purpose with "so that" are generally used in the indicative mood, usually with the modal verbs "can, could, may, might".
Subjunctive:
# She wrote down the address lest she forget it
/ # She wrote down the address lest she should forget it.
Indicative:
# She wrote down the address so that she might not forget it.
# He stepped aside so that she could pass.
# I will wait for you so that we may go there together.
The Present Subjunctive may also be used in subordinate clauses of condition (after IF), but such use is not very common nowadays. The verb in the main clause is generally used in the indicative or imperative mood:
# If this be the case, we will go there tomorrow. (indicative)
# If that be true, come back immediately. (imperative)
Constructions with SHOULD may be used instead of the Present Subjunctive in such cases; SHOULD makes the indicated action less like to happen.
# Should this be the case, we will go there tomorrow.
# Should that be true, come back immediately
Fixed phrases: so be it; be that as it may; happen whay may; heaven forbid; God save the queen; till death do us apart...
How to distinguish subjunctive from present simple:
# It is necessary that he be in his office in the morning.
(Present Subjunctive; the verb BE is in the form "be" for all persons.)
/ # He is in his office in the morning.
(Simple Present; the verb BE is in the form "is" for the third person singular.)
5) Substitutes
You can use simpler constructions in the indicative mood instead of the Present Subjunctive.
# It is necessary that he sell the house.
/ # Tell him that it is necessary to sell the house.
/ # He must sell the house.
/ # It is necessary tof him to sell the house.
/ # I want him to sell the house.
Next is Conditional Sentences
1) Real condition
Conditional sentences with real condition express real, true to fact / factual conditions under which the action in the main clause can be realized. The tenses of the indicative mood are used.
# She will talk to him if she sees him.
# If I have enough time tonight, I will help you
# They will bring his book if they find it.
# You may go home if you have finished your work.
Note: Will and WOULD after IF
There are certain cases in which the use of WILL or WOULD after IF is allowed in clauses of condition. WILL can be used after IF to make a polite request to do something. WOULD can be used after IF to express a very polite request to do something, especially in formal style. Though such constructions are in the form of conditional sentences, there is actually no condition in them, and the verb WILL (or WOULD) after IF expresses volition to do something.
# If you will excuse me, I have to leave now.
# If you will please wait here, the doctor will see you as soon as he is free.
# If you would kindly wait here, I would be very much obliged to you.
# I would be very grateful if you would send me your catalogue.
Also, WILL can be used after IF in such constructions to insist strongly on doing something, to refuse to do something, or to emphasize the result of the future action.
# If you go on smoking so much, you will ruin your health.
/ # If you will go on smoking (вилл подчеркивает упрямсто, если будешь настаивать на своем) so much, you will ruin your health
# If Mike doesn't help her, Tom will help her.
/ # If Mike won't (подчеркивание отказа) help her, Tom will.
# I can make your favorite cherry pie for you if you buy sugar on your way home.
/ # I can make your favorite cherry pie for you if it will (подчеркивание результата) make you feel better.
2) Unreal condition
It expresses hypothetical, unlikely, improbable, unreal, contrary to fact conditions under which the action in the main clause might be realized or might have been realized.
The forms in the subjunctive mood are used. The Past Subjunctive is used in the subordinate clause to express unreal condition in the present or future. The Past Perfect Subjunctive is used in the subordinate clause to express unreal condition in the past.
3) Unreal condition in the present or future
The verb in the subordinate clause is used in the Past Subjunctive, which is the same in form as the Simple Past Tense. WOULD + simple infinitive without to is used in the main clause.
# I would call him now, if I knew his telephone.
# Ella would be disappointed if we didn't come to her party tomorrow.
4) The verb BE in the Past Subjunctive
BE is used in the form WERE for all persons. WERE is the form of the verb BE in the Past Subjunctive.
# If she were at home, she would pick up the phone.
# I wouldn't ask you to help my sister if you weren't her friend.
The construction WERE TO emphasizes the hypothetical character of the condition and indicates that the action is even less likely to happen.
# What would you do if you lost your job?
(Что бы вы делали, если бы вы потеряли работу?)
/ # What would you do if you were to lose your job?
(Что бы вы делали, если бы (случилось так, что) вы потеряли работу?)
Note that the phrase "If I were you" which is often used for giving advice is the same in the second and third types of if-clauses with unreal condition.
# If I were you, I would but a new car.
# If I were you, I would have bought a new car a long time ago.
5) Unreal condition in the past
To show unreal condition in the past, the verb in the subordinate clause is used in the Past Perfect Subjunctive, which is the same in form as the Past Perfect.
The construction would + perfect infinitive is used in the main clause.
