Grammar
Gerund or Infinitive?
5 Simple Rules to Master the Use of Gerunds and Infinitives
Rule 1: Gerunds can be used as a subject of a sentence.
Take a look at some examples.
Walking is good for your health.
Making friends has become more difficult since I moved to a new city.
Becoming a millionaire is a dream of many young people today.
Here, the gerunds (in bold) are part of the sentence subjects (“walking,” “making friends,” “becoming a millionaire”). All three sentences sound like normal, everyday English.
Direct/Indirect Speech (Reported speech)
Reported Statements
When do we use reported speech? Sometimes someone says a sentence, for example “I’m going to the cinema tonight”. Later, maybe we want to tell someone else what the first person said.
Here’s how it works:
We use a ‘reporting verb’ like ‘say’ or ‘tell’. If this verb is in the present tense, it’s easy. We just put ‘she says’ and then the sentence:
- Direct speech: I like ice cream.
Reported speech: She says (that) she likes ice cream.
We don’t need to change the tense, though probably we do need to change the ‘person’ from ‘I’ to ‘she’, for example. We also may need to change words like ‘my’ and ‘your’.
(As I’m sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use ‘that’ or not in English. I’ve put it in brackets () to show that it’s optional. It’s exactly the same if you use ‘that’ or if you don’t use ‘that’.)
But, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses in the reported speech:
- Direct speech: I like ice cream.
- Reported speech: She said(that) she liked ice cream.
THE STORY OF THE HAMBURGER
The hamburger is the most eaten food in the whole world. The first hamburgers were made and sold in Connecticut in 1895 by an American called Louis Lassen. Louis called them hamburgers because he was given the recipe by sailors from Hamburg in Germany.
Hamburgers became a favourite meal in America in the early part of the twentieth century. Their popularity grew even more after the Second World War, when they were bought in large quantities by teenagers who preferred fast food to family meals. In 1948 two brothers Dick and Mac Donald opened a drive-in hamburger restaurant in San Bernardino, California.
Since then over 25,000 McDonald’s restaurants have been opened worldwide and now 35 million MacDonald’s hamburgers are eaten every day in 115 countries from India to the Arctic Circle.
Exercise : Put the verbs into the correct tense, active or passive.
The first hamburgers______________ (make) in 1895. Louis Lassen ____________(call) them hamburgers because he ______________(give) the recipe by sailors. Hamburgers ____________ (become) his favourite meal. Their popularity _____________(grow) even more when they _______________(buy) in large quantities by teenagers who ____________(prefer) fast food. Dick and Mac MacDonald_____________ (open) a drive-in hamburger restaurant. 25,000 McDonald’s restaurants ____________(open) worldwide. More than 35 million hamburgers ____________(eat) every day.
PASSIVE VOICE
Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.
Example: My bike was stolen.
In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.
Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:
Example: A mistake was made.
In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).
Form of Passive
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)
Example: A letter was written. (I wrote a letter: active voice)
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:
- the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
- the finite form of the verb is changed (to be+ past participle)
the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)
A’ CLASS-PRESENT CONTINUOUS/ΕΝΕΣΤΩΤΑΣ ΔΙΑΡΚΕΙΑΣ μάθημα 1
Good morning Class A. Today we are going to do a revision of the Present Continuous form. Look at the grammar part below and then do the exercise.
Πατήστε στο σύνδεσμο αυτό και θα κατέβετε στο GRAMMAR APPENDIX: unit 2, lesson 2.
http://ebooks.edu.gr/modules/ebook/show.php/DSGYM-A114/417/2816,23126/
Αφού δείτε την θεωρία, κάνετε την άσκηση.
Present continuous.
- I ___________ (watch) a reality show on TV.
- My favourite team ___________ (win)!
- Someone ___________ (swim) in the sea.
- Two people ___________ (cook) dinner on the beach.
- We ___________ (not watch) a soap opera.
- I ___________ (not do) my homework.
- Mum ___________ (read) a magazine.
- My brother ___________ (not listen) to the radio.
- Dad ___________ (not cook) dinner.
- ____________ you ____________ (watch) TV? No, we ____________ (study).
- What ____________ you ____________ (do)? I ____________ (do) my homework.
- ____________ they ____________ (sleep)? Yes, they are.
PRESENT SIMPLE – PRESENT CONTINUOUS
Good morning Class A. Today we are going to do a revision of the Present Simple and Continuous form. Look at the grammar part below and then do the exercises.
Words to replace “very”
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