In addition to these, we also have verbs that can be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive with the same meaning:

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1 VERBS FOLLOWED BY GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES Ok, this topic isn t that easy but is not impossible to understand either. Remember this: in every sentence you may have more than one verb, but none of the verbs in the sentence will have the same form or function. Examples of this are the verbs followed by gerunds and infinitives. I enjoy cooking at home She wants to study Philosophy An action is a verb; verbs affect objects (nouns) and can also affect other verbs. When a verb is followed by a gerund, the gerund verb does not refer to an ongoing action, as in Continuous tenses, the gerund verb works as a concept that is related to the previous verb: I enjoy cooking at home Who? I What? enjoy I enjoy what? cooking at home In this example the verb enjoy affects the verb cooking by means of describing what the person enjoys, which is cooking. For instance, the verb in gerund will refer to a concept, an action related to another action. Verbs followed by infinitives work the same way, with the exception that infinitives describe actions as they are, not in the simple present form. Again, these verbs are working as concepts affected by other verbs. She wants to study Philosophy Who? She What? wants She wants what? to study Philosophy In addition to these, we also have verbs that can be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive with the same meaning: He likes to dance. He likes dancing. These verbs, as mentioned above, can be used with both kind of verbs and the meaning will remain the same. Whether a verb is followed by a gerund or infinitive is a matter of use and practice, and attends to an English usage rule. These verbs can be learned by practicing and following these simple steps: 1. Identify the verb: find out if the verb can be followed by a gerund, an infinitive or both. This is critical. 2. Choose the appropriate verb: there must be coherence between the verbs; one must be related to the other in a logical way. 3. Use the appropriate complement: all the information that follows the second verb (gerund/infinitive) must be related to it; it must follow a logical sequence.

2 VERBS FOLLOWED BY GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES Here you have some more detailed rules and examples. Verbs followed by gerunds consider, finish, imagine, miss, mind, spend (time): He finished reading his newspaper. I spent three years working in Tokyo. -verbs with particle or preposition like end up, keep on, think about, plan on: How did you end up living here? I wasn t planning on leaving Japan. Verbs followed by infinitives agree, decide, happen, offer, seem, intend, expect: The agreed to pay for Korean lessons. I didn t expect to get the job. Verbs followed by gerunds or infinitives with different meaning remember, stop, try: I stopped talking to him (maybe I won t speak to him anymore) I stopped to talk to him (I stopped doing something else to talk to him) Verbs followed by gerunds or infinitives with the same meaning begin, bother, continue, start, like, love, hate: Should I bother applying? Should I bother to apply? Verbs followed by a gerund They enjoyed working on the boat admit delay finish permit resist advise deny forbid postpone resume appreciate detest get through practice risk avoid dislike have quit spend (time) can t help enjoy imagine recall suggest complete escape mind report tolerate consider excuse miss resent waste (time) Verbs followed by an infinitive She agreed to speak before the game agree consent have offer shoot aim continue hesitate ought start appear dare hope plan stop arrange desire hurry prefer strive ask deserve intend prepare swear attempt detest leap proceed threaten be able dislike leave promise try beg expect like propose use begin fail long refuse wait care forget love remember want choose get mean say wish condescend happen neglect

3 Verbs followed by a gerund or infinitive with same meaning They love eating pizza The love to eat pizza can t bear He can t bear being alone. He can t bear to be alone. can t stand Nancy can t stand working the late shift. Nancy can t stand to work the late shift. cease The government ceased providing the services. The government ceased to provide the services. continue She continued talking. She continued to talk. hate He hates cleaning his room. He hates to clean his room. like Samantha likes reading. Samantha likes to read. love We love scuba diving. We love to scuba dive. neglect He neglected doing his daily chores. He neglected to do his daily chores. prefer He prefers eating at 7 PM. He prefers to eat at 7 PM. propose Robert proposed paying for the trip. Robert proposed to pay for the trip. GERUND PHRASES The gerund phrase consists of the gerund, which always ends in -ing, and its modifiers and complements. The gerund phrase is always used as a noun. Driving a car takes concentration. (The gerund phrase is the subject of the verb takes). Paul finished painting the ceiling. (The gerund phrase is the direct object of finished). After hiking for two hours, we sat down to rest. (The gerund phrase is the object of the preposition after. PAST PERFECT The past perfect is a simple tense to describe a finished past action. It is usually contrasted with a simple past action, for example: When my mom arrived, I had already finished my homework. She had fallen asleep when the movie finished. The structure is quite simple: Subject + Auxiliary verb simple past + Verb in past participle + Complement Patricia had written many letters to her family. The past perfect describes a finished past action compared with a simple past action, in other words, the past perfect is the way to refer to two actions that took place in the past, but one of them was finished a certain period of time (long or short) before the other.

