VERY, TOO AND ENOUGH

Very, Too and Enough

Very

Use very before adjectives, adverbs or -ing words. Very is neutral - it is not positive or negative. It makes the word that comes after it stronger.

"Wayne is a very funny man."
"I had a very busy day at work."

Too

Too is used before adjectives and adverbs. Too is negative; we use it too mean there is more or less than we need/want. Too can be used with infinitive + to after the adjective/adverb.Use for + someone/something to explain who/what we mean.
"It's too noisy in here. Let's go outside." (too + adjective)
"My soup is too hot to drink." (too + adjective + to + infinitive)
"This is too difficult for me to understand." (too + adjective + for someone/something)

Enough

Use enough before a noun but after an adjective or adverb. We can use for someone/something and an infinitive with enough and to. Enough is positive - it means that we have as much as we want.
"I have enough money to pay."
"There's enough food for everyone to eat." (enough + noun + for + someone/something + to)

 

USE OF PRESENT PERFECT

How do we make the Present Perfect Tense?

The structure of the present perfect tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb	+	main verb
		have		past participle

Here are some examples of the present perfect tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I	have		seen	ET.
+	You	have		eaten	mine.
-	She	has	not	been	to Rome.
-	We	have	not	played	football.
?	Have	you		finished?
?	Have	they		done	it?

Contractions with the present perfect tense

When we use the present perfect tense in speaking, we usually contract the subject and auxiliary verb. We also sometimes do this when we write.

I have	I've
You have	You've
He has She has It has John has The car has	He's She's It's John's The car's
We have	We've
They have	They've

Here are some examples:

• I've finished my work.
• John's seen ET.
• They've gone home.

ADJECTIVES ORDER

ADJECTIVES ORDER

1. The basic types of adjectives

Opinion	An opinion adjective explains what you think about something (other people may not agree with you). For example: silly, beautiful, horrible, difficult
Size	A size adjective, of course, tells you how big or small something is. For example: large, tiny, enormous, little
Age	An age adjective tells you how young or old something or someone is. For example: ancient, new, young, old
Shape	A shape adjective describes the shape of something. For example: square, round, flat, rectangular
Colour	A colour adjective, of course, describes the colour of something. For example: blue, pink, reddish, grey
Origin	An origin adjective describes where something comes from. For example: French, lunar, American, eastern, Greek
Material	A material adjective describes what something is made from. For example: wooden, metal, cotton, paper
Purpose	A purpose adjective describes what something is used for. These adjectives often end with “-ing”. For example: sleeping (as in “sleeping bag”), roasting (as in “roasting tin”) Opinion Size Age Shape Colour Origin Material Purpose a silly young English man a huge round metal bowl a small red sleeping bag

ADJECTIVE BEFORE NOUN

Adjective Before Noun

We often use more than one adjective before the noun:

• I like big black dogs.
• She was wearing a beautiful long red dress.

What is the correct order for two or more adjectives?
1. First of all, the general order is:

opinion, fact

adjectives							head noun
determiner	opinion adjectives	fact adjectives
		other	size, shape, age, colour	origin	material	purpose*
two	ugly		black			guard	dogs
a		well-known		Chinese			artist
a			small, 18th-century	French		coffee	table
your	fabulous		new			sports	car
a	lovely		pink and green	Thai	silk		dress
some			black	Spanish	leather	riding	boots
a			big black and white				dog
this		cheap			plastic	rain	coat
an			old		wooden	fishing	boat
my			new			tennis	racket
a	wonderful		15th-century	Arabic			poem

Añadir leyenda

 

Gerunds and Infinitives for Purpose

Grammar – Gerunds and Infinitives for Purpose

Gerunds and infinitives are a part of English grammar that many English learners find challenging. In this post, I will help you understand when to use a gerund or infinitive to describe the purpose of someone or something.
In English, both gerunds and infinitives can be used to talk about the reason why we use or do something.

Gerunds

A gerund is a verb that acts like a noun. To form a gerund, add –ing to the end of the verb.
To describe the purpose of something, use for + gerund:

What is a hair dryer for?
A hair dryer is for drying hair.
What is this program for?
This computer program is for editing videos.

