Gerund: functions in a sentence

 

The gerund always has the same function as a noun (although it looks like a verb). Like a noun, it can perform different functions in a sentence.

 

The gerund as the subject

• Hunting lions is dangerous.
• Flying makes me nervous.
• Eating people is wrong.

 

The gerund as the object

 

Gerunds and gerund phrases can act as direct objects when used with another verb. Direct objects answer the question ‘what?’:

• Mary loves skating. (Mary loves what? Mary loves skating.)
• I enjoy running every morning.
• Tom doesn’t like getting up early.
• Ann enjoys shopping.

 

Sometimes, gerunds and gerund phrases are used as indirect objects. Indirect objects are used with a verb and a direct object (another noun). They often answer the question ‘to what?’:

• I will give dancing my best shot. (I will give my best shot to what? To dancing.)
• Jack made running his priority.
• Jeremy gave skiing a try.

 

The gerund as the subject complement

 

Gerunds can be used after linking verbs (‘to be’, modal verbs, the verbs ‘to feel’, ‘to seem‘, ‘mean‘ etc.) and complement the subject of the sentence.

• Seeing is believing.
• The most important thing is learning.
• His mistake was talking too much.
• Being a student sometimes means spending long ours with books.

The gerund after prepositions

 

The gerund must be used when a verb comes after a preposition. This is also true of certain expressions ending in a preposition, for example the expressions ‘in spite of’ and ‘there’s no point in’.

• She is good at singing.
• She avoided him by walking on the opposite side of the road.
• There’s no point in waiting.

Gerund: overview

Gerunds are ‘-ing’ verbs that we use as nouns.

 

Gerunds and gerund phrases often act as subjects in the sentence:

• Swimming is good for you. (this sounds better than ‘To swim is good for you’).
• Flying is faster than walking.
• Reading books is a good way to learn more. (a gerund phrase).

 

To form Gerunds, add ‘-ing’ to the base form of the verb:

• To play → playing
• To hide → hiding
• To swim → swimming

 

Spelling rules

 

Regular verbs with a silent ‘-e’ at the end: change the ‘-e’ to ‘-ing’:

• To choose → choosing
• To glide → gliding

 

Regular verbs with ‘-ie’ at the end: change ‘-ie’ to ‘-ying’:

• To tie → tying
• To lie → lying

 

If the verb ends in a consonant + vowel + consonant and the final syllable is stressed, double the last consonant and add ‘-ing’:

• To for’get → forgetting
• To ‘swim → swimming

 

But don’t do that with ‘-x’ or ‘-w’:

• To relax → relaxing
• To blow → blowing

 

Gerunds and gerund phrases can also be used as direct or indirect objects, objects of prepositions, and predicate nouns. You can learn more about this in the following units.

Articles: proper nouns

 

Generally, we don’t use articles with proper nouns – names of people and places and things.

•  Mike lives in Bangalore, India.
• I have a teacher named John. John is from England.

However, some proper nouns are used with the definite article ‘the’. We use ‘the’ with the following proper nouns:

 

1. astronomical names: the Sun, the North Star, the Milky Way, the Great Bear, etc. But, we do not use ‘the’ before most planet names, like Saturn and Mars.

•  The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System.

2. certain geographical names: the South Pole, the North Pole, the Arctic, the Netherlands, the Hague, the UK, etc.

• The International Court of Justice has its seat in the Hague.

3. mountain ranges: the Alps, the Pennines, the Urals. But, single mountains take no article: Everest, Mont Blanc, etc.

• The Himalayas are home to many of the world’s highest mountains.

4. rivers, seas, oceans, canals: the Thames, the Amazon, the Danube, the Black Sea, the Pacific Ocean, the Panama Canal, the English Channel, etc. But, names of lakes are used without ‘the’, i.e. Lake Ontario, Lake Chad, etc.

• The Danube is an important waterway.

5. some countries, areas, provinces: the United Kingdom, the USA, the Ukraine, the Caucasus, etc.

•  There were representatives from the Netherlands present.

6. parts of towns: the West End, the Soho, the City (London), etc.

•  This new business center is situated in the East End of London.

7. parts of the world: the South, in the North, to the West, etc.