4 PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS We use the Past Perfect Continuous to show that something started in the past and continued up until another time in the past. "For five minutes" and "for two weeks" are both durations which can be used with the Past Perfect Continuous. Notice that this is related to the Present Perfect Continuous; however, the duration does not continue until now, it stops before something else in the past. Examples: They had been talking for over an hour before Tony arrived. She had been working at that company for three years when it went out of business. How long had you been waiting to get on the bus? Mike wanted to sit down because he had been standing all day at work. James had been teaching at the university for more than a year before he left for Asia. A: How long had you been studying Turkish before you moved to Ankara? B: I had not been studying Turkish very long. MODALS FOR DEDUCTION Deducting or speculating in English is just as common as it is in Spanish. The modals for deduction follow practically the same pattern: Modal verb + have + past participle verb Here you have some examples: They must have gotten tied up in traffic. She could have tried to call. They may / might have had a fight. He can t have lost his job, he s such a good co-worker. Just keep in mind that affirmative sentences are much more common than negative statements.

5 PASSIVE VOICE The passive voice is the other way in which we explain events. The structure is quite simple as it shifts some elements from their place: ACTIVE Writers create beautiful books PASSIVE Beautiful books are created by writers If you notice, the passive voice simply changes the noun to the subject position, placing also a verb be before the action verb, which changes into the past participle form: Tortillas are produced all over Mexico. The passive voice has the simple present, past, present perfect, and past perfect forms, including the use of modal verbs. In all the cases, the main change is reflected in the verb to be, which takes present, past, and past participle forms. Passive Voice: Present The National Anthem is sung in special occasions. Passive Voice: Past TV color was developed in Mexico Lost campers were found yesterday. Passive Voice: Present Perfect New medicines have been discovered. Passive Voice: Past Perfect Futuristic technology had been used in WWII. CONNECTORS Here you have the connectors list, just in case you didn t take notes or didn t attend the last class: Listing points: first, first of all, to begin/start with, secondly, next, after that, finally, in the end. Adding information: as well as, also, besides, in addition to this, furthermore, moreover, apart from that. Expressing time: before, when, as soon as, while, during, later, soon, then, next, until, by the time. Expressing contrast: but, however, nevertheless, on the other hand, although, even though, despite, in spite of. Expressing result or consequence: so that, such that, therefore, so, as a result, for this reason, consequently. Expressing reason: because, as, since, owing to, due to. Summing up: all in all, on the whole, in general, to sum up, summarizing

6 COMPARATIVES-SUPERLATIVES We use different adjectives to describe people, things, situations, etc. Charles is tall*. Sometimes we have to compare two things by means of their qualities, in this case we will use the Comparative adjectives: short adjectives end in er, while long adjectives are preceded by more. Robert is taller than Charles. History is more interesting than Chemistry. In some other cases, we will point out the uniqueness of something (with an adjective). Here, we will use the Superlatives (the + short adjective + -est / the most + long adjective). These are used, mostly, when talking about famous natural wonder, buildings, places, and specific qualities. Phil is the tallest student in the classroom. Adjective Comparative Superlative Irregular adjectives tall taller the tallest good better the best short shorter the shortest bad worse the worst fast faster the fastest Exception slow slower the slowest fun more fun the most fun cheap cheaper the cheapest funny funnier the funniest expensive more expensive the most expensive With nouns interesting more interesting the most interesting seats the most seats boring more boring the most boring tourism the most tourism visited more visited the most visited championships the most championships *Apart from the cases in which we mention proper names, we place all adjectives before any noun. He is a tall guy. COMPARING WITH AS AND LIKE We also use as and like to compare in a more communicative form. Like is followed by a noun, thus, comparing two nouns: He acts more like a brother than a friend. / She looks like a younger version of me. As is followed by a clause: He dances as my father did. / She doesn t speak French as her sister does.