# If I had known his telephone number then, I would have called him. (but I didn't know his telephone number the, and I didn't call him.)
# If he had not told me, I would never have guessed what he wa up to.
6) COULD and MIGHT in conditional sentences (вместо WOULD!!!)
COULD and MIGHT are often used in the main clause of conditional sentences with unreal condition, and COULD is sometimes used in the if-clause with unreal condition. The verb MAY is generally not used in conditional sentences with unreal condition.
# She might go for a walk in the park if it stopped raining.
# I could invite her if I saw her tomorrow.
# If I could ask him about it, I would certainly do so
# She might get a better hob if she could speak English.
7) SHOULD after IF
SHOULD can be used after IF in clauses with real or unreal condition referring to the future to sho that the indicated action is even less likely to happen.
# If he comes before five o'clock, I will ask him to wait for you.
(Если он придет раньше пяти часов, я попрошу его подождать вас.)
/ # If he should come before five o'clock, I will ask him to wait for you
(Если случится так, что он придет раньше пяти часов, я попрошу его подождать вас)
# If he came before five o'clock, I would be very surprised.
# / If he should come before five o'clock, I would be very surprised.
(Если случилось бы так, что он пришел бы раньше пяти часов, я был бы очень удивлен)
Note: SHOULD after the pronouns I and WE in the main clause has the same meaning as WOULD
# If you asked me, I should help you
8) Absence of IF
IF is sometimes omitted in the conditional sentences in which the if-clause contains SHOULD, WERE or HAD. In such cases, SHOULD, WERE or HAD is moved to the beginning of the sentence and stands before the subject of the if-clause.
# If Mr.Rox should call, ask him to call me again after five.
/ # Should Mr. Rox call, ask him to call me again after five.
# If I were younger, I would go to the mountains with you.
/ # Were I younger, I would go to the mountains with you.
# If he hadn't known about it, he would have agreed to go there.
/ # Had he not known about it, he would have agreed to go there.
9) Mixed conditionals
There may be cases in which one part refers to the present or future, and the other part refers to the past.
# If he were a good specialist (сейчес), he would have found the problem with my computer quickly enough yesterday. (в прошлом)
# If he had sold his paintings whe he had good offers, he could buy a house for his family now.
10) Implied condition
Sometimes unreal condition is implied, not stated directly. The context makes the meaning clear, and the verb is used in the same form as in the main clause of the full conditional sentence with unreal condition.
# I talked with Tom and Nina today. They would be glad to see you.
(Я разговаривала с Томом и ниной сегодня. Они были бы рады увидеть тебя (если бы ты пришел))
# Why didn't you call me? I would have come to your house right away.
# I would have visited them, but I didn't know their address.
11) BUT FOR and IF NOT FOR
Sometimes, the if-clause of unreal condition is replaced by the construction BUT FOR (or IF NOT FOR) + noun or pronoun. Such structures can be used in situations referring to the past or present.
# But for the children, they would have divorced years ago.
/ # If it hadn't been for the children, they would have divorced years ago.
(Если бы не дети, они бы давно развелись)
# If not fore her, he would never have become such a good doctor.
/ # If it hadn't been for her, he would never have become such a good doctor.
12) WHAT IF and SUPPOSE THAT
After "What if; Suppose that'; Let's suppose that; Supposing that", either real condition (indicative mood) or unreal condition (subjunctive mood) can be used, depending on the meaning and context.
# What if he decides to go there? What will you do?
(Что если он решит пойти туда? Что вы будете делать?)
# What if she lost you diamond ring? Would you forgive her?
(Что если она потеряла бы ваше бриллиантовое кольцо? Вы бы простили её?)
# Supposing it rained tomorrow. What would you do? - In that case, we would stay home.
Next is Constructions with the Verb WISH
/ Wishes about the present or future
1) Construction WISH + Past Subjunctive
The existing situation is not the way the speaker would like it to be, but changing the situation is unreal or unlikely. The speaker expresses regret.
BE has the form WERE for all persons.
Situation 1: I don't know his address
Wish: I wish I knew his address
(But I don't know it, and I can't find it out now. It's a pity that I don't know his address.)
Situation 2: I have an old car
Wish: I wish I had a new car.
Situation 3: She has to work on Saturday.
Wish: She wishes she didn't have to work on Saturday.
2) Construction WISH + COULD + simple infinitive
COULD with the simple infinitive is used after WISH to express wishes in the situations where ability to do something is indicated. Such constructions express regret about the existing situation and a wish for changing this situation.
# I can't sing. - I wish I could sing.
# I can't stay. I have to go. - I wish I could stya, but I can't.
# She sneezes and coughs a lot. - She wishes she could stop sneezing and coughing.
3) Construction WISH + WOULD + simple infinitive
A wish that someone would do something to change the existing situation. The wish is usually a combination of a request and a complaint.