•  The political situation in the East remained largely unstable.

8. deserts: the Sahara, the Gobi, the Karakum, etc.

• The Sahara covers most of northern Africa.

9. names of public institutions (museums, hotels, restaurants), unique buildings and monuments: the White House, the National Gallery, the British Museum, the Hermitage, etc.

•  If you are fond of paintings, you should go to the Tate Gallery.

10. names of organizations, government, committees, associations, foundations, etc.: the Finance Committee, the British Parliament, the Teachers’ Association, etc.

• The United Nations has many offices all over the world.

11. names of vessels: the Titanic, the Discovery, etc.

• The Queen Elizabeth made its first journey in 1939.

12. names of many English-speaking newspapers: the Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, etc.

• The Washington Post wrote about the meeting of the two presidents.

13. names of families: the Forsytes, the Simpsons, etc.

• The Thompsons don’t live here now; they moved last year.

Conjunction: coordinating

 

Conjunctions are words that link other words, phrases and clauses together in a sentence.

 

Coordinating conjunctions link parts of the sentence that are equally important. In English, there are seven coordinating conjunctions – and, or, for, nor, but, yet, so.

 

1. Using ‘and’ helps us to join two ideas together:

• There is a house and a woodshed on the picture.
• Jonathan lives and works in Melbourne.
• Jane bought a new dress and a small bag.

 

Note: If there are more than two items in the list, we can use ‘and’ between the final two items in the list. We use commas (,) between the items: There are two plates, two spoons, two forks, and two glasses on the table.

 

2. Use ‘or’ to link alternative items, ideas and choices, or to speak about the consequences of an action or event:

• Would you like tea or coffee? (You must choose one.)
• Should I visit Italy or France this summer? (You must choose one.)
• The weather is bad. Put on your hat, or you may catch a cold (Bad consequence).

 

3. Use ‘for’ to show that one part of the sentence is the reason or purpose of the other (similar to ‘because’):

• I visit this cafe every morning, for I like the coffee they make.
• Peter often buys new books, for he enjoys reading.
• Jane and Michael went to Rome, for it was their five-year anniversary.

 

4. Use ‘nor’ to join two statements that both show things or ideas that are not true or didn’t happen. The verb in the part of the sentence after ‘nor’ should have a positive form, and the word order in this part should be inverted like a question:

• I don’t like fishing, nor do I go hunting.
• Jack can’t play any musical instruments, nor can he dance.
• Mary doesn’t feel well today, nor does her younger sister Cindy.

 

5. Use ‘but’ to contrast two ideas, or join a negative statement to a positive statement:

• The weather is bad, but we can go for a walk anyway.
• Kate loves soap operas, but hates sports shows.
• My friends went on holiday, but they didn’t enjoy it.

 

6. Use ‘yet’ to show a contrasting idea that follows the first idea logically. It is similar to ‘but’:

• This meal is tasty yet a bit spicy for me.
• Tom likes his new job, yet he misses his old colleagues.
• They planned to go to the cinema, yet they preferred the theatre.

 

7. Use ‘so’ to show that one part of the sentence is a consequence of the other (‘cause-and-effect’ relationship):

• The traffic is heavy on the main road, so the drivers are looking for alternative routes.
• I don’t like eating out, so I rarely go to restaurants.
• This movie is long, so I bought some snacks.

 

 

Infinitive: usage

 

Verb Patterns

 

a) verb + -ing

 

After some verbs, we use verb-ing:

• I enjoy going to the cinema.

NOT: I enjoy to go to the cinema.

 

• It was late when we finished watching the movie.

NOT: It was late when we finished to watch the movie.

 

 

Some other verbs which follow this pattern are:

 

suggest	like	love	stop
finish	keep	avoid	hate
	mind	enjoy

• I hate listening to rap music.
• It didn’t stop raining all day.

 

b) to + infinitive

 

After other verbs, we use to + infinitive:

• We wanted to relax on holiday.

NOT: We wanted relaxing on holiday.

 

• We decided to go to Greece.

NOT: We decided going to Greece.

 

 

Some other verbs which follow this pattern are:

 

choose	forget	help	decide
hope	need	plan	want
promise	try	would like	learn

• We hope to go there again next year.
• I promised to buy a present for my sister.