*Notice that in the above sentences, the thing being described is the subject of the sentence.
More example sentences:

My lips are for kissing!
Be quiet! A library is for studying, not for socializing!

~

Infinitives

An infinitive is the to + verb form. To describe the purpose of someone, use an infinitive.

What do you use a hair dryer for?
I use a hair dryer to dry my hair.
Why did you go to the store?
I went to the store to buy some milk.
Why are you going to Toronto?
I‘m going to Toronto to learn English

More example sentences:

I use my lips to kiss!
Be quiet! I come to the library to study, not to socialize!

HOW WE USE OF INFINITIVE AND GERUND

HOW WE USE OF INFINITIVE AND GERUND 

What is an Infinitive?

An infinitive is the basic form of the verb + "to".


What is a Gerund?
A gerund is a noun made from a verb. To make a gerund, you add "-ing" to the verb.

Infinitives and infinitive phrases can be both subjects and objects in sentences.  Take a look at these examples:

SUBJECT  To study hard will increase your chances of getting into college. OBJECT Kathy wants to study with her friends.

There are some verbs that are followed only by infinitives.  For example,

Hesitate She didn’t hesitate to tell the boss that some employees were stealing office supplies. Offer The Martin Family offered to watch their neighbor’s dog for the whole week. Promise The school promised to help me find an apartment. Want We want to visit all of the historic sites in Tehran.

These words are rarely followed by gerunds (nouns that look like -ing ending verbs). 

For a list of verbs that are followed by infinitives, click here.   For a list of adjectives followed by infinitives, click here. For a list of verbs followed by infinitives + object, click here.  For a list of verbs that are followed by gerunds, click here.

Students are often confused about this.  When should I use infinitives?  When should I use gerunds?  There are some situations when BOTH an infinitive and gerund can be used with no change in meaning.  For example,

The children like to go to the zoo. The children like going to the zoo.

These two sentences have the same meaning.

For some other verbs, there is a difference in meaning:

Example Meaning GERUND Louise stopped smoking. She doesn’t smoke anymore. INFINITIVE Louise stopped to smoke. She stopped doing an activity because she wanted to smoke.

So, now you may want to ask, “What’s the difference between infinitives and gerunds?”  That’s a good question.  We are glad you asked!

Though there are always exceptions to the following, here are two suggestions that will help you distinguish the difference between infinitives and gerunds:

WHEN WE USE AN INFINITIVE VERB

Defining an Infinitive Verb

The infinitive form of a verb is the verb in its basic form. It is the version of the verb which will appear in the dictionary.

Basically, an infinitive verb is a verb with the word “to” in front of i

• to be
• to have
• to hold
• to sleep
• to dream

When you use an infinitive verb, the “to” is a part of the verb. It is not acting as a preposition in this case. And the verb is always just the verb. It’s not conjugated in anyway – no -ed, no -ing, no -s on the end. Sometimes you’ll see sentences like this:

• She went from kissing him to slapping him in no time.

You see “to slapping,” and it’s easy to think that’s an infinitive verb, but it isn’t. It’s a preposition (to) and a gerund (slapping). You can tell it’s not an infinitive because of the -ing on the end of the verb. Infinitives never have an -ing ending.

Infinitive Verb vs. Base Verb

A lot of people think that the infinitive is the most basic form of a verb, but it isn’t. The most basic form is the base form. The base form is just the verb, without the “to.” Some people also call this a bare infinitive.

• be
• have
• hold
• sleep
• dream

Using an Infinitive Verb

There are several possible ways to use infinitive verbs. You can use them:

1. as the subject of a sentence – To err is human; to forgive, divine.
2. like an adjective or adverb phrase that expresses purpose or intent – My instructions are to press this button every hour.
3. following a direct object – He told me to give this to you.
4. following certain other verbs:

• afford – We can’t afford to eat out every night.
• agree – Let’s agree to disagree.
• aim – I aim to please.
• appear – She appears to have the chicken pox.
• arrange – I’ll arrange to meet you at 3:00.
• attempt – We attempted to contact him several times.
• determined – They are determined to finish the race.
• beg – She begged to stay up past her bed time.