# You interrupt me all the time. - I wish you wouldn't interrupt me.
# You won't come to my party - I wish you would come to my party.
/ Wishes about the past
1) Construction WISH + Past Perfect Subjunctive
The situation existed in the past. The speaker regrets that something happened in the past. It expresses regret mostly.
# I forgot to call her yesterday. - I wish I hadn't forgotten to call her yesterday.
# I didn't help her. - I wish I had helped her.
Note: WISHED
If the wish was made in the past, the verb WISHED is used. Past Subjunctive and Past Perfect Subjunctive stay the same.
# She wishes she knew his address. - She wished she knew his address.
(Она жалеет / Она жалела)
2) Construction WISH + COULD + perfect infinitive.
This construction expresses regret about the past situations in which ability to do something was indicated.
# She couldn't come to the party. - I wish she could have come to the party.
(Она не смогла / Жаль, что она не смогла)
# I couldn't help her. - I wish I could have helped her.
5) Shortened constructions
# I wish he were here, but he isn't. - He isn't here, but I wish he were.
# I really wish I had a car, but I don't. - I don't have a car, but I really wish I did.
# I wish he were here, but he isn't. - I wish he were here. (shortened part is omitted)
/ Other constructions
1) If only
IF ONLY express wishes in the form of regret more emotionally than constructions with the verb WISH.
# If only he were here with me now!
# If only he had listened to me then!
2) I'd rather
I'D RATHER express preference. Use the infinitive after "I'd rather" when you speka about what you would prefer to do. Use Past Subjunctive when speaking about what you want someone else to do.
# I'd rather stay home tonight
# I'd rather you stayed home today
3) It's time
After "It's time" in such constructions, either and infinitive or a verb in the Past Subjunctive may be used.
(Время как раз пришло, пора действовать против время уже упущено пора бы начать действовать)
# It's time to go to work.
# It's time to say goodbye.
# It's time for us to leave
(Нам пора уезжать)
# It's time the children were in bed.
(Детям пора быть в кровати)
# It's time we went home.
(Пора нам идти домой (т.е пора, чтобы мы пошли))
Construction "It's high time someone did something" and "It's about time someone did something" express the same meaning emphatically. Such constructions often express criticism or complaint.
# It's high time you stopped smoking.
(Вам давно пора бросить курить.)
# It's about time he became more responsible.
(Пора уже ему стать более ответсвенным)
Next is Subjunctive Mood: Summary
This is a list, this is a table, a reference material.
Though the "as if, as though" construction seems to be new.
# He speaks about her as if he knows her
(it seems to me that he knows her)
# He speaks about her as if he knew her.
(I doubt that he knows her.)
# It looked as if it was going to rain.
(Я думал что пойдет дождь)
# She often looked as if she were going to cry.
(Я не думал что она заплачет, просто у неё был такой вид)
Next is Subjunctive test
1: Conditionals
>Should Mrs. Green call, tell her I'll be back around four o'clock.
I forgot that "should" replace "would" easily. And "would" isn't used in such type of fronting anyway.
8: Review Subjunctive
>It has been raining since early morning. I wish it would stop raining.
It's the same "would" as in "I wish you would stop interrupting me". I was confused because rain isn't a person, and it's not completely natural to utter a request to it.
>He waved to her, smiling, and stepped forward to greet her, but she went by him as if he were invisible.
Uncalled emotional violence, haha.
Next is Miscellany
After "so", "such", "as"
#Such was her disappointment that she started to cry.
# As was the custom, three fighters and three shooters were chosen.
After adjectives and participles
# Blessed are the pure in heart
# Beautiful was her singing
After adverbial modifiers of place
# Right in front of him stood a huge two-headed dragon
Inversion in negative constructions
Inversion is required in negative sentences beginning with the following negative adverbs and adverbial phrases: never; never before; not only...but also; not until...
# Never before have I felt such fear.
# Not only did he spill coffee everywhere, but he also broke my favorite vase.
Either, neither, and nor
The pronoun "neither" means "not either" (of two people or things); not one or the other". The pronoun "neither" is the negative form of the pronoun "either".
# Neither answer is correct
# Which of these cars do you like? - Neither.
The pronoun "both" is not used in negative constructions. "Neither" is used instead of "both".
# Both of us knew it. - Neither of us knew it.
Same with "too"
# I know him too. - I don't know him either
The conjunctions "either...or" and "neither...nor" imply the choice out of two.
# He doesn't speak either Spanish or French
/ # He speaks neither Spanish nor French