 

In the negative, we use ‘not to…’:

• We tried not to drink too much ouzo.

 

Infinitives of Purpose

 

We can also use infinitives to say why we do something:

• Why do people go to Paris?

… because they want to see the Eiffel Tower.

• To see the Eiffel Tower.

 

• I went to the library…

… because I wanted to get a book.

• … to get a book.

 

• She went to the bakery…

… because she wanted to buy a chocolate cake.

• … to buy a chocolate cake.

 

• We went to the zoo…

… because we wanted to see the animals.

• … to see the animals.

 

Verbs: phrasal

 

A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb with an adverb or a preposition. ‘Wake up’ and ‘get up’ are examples of phrasal verbs.

• I usually wake up at 7 o’clock… but I get up at 8 o’clock!

 

Phrasal Verbs without Objects

 

We don’t use ‘wake up’ and ‘get up’ with an object.

 

These are some other examples of phrasal verbs without objects:

• Come in! The door is open!
• Hold on. I need five more minutes.
• Look out! There’s a car coming!
• Go away! I don’t want to talk to you!
• The train was full so I had to stand up.
• Please sit down and relax.

 

Phrasal Verbs with Objects

 

a) Some phrasal verbs always take an object:

• I put on my jacket.

NOT: I put on.

 

‘My jacket’ is the object. We can also put the object in the middle:

• I put my jacket on.

 

If the object is a pronoun, it always comes in the middle:

• I put it on.

NOT: I put on it.

 

Other common phrasal verbs which follow this pattern:

• I took off my jacket.
• He switched on / turned on the computer.
• He switched off / turned off the computer.

 

b) Other phrasal verbs always take an object but we can’t put it in the middle:

• I looked after his plants.

NOT: I looked after.

NOT: I looked his plants after.

• I looked after them.

NOT: I looked them after.

 

Another common phrasal verb which follows this pattern:

• She takes after her father.
• The police are looking into the crime.

 

c) Some phrasal verbs can be used with or without an object:

• The taxi arrived and I got in. (no object)
• I got in / into the taxi.

 

• The bus arrived and I got on.
• I got on / onto the bus.

 

• I walked to the shop and I went in.
• I went in / into the shop.

Verbs: irregular

 

Here is a list of common irregular verbs with their Past Simple and Past Participle forms:

 

Base verb	Past Simple	Past Participle
be become begin break bring build buy catch choose come cost cut do drink drive eat fall feel find fly forget get give go grow have hear hide hit hold hurt keep know learn leave lend let lose make meet pay put read ring run say see sell send show shut sing sit sleep speak spell spend stand steal swim take teach tell think throw understand wake wear win write	was/were became began broke brought built bought caught chose came cost cut did drank drove ate fell felt found flew forgot got gave went grew had heard hid hit held hurt kept knew learnt/learned left lent let lost made met paid put read rang ran said saw sold sent showed shut sang sat slept spoke spelt/spelled spent stood stole swam took taught told thought threw understood woke wore won wrote	been become begun broken brought built bought caught chosen come cost cut done drunk driven eaten fallen felt found flown forgotten got given gone grown had heard hidden hit held hurt kept known learnt/learned left lent let lost made met paid put read rung run said seen sold sent shown/showed shut sung sat slept spoken spelt/spelled spent stood stolen swum taken taught told thought thrown understood woken worn won written

Verbs: action vs state

 

We often use verbs to talk about actions:

• He swims at the beach every morning.
• I cooked pasta for dinner last night.
• She’s studying French at the moment.

 

We can use ‘action verbs’ in different tenses, including continuous tenses:

• He is swimming at the beach right now.
• I was cooking pasta for dinner last night, when the phone rang.

 

We also use verbs to talk about states:

• He needs to travel to the US.
• I didn’t understand the homework.
• They like basketball more than football.

 

We don’t usually use ‘state verbs’ in continuous tenses:

• NOT: He is needing to travel to the US.
• I wasn’t understanding the homework.
• They are liking basketball more than football.

 

We often use ‘state verbs’ to talk about mental or emotional states:

 

believe	feel	forget
hate	know	like
love	mean	need
prefer	remember	think
want	understand	wish

 

Other common state verbs include:

 

be	belong	have
own	possess	doubt

 

Some verbs can be both ‘state’ and ‘action’ verbs when they have different meanings:

• •  What do you think of the decision?
  • I feel it’s a mistake.

Here we are using ‘think ‘and ‘feel’ to talk about opinions. They are state verbs so the continuous tense is not possible:

• NOT: What are you thinking of the decision?
• I’m feeling it’s a mistake.

 

In the following examples ‘think’ and ‘feel’ are action verbs so we can use them in a continuous tense.

• What are you thinking about?
• I’m thinking about our holiday.
• How are you feeling?
• I’m not feeling very well.

 

In the following example we are using ‘have’ to talk about possession. It is a state verb so the continuous tense is not possible:

• NOT: He is having a red car.
• He has a red car.

 

Here ‘has’ means ‘eats’:

• She has breakfast at 7.30 every morning.

It is an action verb so we can use it in a continuous tense:

• She is having breakfast now.

 

Present Perfect: ‘unfinished past’

 

We can use the Present Perfect to talk about situations which started in the past and continue into the present.

• I’m a teacher.
• I started teaching ten year ago.
• I’ve been a teacher for ten years.

(NOT: I am a teacher for ten years.)

(NOT: I’ve been a teacher ten years ago.)

 

• My best friend’s name is Gary.
• I met him three years ago.
• I’ve known him for three years.

(NOT: I know him for three years.)

(NOT: I’ve known him three years ago.)

 

• I have a car.
• My Dad gave it to me a long time ago.
• I’ve had it for ages.

(NOT: I have it for ages.)

(NOT: I’ve had a long time ago.)

 

Note: ‘Be’, ‘know’ and ‘have’ are state verbs so we don’t usually use them in their continuous forms.   be → been know → known   With actions, we can use the Present Perfect Simple or the Present Perfect Continuous: I’ve learned English for five years.  – I’ve been learning English for five years. He has worked here since 2015. – He has been working here since 2015. This structure will be covered in more detail in the Upper-intermediate course.

 

We use:

for +	ages / ten years / six months / two weeks / fifteen minutes
	a period of time

 

since +	2015 / March / last summer / yesterday / this morning / 10.00
	a point in time

 

Present Perfect & Past Simple

 

We use the Present Perfect to talk about a situation or action which is not finished.

 

We use the Past Simple when we talk about completed past actions.

 

Compare:

• Tom lives in New York. He has lived there for two years. (Present Perfect)
• Before that, he lived in San Francisco for a year.  (Past Simple)

 

Present Perfect with ‘just’ and ‘yet’

 

We use the Present Perfect to talk about actions or events in the past that still have an effect on the present moment.

 

Consider the example:

 

Tom is currently on holiday in Moscow. He has a list of things he wants to see and do while he’s there:

• See Red Square.✅
• Visit the Kremlin.✅
• Eat some Russian food.✅
• Buy some vodka.❌
• Go to the ballet.❌
• Learn some Russian!❌

Here, there is a connection between the past and the present. We can use the Present Perfect to talk about the things Tom has / hasn’t seen / done:

• He has seen Red Square.
• He has visited the Kremlin.
• He has eaten some Russian food.
• He hasn’t bought any vodka (yet).
• He hasn’t been to the ballet (yet).
• He hasn’t learned any Russian (yet).

 

We often use ‘yet’ with negative and question forms of the Present Perfect. It means something like ‘until now’. It usually comes at the end of the sentence.

• Sue: Have you seen Red Square yet?
• Tom: Yes, I’ve just seen it.  I was there this morning.
• Sue: What about the ballet?  Have you been to the ballet yet?
• Tom: No, not yet.  I’m going tonight.

We don’t use ‘yet’ with positive statements:

(NOT: He has seen Red Square yet.)

 

We can use ‘just’ to talk about something that happened a short time ago:

• He has just seen Red Square.

‘Just’ comes between the auxiliary verb and the main verb.

 

We can use ‘already‘ to emphasize that the event or action is recent and happened before now:

• They’ve already finished their trip.

 

More irregular past participles:

 

take → taken

do → done

make → made

eat → eaten

see → seen

find → found

speak → spoken

come → come